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Mana Clash: Artifact Strategies

I focused my last “Mana Clash” article on different types of control strategies in Oathbreaker, and you can find that article here. For this week, I’m taking a look at an even broader archetype that’s centered around a specific card type, which is actually a first for this series. I’ll be going over a handful different kinds of artifact decks for Oathbreaker in this article, specifically types of lists that I haven’t already written about before.

The Archetype

Artifact-centric decks are pretty popular in formats like EDH and Oathbreaker, largely due to the sheer amount of variety within the archetype. Artifact decks can, and often do, overlap with other MTG deck archetypes, leaving plenty of different options for players to choose from. Some artifact decks look to lock their opponents out of the game and combo off. Others may aim for a more traditional beatdown strategy, or even go for a sacrifice/attrition-based game plan. Suffice to say, there are many different ways to build an artifact deck, and this article will only be scratching the surface of this archetype’s potential.

Given the wide array of options for artifact-centric decks, it’s no surprise that this archetype has become popular in Oathbreaker. There are numerous planeswalkers that are geared towards different kinds of artifact strategies, both broad and narrow. There are also a number of strong Signature Spells to choose from for artifact decks, the most notorious being Thoughtcast. As for specific Oathbreakers, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, and Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge are some of the more popular choices for this archetype, though they are far from the only options.

The only real “catch all” answers to artifact decks in general are cards that specifically hate on all artifacts, such as Stony Silence, Vandalblast, and Kataki, War’s Wage. Fortunately for artifact players, most Oathbreaker decks don’t run cards that are this narrow in use. That isn’t to say that artifact decks don’t have other weaknesses; however, most of the other weaknesses of a given artifact list don’t stem from it being an artifact list. An all-in aggro artifact build may not match up well against a bunch of board wipes, whereas a slower prison/combo build may have trouble against a table of aggressive decks.

Now that we’ve gone over the general archetype, let’s look at the specific builds I have prepared for today.

Build #1: Blue/Black Big Affinity

Decklist: Tezzeret Big Affinity

Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge may be the blue/black artifact Oathbreaker of choice for most players, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. Turning random artifacts into 5/5s has become a pretty common effect for Tezzeret planeswalkers, making this iteration of Tezzeret the perfect Oathbreaker for a go-big affinity deck. This particular list is primarily built around Tezzeret’s -1 ability, with the goal being to turn our tiny artifacts into big beaters. Thoughtcast is a very common Signature Spell for artifact strategies, and it fits very well here since we’ll be running plenty of artifacts to hit off of Tezzeret’s +1 ability.

  • Redundant Buffs: Even though we’ll already have Tezzeret in the command zone, we’ll want to have other redundant ways to buff our artifacts, just in case. Ensoul Artifact and Tezzeret’s Touch can both be used to turn one of our toys into a 5/5, similar to our Oathbreaker. We can go even bigger with our 5/5s if we ever get to ultimate Tezzeret the Schemer or reach the final chapter of The Antiquities War. If needed, we can further grow our creatures with the help of equipment, such as Grafted Wargear or the ever-deadly Cranial Plating. Perhaps our trickiest way to buff one of our artifacts is to grow and eventually sacrifice Arcbound Ravager to its own ability, using Modular to throw all of its +1/+1 counters onto one of our other creatures.
  • Buff Targets: We could target any old artifact with one of our buff effects, but some targets are certainly better than others. Baleful Strix and Ornithopter are two cheap, tiny fliers that can quickly put on a lot of pressure when turned into 5/5s. Hovermyr and Vault Skirge make even better targets thanks to their respective keywords, and Glaze Fiend can easily become large enough to take out an opponent all on its own. The evasion ability on Gingerbrute can be even more effective than flying, depending on the board state, and the little guy even comes with haste. In addition to evasion, it can be nice to have some targets that are difficult to remove. Darksteel Citadel fits the bill perfectly, and Darksteel Axe can be a buff target or a way to buff another creature.
  • Other Threats: Turning our tiny toys into big, scary tanks is fun and all, but we’ll also want some other threats that won’t have to rely on our power buffs quite as much. Heart of Kiran and Smuggler’s Copter each make fine targets for our Oathbreaker, but they’re also perfectly reasonable threats in their own right. Traxos, Scourge of Kroog comes into play tapped, but they’re also a huge trampler that comes with pseudo-vigilance, so long as we keep up our stream of artifacts. If we manage to keep our board full, we can also attack with some pretty large tokens from Karn, Scion of Urza and Urza, Lord High Artificer. Master of Etherium can become similarly threatening, all while buffing our other artifact creatures. To top it all of, we are also running good old Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge for a bit of extra reach to help close out the game.

Build #2: Blue/White Tempered Steel

Decklist: Tempered Dovin

The game plan of this second artifact list is a bit more traditional than the first. Tempered Steel is a powerful enchantment that’s been built around in past Standard environments, as well in Historic more recently. A static +2/+2 buff can pack one heck of a punch when spread across a wide board, and filling the battlefield with a bunch of artifact creatures isn’t too challenging a task. Dovin, Grand Arbiter is the perfect Oathbreaker for this type of strategy since he can produce extra thopter tokens, and his +1 ability is at its best in a go-wide aggressive deck. To top it all off, we’ll need to be able to reliably boost our board’s power. Obviously we can only run one copy of Tempered Steel in any given Oathbreaker deck, but that’s why this deck is running Enlightened Tutor as its Signature Spell of choice. With the help of this low-cost tutor, we’ll have no trouble with finding our various anthem effects.

  • Going Wide: This deck is running its fair share of low-cost artifact creatures to help fill out our board, and the more bodies the better! Servo Exhibition and Sram’s Expertise will leave us with plenty of servos to spare, all of which can gradually be upgraded with a little help from Retrofitter Foundry. Karn, Scion of Urza can contribute his fair share of tokens as well, all of which will be especially large thanks to our mass of artifact creatures. Like any other go-wide strategy, this deck doesn’t do well against board wipes, so we’ll need a little bit of insurance for our board. Hangarback Walker will disincentivize our opponents from destroying the battlefield, and we can even repopulate our board a bit by sacrificing Foundry of the Consuls. If necessary, we can also always protect our board with Flawless Maneuver.
  • Board-wide Buffs: Tempered Steel is the go-to anthem effect to search for with this deck, but we’ll also need plenty of redundant ways to buff our board. Also at the three-drop slot, we have Chief of the Foundry and Master of Etherium to give our artifacts an extra boost. Steel Overseer‘s board-wide buff comes in the form of +1/+1 counters, and that bonus includes the overseer itself. Signal Pest gives our board a nice temporary boost whenever it attacks, and its evasion makes it a fine buff target in its own right. Closer to the top of our mana curve, we have The Antiquities War and its final chapter to help us push through for a final attack.
  • Other Tutor Targets: This deck has no shortage of handy targets to search for with Enlightened Tutor. We can beef up our board even more with the help of cheap enchantments like All That Glitters and Ensoul Artifact, or we can add a bit of evasion by equipping Shadowspear to one of our threats. Other tutor targets, like Etched Champion and Stonecoil Serpent, come with their own forms of evasion, as well as some built-in protection. As far as interaction goes, I think it’s always a good idea for Oathbreaker decks to run some number of ways to deal with planeswalkers, no matter how aggressive the list. Sword of Sinew and Steel is the perfect artifact for the job, and we can search for Grasp of Fate if we need to deal with multiple nonland permanents.

Build #3: Red/White Equipment

Decklist: Nahiri’s Gift

Equipment are another way to use artifacts to make creatures more threatening, and some decks fully dedicate themselves to this specific strategy. This game plan most often means going tall with one or two creatures by piling a bunch of equipment onto them. This kind of all-in strategy can be very risky, especially since playing and attaching equipment typically require a fair bit of mana; however, there are certainly ways to get around equip costs. The static ability on Nahiri, Storm of Stone makes her the perfect Oathbreaker for a dedicated equipment build, and boros colors have no shortage of ways to capitalize on playing plenty of equipment. As far as Signature Spells for this type of strategy, Steelshaper’s Gift is both an easy and effective choice given its low mana cost and high amount of versatility.

  • Cost Reduction: Although our Oathbreaker does help out a bit with lowering our equip costs, it certainly won’t hurt to have plenty of redundant enablers. Fervent Champion can attach almost any of the equipment in this list to itself for free, and the activated ability on Kazuul’s Toll Collector gets around those costs entirely. Zirda, the Dawnwaker lowers any equip costs for any of our creatures, and Puresteel Paladin does even better as long as we have enough artifacts in play. Another way we can completely skip our equip costs is with the handy triggered abilities on Hammer of Nazahn and Sigarda’s Aid. On the flip side of things, Stoneforge Mystic‘s lets us cheat on an equipment’s casting cost, which should leave us with enough mana to pay for any equip costs.
  • Other Equip Targets: Just about any creature can wear equipment, but some targets are certainly stronger than others. Champion of the Flame and Kitesail Apprentice each get extra bonuses from wearing equipment, and Toolcraft Exemplar will get an added boost as along as we have an artifact in play. If need a bit of added evasion, Gingerbrute and Mirran Crusader can be very helpful with getting past our opponents’ blockers. We can even swarm our opponents if we manage to gear up Kemba, Kha Regent or Valduk, Keeper of the Flame with enough equipment. Anax, Hardened in the Forge is another fine equip target, and his triggered ability will give us a bit of insurance against opposing removal.
  • Other Equipment: If we’re looking for plain old power boosts, then Bloodforged Battle-Axe and Bonesplitter are two excellent options at a pretty low cost. Skullclamp gives us a bit of insurance against most spot removal, and we can stop one of our threats from being targeted entirely with the help of Swiftfoot Boots. Basilisk Collar will prove useful whether we’re on offense or defense, and the incidental lifegain certainly doesn’t hurt either. The most versatile equipment in our arsenal is definitely Umezawa’s Jitte thanks to its activated ability, which will make combat a nightmare for our opponents. Batterskull is the only equipment in the deck that can come down as a threat on its own, and it’s even sporting the two best keywords in Oathbreaker. Even still, my personal favorite equipment in the deck is Bloodthirsty Blade, a low-cost equipment that is perfect for multiplayer formats.

Shared Cards

Here’s a quick overview of what notable cards each of the lists share with each other.

A Matter of (Arti)fact

I’ve covered a handful of other artifact-themed lists before, but this article is the first time I’ve focused on artifact strategies specifically. If you’re interested in other artifact-themed Oathbreaker decks, I’ve also written articles about artifact lists built around Black/Red Daretti, Jesaki Narset, and of course, Saheeli/Thoughtcast.

It was fun for me to try branching into other color combinations and styles of artifact strategies, and I suspect I could even write a second “Mana Clash” article in the future on other variations. The decks I decided to write about in this article are all very low-to-the-ground and combat-centric, but there are definitely plenty of other kinds of artifact decks out there.

Have you played any artifact decks in Oathbreaker? What planeswalker do you/would you play and build an artifact deck around? Make sure to share your thoughts and brews with me in the comments or on Twitter!

About the author: My name is Alex Enders. I am a college student that’s been playing MTG for almost eight years, though I only recently began experimenting with writing content. My personal formats of choice are Oathbreaker, EDH, and draft. My other interests include music, education, and most things nerdy. You can find me on Twitter (@AAAEnders) or email me at aenders2112@gmail.com