Two-mana rocks and independent card engines make six mana without a tournament fast-mana package.
Esper artifact-token control · Bracket 4
The Fifth
Vote
One trigger becomes five artifacts. Five artifacts become another turn. The rest of the deck makes that conversion deliberate, protected, and repeatable.
100cards
36lands
8Sieve routes
13Game Changers
01 / Identity
Control that builds
its own clock.
This is not a prison shell waiting for everyone else to stop playing. Early permanents build mana and cards; Tivit creates the resource burst; interaction protects the conversion or stops a game-ending opposing line.
Tivit guarantees two votes of your own and five total votes at a four-player table.
Time Sieve turns five artifacts into the combat step that makes the next five.
Free counters and protected-turn effects defend the one window that matters.
“Firm Bracket 4. Premium tutors and free interaction; ordinary two-mana development; no generic tournament backup win and no prison plan.”
02 / Flight plan
Four phases.
One decisive turn.
The deck changes roles as its mana and artifact count grow. It is a tap-out development deck first, a value engine second, and a protected combo-control deck only when the table reaches the critical turn.
Turns 1–2
Build the floor
Keep functional colors. Lead on an early accelerator or card engine rather than spending the first turns representing every answer.
Turns 3–4
Locate the outlet
Find Time Sieve or establish a value engine. Preserve only the interaction needed to prevent a faster decisive line.
Turns 4–5
Resolve the vote
Cast Tivit through Cavern or protection. If Sieve is ready, your two bribery votes guarantee the mana to cast it.
Turns 5–7
Convert and close
Take the first extra turn, clear the flying lane, then loop combat or turn the accumulated artifacts into lethal attackers.
03 / Vote laboratory
Count the table.
Know the outcome.
Set the votes and board state. The laboratory applies Tivit's additional vote, Academy Manufactor's replacement effect, and any artifacts already banked for Time Sieve.
5total votes
Time Sieve ready5 artifacts available
The first activation is funded with no prior board.
The important breakpoint: four players produce five votes; three players produce four. Academy Manufactor or one banked artifact bridges the post-elimination gap.
04 / The Sieve line
Five in.
One turn out.
The line is compact, but not automatic. Tivit must resolve, the first five artifacts must survive, and combat damage must connect on the extra turn.
Resolve Tivit
Create five artifacts from the full-table vote.
Feed the Sieve
Sacrifice five artifacts and take an extra turn.
Clear the lane
Remove the blocker or protect the attack step.
Connect
Combat damage creates the next artifact batch.
Drain conversion
Make every sacrifice count.
Each payoff sees five tokens leave or five artifacts reach the graveyard during a Sieve activation.
0life lost per opponent, per activation
Select a payoff to convert the sacrifice.
05 / Opening-hand lab
Keep mana.
Then keep purpose.
The commander is always available. The opening hand needs to cast it, establish one proactive route, and avoid losing before that route matters.
Current seven
EvaluatingDeal a hand
The lab evaluates lands, early acceleration, engines, interaction, and direct Sieve routes.
Opening sevenClick any card for its full reference.
Two or three lands, reliable Esper colors, development, and one answer or route.
Two lands with no accelerator; a tutor that cannot be cast; free interaction without a commander.
One land without Sol Ring, colorless-heavy mana, or a hand whose only plan is Time Sieve.
06 / Answer matrix
Name the problem.
Use the narrowest tool.
The suite is organized by threat profile instead of a named opponent. Choose what the permanent or spell is doing, then preserve the broader answers for the next layer.
Use exile when a creature or artifact is likely to return from the graveyard.
Reset a developed permanent board without stocking graveyards or sacrificing your own engines.
Dress Down can create a one-turn window against creature-led mana and combo engines.
Save free interaction for a win, a protected turn, or the engine that immediately converts into one.
07 / Card explorer
Every card.
One declared job.
Filter the complete selected plan by primary role, name, type, or strategic tag. Reference images and rules text come from the public Scryfall snapshot.
08 / Telemetry
High ceiling.
Normal first gear.
Premium card quality and a compact commander-specific finish put the list firmly in Bracket 4. Its opening speed remains anchored to lands and ordinary two-mana development.