Can Bilbo Revive Affinity?

Bilbo has been showing up everywhere—but I think we may have found one of the most interesting homes for him yet.

Zac and Phil take a first look at Eight Emery, a new take on the classic Artifacts Blue / Affinity Stompy shell that uses Bilbo, Emery, and Loki, God of Mischief as a redundant set of powerful artifact engines.

The idea is simple: instead of relying on Thoughtcast and Thought Monitor to generate card advantage, the deck uses Bilbo and Loki alongside Emery to repeatedly recur artifacts, generate value, and grind through removal.

We break down:

• Why Affinity has fallen off the Legacy radar
• The evolution from Thoughtcast/Thought Monitor to Bilbo + Loki
• Pinnacle Emissary and the current artifact shell
• Urza's Saga and Kappa Cannoneer
• How Loki actually works
• Why Bilbo needs help getting into combat
• Aether Spellbomb loops
• Pithing Needle's role in the deck
• Brazen Borrower + Bilbo
• Sink into Stupor as a land
• Odawara and legendary permanents
• How the deck handles Null Rod
• Whether Eight Emery could be an Eternal Weekend contender

And most importantly:

Is Eight Emery actually better than traditional Eight-Cast?