The 47 Best Artificers in Magic Ranked

Last updated on January 30, 2026

Sai, Master Thopterist | Illustration by DAI-XT

Artifacts play a major role in Magic, both in terms of story and gameplay, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that the artificers who craft them can also play an important part. Some of Magic’s most impactful characters like Urza and Jhoira are artificers, and their power in Magic’s narrative is reflected on their respective cards.

Though some of Magic’s best artificers are big names, there are also quite a few nameless artificer creatures that give them a run for their money. Let’s take a look at the best artificer cards in Magic that can help support your next artifact build.

What Are Artificers in MTG?

Lita, Mechanical Engineer | Illustration by Bartek Fedyczak

Artificer is a creature subtype in Magic. Artificers typically have some ability to interact with artifacts. That said, there are some exceptions like Armorcraft Judge which actually has nothing to do with artifacts, instead focusing entirely on +1/+1 counters.

Artificers are primarily blue cards (), red cards (), and white cards (), but have been represented in all five colors. This distribution of colors makes sense as these are the colors that tend to focus more heavily on artifact cards.

#47. Armorcraft Judge

Oh hey, look who it is! For the purposes of this list, I tried to focus more on artificers that actually have something to do with artifacts. My reasoning here is that if you’re searching for “best artificers” you’re probably doing so to help boost your artifact decks. That said, Armorcraft Judge is a solid green creature for a +1/+1 counter deck and can be more than worth its mana value in the right situation.

#46. Quicksmith Spy

Quicksmith Spy isn’t a top-tier artificer, but if you’re looking for some budget card draw support in an artifact deck, this human artificer isn’t terrible. I also like it for any deck built around artifact tokens, as it can give a Clue token or Food token some extra utility.

#45. Dauntless Dismantler

If you’re looking for some Treasure hate, you could do a lot worse than Dauntless Dismantler. This white creature won’t just stop your opponent from cracking their Treasure tokens immediately, but you can also sacrifice it for a single white mana to destroy all artifact tokens on the board. This creature can be effective even as general artifact hate, but I find it most effective against artifact tokens.

#44. Faerie Artisans

In theory, Faerie Artisans should scale as the game goes on, continuing to give you increasingly bigger threats as your opponents build their board state. While this blue creature sometimes works that way, it’s really down to luck. If you’re playing against someone who only runs low-to-the-ground creatures, you may never get something even worth 4 mana. But, if you like an element of chance in your decks, this faerie artificer can occasionally pay off.

#43. Audacious Reshapers

Activating Audacious Reshapers can be a little risky, but it can also pay off big time. This card works best if you have a way to tutor something to the top of your deck, therefore guaranteeing you get a good exchange. You might not get to swap a Treasure token for a Blightsteel Colossus every time you use this card, but the fact that you sometimes can is worth considering.

#42. Lita, Mechanical Engineer

Lita, Mechanical Engineer can be very helpful in a deck that is building around vehicles. You can tap an artifact creature to crew a vehicle, attack with that vehicle, then untap both at the beginning of your end step. This allows you to crew the vehicle as a blocker even if you attacked with it.

#41. Tawnos, Urza’s Apprentice

Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice’s doubling an artifact’s activated ability or triggered ability can be pretty powerful. For instance, if you’re firing off an Aetherflux Reservoir, you’re likely able to take out multiple players at once instead of just one. You can also point this Izzet card () at a Lithoform Engine activation to get even more copies of a given spell.

#40. Enthusiastic Mechanaut

Cost reduction like Enthusiastic Mechanaut is especially powerful in artifact decks since it gives you the chance to cast most colorless cards for free. That said, Enthusiastic Mechanaut does have a few downsides. Its mana cost is more restrictive than something like Cloud Key, and as an artifact creature with flying, Enthusiastic Mechanaut is one of the most easily removed permanents there is.

#39. Feldon, Ronom Excavator

I enjoy cards like Feldon, Ronom Excavator that force my opponents to make decisions. Do you let me hit you for a few damage, or do you let me get some card advantage? If you need to, you can always hit this red creature yourself with a Shock or Lightning Bolt to get some impulsive draw.

#38. Adric, Mathematical Genius

Adric, Mathematical Genius is good for similar reasons as Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice, but it’s helpful in more situations. Not only can this card copy abilities from artifacts and non-artifacts alike, it can also go in a wider range of Commander decks because it’s only a single color. You can also sacrifice Adric, Mathematical Genius to shut down an opponent’s ability and easily recast this blue artificer if you’re using it as one of your commanders.

#37. Miles “Tails” Prower

Miles “Tails” Prower, Sonic the Hedgehog’s wingman, is an interesting flying-matters commander. It gives flying to vehicles, in a nice reference to Sonic’s red airplane, or you can draw cards when your vehicle already flying – and a lot of the good ones fly, like Skysovereign, Consul Flagship or The Lunar Whale. Besides, a 3/1 flash flier is easy to slot into other decks.

#36. The Mechanist, Aerial Artisan

The Mechanist, Aerial Artisan is an interesting support card for spellslinger decks or artifact token decks. Creating Clues while you spellsling ensures that you have gas in the late game, and some of these tokens can become 3/1 fliers for a turn. It’s not permanent, and you can only do that once per turn, which is a considerable limitation. If you're building around investigate and clues, or artifact matters in general, you can easily slot this card in.

#35. Brenard, Ginger Sculptor

Brenard, Ginger Sculptor is a fun Bant commander () that gives you a lot of flexibility to build around. This card’s abilities synergize well with each other and are generally good in a creature-heavy build. You can go Bant good stuff or lean harder into other food cards and synergies if you choose.

#34. Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer

Right off the bat, is Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer as good as Daretti, Scrap Savant? No, it’s not. It’s more expensive, and you have to attack to get what’s typically an ability you could activate right away. That said, I think this newer Daretti could slot into the 99 of an old Daretti deck, or another artifact deck running red.

Red has a lot of rummaging effects, which makes it easy to discard a powerful artifact which you can then cheat out with this goblin artificer. If you’re running pricey artifacts, Daretti, Rocketeer Engineer can become a threatening attacker.

#33. The Capitoline Triad

The Capitoline Triad requires some building around for it to work well. Looting some historic cards pays you off immensely. You can go down the “quantity” or “quality” route. If you have a lot of artifacts that you can sacrifice, like your typical eggs, you’ll be able to cast this card very quickly. But for its powerful emblem activation, you’ll need historic cards that are very expensive, like Metalwork Colossus or Excalibur, Sword of Eden. Colorless has nice ways to loot, too, like Collector's Vault. I’d try to first slot this card in a compatible deck, and then try to build around it.

#32. Weftstalker Ardent

Weftstalker Ardent deserves a mention because of its combo potential. If you set an artifact or creature infinite loop, it’s easy to warp this card in just by paying , and you have a win condition. Plus, it's another version of Reckless Fireweaver for decks that want maximum redundancy.

#31. Forensic Gadgeteer

In an artifact deck, Forensic Gadgeteer’s ability to create Clue tokens has a lot of utility. Aside from Clues being a potential source of card draw (a cheaper one thanks to this card), they’re also artifact tokens. That means they can trigger any abilities that care about the number of artifacts you control or be tapped for mana by a creature like Urza, Lord High Artificer. This artificer detective also reduces equip costs and other activated artifact abilities.

#30. Cid, Timeless Artificer

The best part about this card is that it’s easy to build and play a Cid, Timeless Artificer deck. You just need a good chunk of them, and while it’s not in the great spirit of the Commander format, there’s something special about a deck with 20+ of the same uncommon card. Especially when each one has different art! Play a Cid, attack, and cycle the other ones at instant speed, so you get more cards and potentially more Cids. In the late game, your Cids are very powerful, and you can add more artificers to your deck, as well as more ways to draw and discard cards. It ends up being more fun to play than a bunch of Relentless Rats.

#29. Etherium Sculptor

Etherium Sculptor is a general upgrade from Enthusiastic Mechanaut. Its casting cost is less restrictive, it can go in a wider range of decks, and it doesn’t have flying, so it dodges one type of removal (albeit not the most popular). While this card is a worse attacker or blocker, that’s not why I include cost reduction cards in a deck, so I’d prefer the one that’s easier to get out and has a slightly better chance of staying there.

#28. Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith

On its own, Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith may not seem very powerful, but this red commander can be pretty effective when paired up with the right partner commander. One solid pairing for Toggo is Thrasios, Triton Hero, who can help you get extra landfall triggers. Additionally, with access to blue, you can use Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer to turn your Rocks into a hoard of treasure or an army of artifact creatures, or even try to get a Mechanized Production win.

#27. Osgir, the Reconstructor

Osgir, the Reconstructor is a bit of an odd duck for a Boros commander (), as its abilities focus heavily on sacrificing permanents and interacting with your graveyard. This giant artificer can be very effective, allowing you to get multiple ETB triggers off cards like Meteor Golem or dropping two copies of Sol Ring for just 1 mana.

#26. Sami, Wildcat Captain

Sami, Wildcat Captain offers affinity for artifacts (which we all know is a dangerous mechanic) on all spells, and that’s “wild”. Yes, it costs 6 mana to balance the card’s power. But building around this card allows you to dump your hand and do broken stuff while you draw some cards and keep the chain going. A 4/4 double strike body is also a good equipment wielder if you want to go that route.

#25. Nahiri, Forged in Fury

Nahiri, Forged in Fury is a solid equipment commander. Not only does affinity make it easier to cast the more equipment you have, but this card also helps you find equipment and cast them for free. The fact that Nahiri’s attack trigger isn’t limited to specifically Nahiri’s attacks and that it can trigger multiple times per turn makes this card a good source of card advantage.

I also give Nahiri, Forged in Fury points for being a legendary creature version of a planeswalker where it would make sense mechanically to include all of that character’s planeswalker cards, and where you can actually do that within its color identity *cough cough* Ajani *cough*.

#24. Ironwill Forger

I’m rating this card 100% on the myriad ability. Ironwill Forger can give any nonlegendary creature myriad, and this ability is rare for a reason. It won’t work on legendary creatures, but this card works wonders in a UB or Esper () deck with all the saboteur creatures and good enters abilities. Giving myriad to Mulldrifters is a strong proposition, and the same can be said about a Gray Merchant of Asphodel in an Orzhov () deck.

#23. Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is a fun artificer to build around if you’re considering expensive artifact spells and their unique effect. Cards like Darksteel Forge or The Immortal Sun can be clunky to cast at full mana value, but here, your commander allows you to loot them and create small copies. Leonardo also boosts all your thopters, so cards like Whirler Rogue or Sai, Master Thopterist play nicely with the old Italian inventor around.

#22. Satya, Aetherflux Genius

Satya, Aetherflux Genius is the most popular energy commander, and it’s easy to see why. This was the face commander of Modern Horizons 3’s energy-focused Commander precon, and it offers you some powerful effects.

Satya’s attack trigger allows you to attack with a copy of your most powerful creature while having the option to leave the original up as a blocker or just keep it safe from dying in combat. This card also generates a fair bit of energy itself and gives you a strong use for it.

#21. Ashnod the Uncaring

Ashnod existed as a character in Magic long before she got her first card, so I’ll admit I was a little disappointed when Ashnod the Uncaring finally came out. Even worse that the legend doesn't synergize with the namesake Ashnod's Altar, since that card's activation is a mana ability.

Ashnod the Uncaring is far from bad, though; it’s perfectly designed to be the Grixis commander () of a sacrifice deck. I just think it’s hard for any character who’s been around for 30 years to live up to the hype when they’re finally printed (though one artificer on this list managed to do that).

#20. Marionette Apprentice

With an abundance of support for artifact tokens from Treasures to Maps, Marionette Apprentice is quickly becoming a more valuable game piece for any black deck looking for another way to drain life. In the right build, this card could easily do more work than a Blood Artist, especially because it hits all opponents.

#19. Sai, Master Thopterist

Any artifact deck looking to get extra value out of its cards should consider including Sai, Master Thopterist. Creating extra flying creatures on each cast means you’re generating a decent defense or even a moderate threat depending on how the battlefield looks. Your Thopter tokens can also be used to activate abilities (including Sai's) or to fuel any artifacts matter effects.

#18. Sandstorm Salvager

Sandstorm Salvager is another exception to my rule of focusing on artificers that are good for artifact decks. While this card does make you a 3/3 Golem, its true strength comes from its activated ability. This green artificer can be very effective in any token build and can even help you close out a game if you have enough token creatures.

#17. Marionette Master

Marionette Master is essentially a deadlier version of Marionette Apprentice, which is also a flavor win for WotC’s design team. This black creature can enter as a 4/6, allowing you to then hit a player for 4 for each artifact you sacrifice. Remember, this includes Treasure tokens!

#16. Padeem, Consul of Innovation

Padeem, Consul of Innovation can be a valuable addition to any artifact deck because artifact removal tends to be a bit cheaper and have less caveats than creature removal. If you’re playing an artifact heavy build and this card is protecting your artifacts, you’re also more likely to draw a card off Padeem’s second ability.

#15. Loran of the Third Path

Loran of the Third Path offers a lot of value, from its unnatural removal to being a source of card draw accessible in mono-white decks. This white artificer can also be used in Commander to help out an opponent if you’re working together to stop a bigger threat at the table.

#14. Master Transmuter

Master Transmuter allows you to trade a cheap artifact or even an artifact token for a more expensive artifact in your hand. You can also use this ability as a method to bounce artifacts with good ETB abilities and immediately slap them back down to get another trigger.

#13. Feldon of the Third Path

Feldon of the Third Path’s activated ability is powerful for a few reasons. Unlike many similar effects, this card doesn’t exile the creature you’re copying. This means you can feasibly clone the same creature each turn for 3 mana (looking at you Etali, Primal Conqueror). Making the cloned creature an artifact also gives you some added utility as you can use it for effects like bargain or get payoffs from cards that care about artifacts entering or leaving the battlefield.

#12. Arcum Dagsson

Arcum Dagsson has several uses, though one’s riskier than the other. The safest way to use this card is to aim it at one of your own artifact creatures then use it to grab an important and expensive artifact from your deck. That said, if your opponent drops something like a Blightsteel Colossus which can be hard to remove, you have the option of hitting it with this, though you risk them pulling out another powerful artifact in its place.

#11. Kilo, Apogee Mind

Kilo, Apogee Mind offers a lot of possibilities by proliferating when you tap it. Many mechanics like vehicles, spacecraft, and mounts already require you to tap a creature, so these should be nice enablers for Kilo. Proliferate allows you to play spacecraft, planeswalkers, energy, or even infect creatures, and Kilo fits all those shells nicely.

#10. Cayth, Famed Mechanist

Cayth, Famed Mechanist is a very versatile card that allows you to go wide with artifact tokens or tall with +1/+1 counters. It also gives you a choice between populating your tokens or proliferating your counters. Unlike Kilo, Apogee Mind, you have to pay 2 mana to tap this card and get the ability, but the two cards work well together. Blink effects will allow you to fabricate more and get more goodies.

#9. Goblin Engineer

Being able to tutor an artifact to your graveyard for 2 mana already makes Goblin Engineer worth playing in my opinion. It doesn’t matter if you search up an artifact that is too expensive for this card to retrieve from the graveyard, because there are plenty of other effects that can help get it back in your hand or cheat it out.

#8. Mishra, Claimed by Gix

Just like in Magic’s story, Mishra’s cards often fail to reach the same heights as those featuring his brother Urza. While some Urza cards are objectively better, I’ve never had as much fun playing with them as I have Mishra, Claimed by Gix.

Mishra, Claimed by Gix ensures you get at least something out of every attack, even if all your creatures are chump blocked. Coupling this with lifegain payoffs or ways to increase life drain like Wound Reflection can put a lot of pressure on your opponents.

Melding this card into Mishra, Lost to Phyrexia is relatively simple since black has access to quite a few tutors. You can also use Gamble to find Phyrexian Dragon Engine, and use its unearth ability if it happens to be discarded.

#7. Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter

Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter’s abilities always give you two permanents for the price of one, and they can fuel one another to guarantee you’re always coming out ahead. It’s possible to create an infinite loop with Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter if you have Clock of Omens and have a way to make Jan Jansen into an artifact, something like Liquimetal Torque or Liquimetal Coating.

Being part of an infinite combo is nice, but what makes Jan Jansen, Chaos Crafter even more powerful is that it’s a legendary creature. This means you can put part of an infinite combo into your command zone, cutting down on variance and greatly increasing your chances of pulling it off.

#6. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer offers quite a bit of flexibility for any deck that creates tokens. There’s the obvious combat-focused implications, like turning all your tokens into Constructs that buff each other and overrun your opponents. But even before you reach these heights, Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer can offer you some value.

#5. Urza, Lord Protector

Urza, Lord Protector can meld into Urza, Planeswalker, but in truth this card is more powerful in its original state. Its artifact cost reduction allows this to be part of an infinite Sensei's Divining Top combo and can also turn your Sol Ring into an even better version of the now-banned Mana Crypt. This gets a much higher spot on the list than the other creatures that discount artifacts because you can use it as your Azorius commander (), ensuring you get your cost reduction quickly.

#4. Goblin Welder

Goblin Welder is absurdly powerful for a 1-drop. Not only can it cheat out any artifact from your graveyard, but it can also force an opponent to sacrifice a powerful artifact in exchange for a less-threatening one in their graveyard. It also costs no mana to activate, and it’s red, a color with plenty of ways to give it haste.

#3. Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain

Historic card types are such a wide group of Magic cards that it’s easy to build a Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain where almost every card you play replaces itself with a new card. You also have the luxury of thinning out your deck by including a bunch of cheerios, essentially cutting down on variance, while also allowing yourself more ways to activate any card draw payoffs.

#2. Stoneforge Mystic

Stoneforge Mystic gives you a lot of value for a 2-mana creature. It’s both an equipment tutor and a way to cheat a piece of equipment out onto the field at instant speed. Even if this kor artificer isn’t particularly powerful at attacking or blocking, getting an extra body on top of its great abilities is still a good benefit.

#1. Urza, Lord High Artificer

Like Ashnod, Urza was introduced back in 1994. Unlike Ashnod, when he was finally printed on a legendary creature card –yes, I know about Blind Seer–Urza didn’t disappoint.

Urza, Lord High Artificer is the type of powerful creature that a lot of players probably groan about the instant they see it in the command zonae. It gives you two bodies for the price of one, turns all your artifacts into mana rocks, and allows you to play random spells for free. If I have one complaint about this card it’s that it’s so good, my friends don’t want me to play with it anymore.

Best Artificer Payoffs

Because artificers typically serve as artifact support, there aren’t a lot of cards specifically built to payoff playing a lot of artificers. A few cards mention artificers explicitly. For example, Saheeli, Radiant Creator and Era of Innovation give you energy counters whenever an artificer enters the battlefield. The Archimandrite lets you use them to draw cards and beat down. Inventor's Goggles is a much worse payoff, but still, you’re probably going to include it in an artificer deck.

Cid, Timeless Artificer is a special build-around card, in that it’s an enabler and a payoff for artificer decks.

A better way to ensure you’re getting the most out of your artificers is usually to include them in an artifact-heavy build, since that’s what they’re meant to support. Low-cost artifacts like Sensei's Divining Top pair well with any artificers that reduce cost, while cards that give you more artifacts like Mechanized Production pair well with any artificers that care about the number of artifacts you control.

For artificers that can cheat artifacts out of the graveyard, looting effects like Faithless Looting can work well, as can cards like Entomb.

As of now, however, I wouldn’t really advise trying to force an artificer typal deck to work. These creatures tend to be the payoff for artifacts more often than needing one themselves.

Do Artificers Count as Artifacts?

Artificers don’t automatically count as artifacts. “Artificer” simply references the fact that the creature depicted on the card works with artifacts. Some artificers happen to be artifacts, but only if the card specifies that they’re an artifact creature.

Finishing Touch

Urza, Lord High Artificer | Illustration by Mark Tedin

If you’re looking to build a new artifact-themed deck, you should really consider including some of these powerful artificers. Some like Urza, Lord High Artificer and Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain may even be cards you should consider building an entire deck around if you’ve never tried them out before.

Do you have a favorite artificer? Do you think all card types should have a support creature type like this? Let me know in the comments or join some of the discussions on Draftsim’s Discord.

Thank you for reading and see you next time!