"Its predecessors were etched with the wisdom of ancients; its own etchings bear warnings of a future fraught with war."
- Etched Champion
Artifacts, in the right hands, have proven themselves to be among the most powerful of Magic's permanents. From the early days of the vintage/legacy deck called "Mud" to Modern and Pioneer "Cheerios" artifact decks have been terrorizing Constructed formats since the game began. Yet, no discussion of artifact synergies would be complete without a discussion of one of the most powerful artifact archetypes ever forged - Metalcraft.
What Is Metalcraft?
Metalcraft is an ability keyword that appeared in the Mirrodin block. The keyword checks if the controller of the spell with metalcraft controls three or more artifacts. The keyword also doesn't care if those artifacts are any other types, just so long as they're artifacts. It will count your Ornithopter the same way it counts your Azorius Signet.
Unlike other keywords like Prowess, which will always give the creature it's on +1/+1 whenever a noncreature spell is cast, Metalcraft varies by instance. So, for example, it'll allow a Mox Opal to generate any color of mana when you tap it, or it might let Puresteel Paladin reduce the equip costs for all your artifacts to 0.
That's not to say that there are an overwhelming amount of metalcraft spells around. The game currency contains 36 cards in paper that span all five colors (although white, blue, and colorless get the lion's share of those cards). Sitting at 6 on the Storm Scale means that it may be reprinted in future sets. Despite the small number of cards with the keyword, it's still a force to be reckoned with.
Where Does Metalcraft Come From?
Picture a plane that's made completely out of metal. As far as the eye can see, there's a steely glint as the sun reflects off the metallic ground. Even the blades of grass are made of fine, living metal. It's in this world of Mirrodin that metalcraft made its debut into Magic.
In Scars of Mirrodin, the Mirrans, the original inhabitants of Mirrodin, faced off against one of Magic: The Gathering's "Big Bads," the Phyrexians, who were invading the plane to turn it into a new home for their praetors. Metalcraft reflects how much the Mirrans depended on artifacts for their survival.
Decks built around metalcraft looked to play artifacts, and use metalcraft to power up their spells and abilities. During its time in Standard, metalcraft also benefited from artifact lands like Seat of the Synod and Darksteel Citadel. These lands allowed players to achieve metalcraft early on. With powerful ramp pieces like Mox Opal in their arsenal, these decks were a menace during their Standard rotation.
Outside of Standard, metalcraft also showed up as a force to be reckoned with. Artifact-heavy synergies saw a lot of play in Modern, leading to metalcraft and artifact synergies nearly overpowering the format. As a result, cards like the artifact lands and Mox Opal were banned from the Modern format, with Mox Opal only recently being reinstated.
Pauper has also seen its share of metalcraft decks. Mardu and Jund decks are based around affinity for artifacts, but they have a powerful card to close out the game in Galvanic Blast which has a metalcraft trigger to deal 4 damage for making it even more powerful than a lightning bolt with the right setup.
Jund Metal | Pauper | joaolucas, FUGUETE CHAMP Top 16
- Creatures (15)
- 2 Avenging Hunter
- 2 Thorn of the Black Rose
- 3 Krark-Clan Shaman
- 4 Refurbished Familiar
- 4 Writhing Chrysalis
- Instants (16)
- 1 Snuff Out
- 1 Toxin Analysis
- 2 Eviscerator's Insight
- 4 Cast Down
- 4 Deadly Dispute
- 4 Galvanic Blast
- Artifacts (10)
- 2 Blood Fountain
- 2 Heaped Harvest
- 3 Ichor Wellspring
- 1 Nihil Spellbomb
- 2 Tithing Blade
- Lands (20)
- 2 Forest
- 2 Mountain
- 4 Swamp
- 1 Bojuka Bog
- 3 Twisted Landscape
- 4 Drossforge Bridge
- 4 Slagwoods Bridge
- Sideboard (15)
- 3 Breath Weapon
- 3 Cast into the Fire
- 2 Gorilla Shaman
- 1 Nihil Spellbomb
- 1 Snuff Out
- 2 Toxin Analysis
- 3 Weather the Storm
Building With Metalcraft
Metalcraft doesn't have many cards to its name, but since artifacts are ubiquitous throughout the multiverse, there have been several artifact synergies that play well with metalcraft.
Improvise, for example, allows players to use their artifacts to pay for their artifact spells, essentially turning every artifact on their field into a mana rock. What's more, you can use a summoning sick artifact creature to improvise, making it much better than a mana generation creature.
Affinity for Artifacts is another keyword ability that works well with metalcraft. This keyword ability reduces the cost of the spell in hand based on the amount of artifacts you control as you cast the spell. In many of the Modern lists, affinity for artifacts is the core mechanic, with metalcraft filling in to close out the game or add much-needed value.
Equipment decks also benefit significantly from metalcraft, and one of the most infamous equipment decks in modern, known as Cheerios, was built around the metalcraft ability of Puresteel Paladin. Today's Cheerios decks also incorporate the recently unbanned Mox Opal and Sram, Senior Edificer, to create a pretty powerful draw engine.
Cheerios | Modern | beiic0n, MTGO Modern League #8688 1st Place
- Creatures (8)
- 4 Puresteel Paladin
- 4 Sram, Senior Edificer
- Instants (7)
- 3 Noxious Revival
- 4 Retract
- Artifacts (24)
- 4 Bone Saw
- 4 Cathar's Shield
- 4 Mox Opal
- 4 Paradise Mantle
- 4 Sigil of Distinction
- 4 Spidersilk Net
- Lands (16)
- 2 Plains
- 1 Hallowed Fountain
- 1 Meticulous Archive
- 4 Flooded Strand
- 4 Marsh Flats
- 4 Windswept Heath
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Flusterstorm
- 1 Ghirapur Aether Grid
- 3 Hurkyl's Recall
- 3 Orim's Chant
- 4 Path to Exile
- 3 Spell Pierce
Key Insights for Building with Metalcraft
Metalcraft can be a very overpowered mechanic if it's built right. If you're planning on putting together a rogue metalcraft deck for an upcoming FNM, here's a few things to keep in mind:
- Prioritize low-cost artifacts: Ideally these would be lands, but since the artifact cycle of lands from Mirrodin have been banned, you're left with zero-cost and one-cost artifacts. These will help turn on your payoffs without too much effort.
- Balance artifacts and payoffs: This is usually where cards with Improvise or Affinity for Artifacts come in. Metalcraft sets up an artifact rich board which can set you up to cast your Improvise or Affinity artifacts much earlier than you'd normally be able to do.
- Sideboard some Protection: Cards like Welding Jar (which regenerates artifacts) or Heroic Intervention (which makes your permanents indestructible) are good sideboard options against opponents that run artifact destruction.
- Focus on Speed and Aggression: Modern metalcraft decks usually build a board that is difficult to deal with, and can attempt to close out a game before the opponent can answer their threats thanks to the benefits that metalcraft gives them.
Artifacts Have Changed Since Mirrodin
The Mirrodin block had arguably some of the most powerful artifacts that Magic has ever seen to that time. Some would even consider Mirrodin's artifacts among the most powerful ever to be printed. While artifacts have changed a lot since then, there's always the hope for a mechanic like metalcraft to be reprinted. Yet, even as it is now, it offers quite a lot for even the jank brewer to find something promising.