The 52 Best Legendary Artifacts in Magic Ranked

Last updated on August 31, 2025

The One Ring | Illustration by Veli Nyström

While there are many card types, like creatures, enchantments, and lands, among others, some stand out among the rest because of a supertype called “legendary,” making them unique lore-wise as well as how they’re played.

Legendary artifacts in Magic: The Gathering were once a niche category, overshadowed by their creature counterparts. However, their allure has grown, transforming them into sought-after additions for both casual and competitive play. We’ll go over the best of them today, explore where they’ve been seen, and ranking them based on their playability and power.

Intrigued? Let’s dive in.

What Are Legendary Artifacts in MTG?

Aetherworks Marvel | Illustration by James Paick

Legendary artifacts have the card type “artifact” and the supertype “legendary” in their typeline.

Some cards like Tergrid, God of Fright can be cast in their artifact form (Tergrid's Lantern). However, for this list, I’ll be mentioning only the ones that are artifacts solely in their original form and don't transform into one at any given point in the game.

I’ll prioritize artifacts that see the most play in MTG formats and will rank them according to their playability, meaning that the most played ones are ranked higher than others that are just niche or in the theorycraft realm.

#52. The Millennium Calendar

There’s always a crazy mind that wants to win in convoluted ways, and The Millennium Calendar is the perfect legendary artifact to put your skills to the test. While it seems impossible to accomplish, cards like Gilder Bairn or Zimone, Paradox Sculptor can help you reach the threshold quicker.

#51. Codsworth, Handy Helper

Codsworth, Handy Helper is a relatively new card that I've seen in many different Commander decks, especially those that rely on auras or equipment due to its natural synergy with them. However, you can still run it even if you're not heavily supporting those strategies, as it provides protection in the form of ward for your commanders.

#50. Chimil, the Inner Sun

If there’s one card I’ve been hating a lot lately, it has to be Chimil, the Inner Sun. While discover is a very powerful ability on its own, the main problem is that you can't counter spells. This is especially frustrating because cards that prevent others from being cheated into play, like Boromir, Warden of the Tower, are rendered useless.

#49. The Spear of Leonidas

The Spear of Leonidas is a card I know well because, at some point in my adventures playing Duel Commander, a player used Kassandra, Eagle Bearer to fetch it. Since then, I've seen it as one of the best equipment cards you can run in your decks due to its versatility whenever you attack with the equipped creature.

#48. Lost Jitte

A bad Umezawa's Jitte is a good Jitte after all, and while Lost Jitte is considerably less powerful, it has still seen decent play in Modern Eldrazi decks, or decks that run Urza's Saga to tutor for it.

#47. The Aetherspark

There are many lore speculations surrounding The Aetherspark, the main one being that it’s Nicol Bolas‘s lost spark. Setting that debate aside, this card is the first-ever equipment planeswalker, and despite being new, it has already generated a lot of excitement among players.

#46. Mendicant Core, Guidelight

Speed was an interesting mechanic introduced in Aetherdrift, and Mendicant Core, Guidelight utilizes it by letting you double up on your artifacts by copying them for just 1 additional mana as they're cast.

#45. Valor's Flagship

With multiple powerful keyword abilities, Valor's Flagship is a vehicle that you can break with cards like Argivian Restoration. Its built-in cycling not only lets you cash it in for an extra card, but it also creates 1/1 tokens based on the extra mana you spend when cycling it.

#44. Iron Man, Titan of Innovation

Marvel fans will be excited to know there's a new artifact creature commander in town. Iron Man, Titan of Innovation excels at crafting powerful artifacts from scrap, as shown by its ability to turn small artifacts into bigger ones while also ramping you when it attacks. At worst, you’re spending 5 mana to tutor for a Sol Ring—not a bad deal at all.

#43. Arabella, Abandoned Doll

At first, Arabella, Abandoned Doll may seem like a fragile commander, but don’t be fooled. If it sticks around too long, it becomes a real threat. Players tend to run cheap creatures and efficient removal to keep the board clear. Before you know it, you could be overwhelmed before even getting a chance to declare blockers.

#42. Rendmaw, Creaking Nest

Rendmaw, Creaking Nest is an interesting card that can flood the board with ease if left unchecked. The flavor this being a scarecrow that goads the bird tokens it creates is cute, but be aware that you'll be forced to attack with them at some point.

#41. Mjölnir, Storm Hammer

If there’s one trait I love about equipment, it’s when they have the ability to auto-attach to creatures as soon as they enter the battlefield, like Mjölnir, Storm Hammer. Its second ability is also fantastic, allowing you to punish players who attacked you by tapping their tougher defensive creatures whenever you attack.

#40. Excalibur, Sword of Eden

Excalibur, Sword of Eden is the highest mana value equipment card you can run. In the right deck, usually an artifact-themed one, you can actually cast it for little to no cost. While you can only equip it to a legendary creature, it compensates for the hassle by providing a massive power boost, along with vigilance.

#39. Palantír of Orthanc

Palantír of Orthanc starts off slow, and you may not get full value from it until a few turns into the game. However, depending on your perspective, you can view it as a recursive way to deal damage to your opponents, or at the very least a self-mill tool that synergizes with graveyard strategies.

#38. Codie, Vociferous Codex

Codie, Vociferous Codex is a fun commander that’s often used in decks where you run very few creatures. It also shines in decks that play only instants and no counterspells, as, in essence, you’ll be “cascading” into cheaper spells every time you use Codie's ability. Being an artifact creature is probably a weakness here, since it's exposed to artifact removal and you're likely not leaning into any artifact-specific strategy.

#37. Aetherworks Marvel

Aetherworks Marvel has been a former top deck in Standard and MTG Arena‘s Historic format. These decks featured the signature card whose plan was to cheat big Eldrazi like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger into play for free. This card has also seen some Commander play, and it has more than one infinite combo, often including Clock of Omens, which isn't legendary for some reason. Treasure tokens work perfectly for decks running this card.

#36. The Seriema

The Seriema provides a handy tutor for legendary creatures and protection for tapped ones once you make it into a creature. I’m most excited to pair this with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and anything else that flickers the spacecraft so I can access a galaxy’s worth of silver bullets.

#35. Alhammarret's Archive

Alhammarret's Archive is a very specific artifact that has a significant niche in an Oloro, Ageless Ascetic Commander deck, and alongside other lifegain commanders in general.

#34. Bident of Thassa

Dealing damage and drawing cards are some of the most potent effects in aggressive blue decks, and Bident of Thassa is the perfect one for the job. Not only is it searchable with cards like Tezzeret the Seeker, but it also has a solid second ability that forces combats when your opponents may not want it, often leading to boards where you can attack freely.

#33. Bolas's Citadel

Bolas's Citadel is one of my favorite win conditions in sacrifice decks, like Jund Citadel in Pioneer, where cards like Prosperous Innkeeper give you back the life you lose from playing cards with this amazing black artifact. Once you reach a certain point, you can finish things off by sacrificing your board and dealing extra damage with the likes of Mayhem Devil.

#32. Mindslaver

For a while, Mindslaver was one of the best win conditions in multiple formats, all the way back to when it was played in Standard, and more commonly in Commander games. It’s not the prettiest card to face, as taking an opponent's turn is often lights out for them, and in some cases, more than one opponent may be punished because of it.

#31. The Immortal Sun

For 6 mana, you get to shut down every planeswalker on the field, draw an additional card on each of your turns, make your spells cost less to play, and pump all the creatures you control. If that isn’t good enough to make it onto this list, I honestly don't know what would be.

#30. Hazoret's Monument

From time to time, the weird Birgi, God of Storytelling + Grinning Ignus + Hazoret's Monument combo rises in popularity and then vanishes into shadow in Pioneer. Of the Amonkhet Monument cycle, this is my favorite because of its infinite potential.

#29. Whip of Erebos

Lifelink is a huge keyword to give to your creatures, and a static effect that gives it globally to all of them is no small feat. If that weren’t enough, it also has the ability to return creatures from the graveyard to play for a turn, with haste, for the small amount of just 4 mana. In its prime, it was a key part of mono-black devotion decks in Standard, and nowadays it's happy to be part of reanimator strategies in Commander.

#28. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer

Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer is a token-centric commander that’s very hard to beat when it manages to set up. The plan is to make a copy of a permanent with the likes of Mythos of Illuna and start making copies of it with Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer‘s ability.

#27. Reaper King

Five-color commanders can be pretty narrow, and artifact ones are even harder to find. Reaper King has a very cute combo with The World Tree + Maskwood Nexus, as you can theoretically put every creature from your deck onto the field and destroy as many permanents.

The Reaper King is also the best Halloween commander, just saying!

#26. The Darkness Crystal

The Darkness Crystal is too slow for non-Commander formats, but it shines in EDH. The pace of (casual) games is relaxed enough to give us time to leverage a 4-mana cost reducer that only begins to pay dividends after we hit 6 mana. The combination of graveyard hate and threats makes it the best of the legendary Crystals from Final Fantasy, and one that most black decks can justify playing.

#25. Forsaken Monument

When it comes to playing artifact-centric decks, Forsaken Monument is one of the best cards to have in your deck. It makes any colorless creature you play significantly cheaper and also gains you life in the process.

#24. The Mightstone and Weakstone

It seems a bit expensive, but having access to colorless removal is rare in MTG overall. It also provides raw card advantage and can act as a mana rock for artifact spells, which in a dedicated deck might seem good. In terms of playability, it's seen in toolbox sideboards like Mono-Green Devotion.

#23. The Endstone

The Endstone seems absolutely cracked in Commander. This will be the lynch pin of many a combo deck that requires ample card advantage, all for the minor downside of slashing your life total in your end step… assuming it’s a downside. It won’t be long until resetting your life total to 20 becomes a boon rather than a detriment. Between lifegain payoffs like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and life loss payoffs like Vilis, Broker of Blood, I’d be astonished if the end step trigger ever felt like a true punishment.

#22. The Stone Brain

Memoricide effects are usually only seen in black, but at 4 mana total, The Stone Brain provides a similar effect when played against combo decks that rely on narrow cards to win.

#21. Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender

One of my favorite cards from Wilds of Eldrane is Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender. Not only is the core concept cool, but Syr Ginger also fits perfectly in my favorite Pioneer deck, Rakdos Sacrifice. Every time one of your artifacts goes to the graveyard, this creature grows, and in a deck centered around Witch's Oven and Cauldron Familiar, you’d expect to see a lot of triggers throughout the course of a game.

#20. Skrelv, Defector Mite

Skrelv, Defector Mite may not seem like much, but it's a cheap threat that can start pressuring your opponents early in the game. In the long run, it can help protect your other creatures from spot removal and make them pseudo-unblockable with its activated ability.

#19. The Celestus

I’m not a big fan of 3-drop mana rocks. However, The Celestus is the exception, as it not only fixes for every color but also helps you stabilize complicated states that otherwise would be impossible to win without the incidental lifegain and looting it provides.

#18. The Great Henge

One of the best creaturefall cards and one of the best artifacts of all time has to be The Great Henge. True, it may be hard to cast sometimes, especially when your creatures are small. But once you resolve it, it's almost guaranteed to take over the game when unanswered, as you’ll fill the board in no time, stabilize your life total, and make your upcoming creatures bigger by default. It saw a lot of play during its Standard era, and it's the standard bearer of creature decks playing green in Commander.

#17. Embercleave

If there’s a legendary artifact to believe in, it has to be Embercleave. There are scenarios when this card just completely destroys defenses, and it's been key in Pioneer's aggressive mono-red builds. It was also one of the best cards in Standard in its prime.

#16. God-Pharaoh's Statue

God-Pharaoh's Statue is another artifact that mostly sees play in mono-green decks in Pioneer. It may be a bit too pricey to cast, but when you do, your opponents will mostly be locked out of the game as paying 2 more mana to cast their spells is a big deal.

#15. Esika's Chariot

Since its introduction, Esika's Chariot has seen a lot of play in Constructed formats like Standard and Pioneer. One of the best decks for it is Abzan Greasefang, where it pairs perfectly as an alternative to reanimating Parhelion II when paired with Greasefang, Okiba Boss.

#14. Agatha's Soul Cauldron

Agatha's Soul Cauldron is a powerful graveyard-hate card that was released in Wilds of Eldraine. Not only does it help keep self-mill strategies in check, but it also provides +1/+1 counters as long as you've exiled a creature with it. It also grants the exiled creature’s activated abilities to all creatures with a +1/+1 counter on them—which might not seem impressive at first, but just wait until someone exiles a Loot, the Pathfinder with it.

#13. The Ozolith

This is the perfect card for counter-moving strategies thanks to its excellent leaves-the-battlefield trigger. The Ozolith sees play in Modern because of its potential with the likes of Walking Ballista and Hardened Scales, where it's surprisingly solid if your opponents aren’t prepared.

#12. The Reality Chip

Modern and Legacy love The Reality Chip, one of the best blue artifacts, as it can be used in multiple combo lines, often paired with Emry, Lurker of the Loch artifact decks.

#11. The Chain Veil

If there’s one artifact that Pioneer devotion loves to run, it has to be The Chain Veil. With the Veil, players can activate their planeswalker abilities a second time, which is incredible with planeswalkers that untap permanents as one of their abilities.

#10. Parhelion II

When you think about Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II instantly comes to mind as the whole niche of this Pioneer deck is to put the latter into the graveyard so you can attack for 13 in one swing as early as turn 3, which is usually lights out for many decks of the format.

#9. Helm of the Host

This card is a pair with Godo, Bandit Warlord since Godo can search for it. Once you attach Helm of the Host, you get infinite combat phases and creature tokens.

#8. Kaldra Compleat

Decks like Stoneblade often like to run a single copy of Kaldra Compleat as you can cheat it into play for just 2 mana with the Stoneforge Mystic ability.

#7. Mox Amber

Mox Amber is the “budget” version of Mox Opal when the latter isn’t an option. It’s mainly seen in Historic decks along with Emry, Lurker of the Loch.

#6. Sen Triplets

One of the best theft commanders and among the strongest stax commanders, Sen Triplets is a very oppressive commander in an excellent color combination, as Esper excels at controlling the board and keeping threats alive with its perfect suite of removal and countermagic.

#5. Paradox Engine

Paradox Engine was banned from Commander for being powerful, but also being excessively time-consuming. It often produces non-deterministic combo lines that probably end in a game over, but require the player to juggle tapping and untapping permanents while also tracking mana in their mana pool. You can still get this experience with Captain Sisay decks in Brawl, among others.

#4. Golos, Tireless Pilgrim

Banned from Commander, Golos, Tireless Pilgrim was, in its prime, one of the most significant treats ever printed. Not only because of its ability to tutor key lands like The World Tree that can instantly fix your mana but also because if you pair it with spells like Emergent Ultimatum or Time Warp effects, it creates a very hostile environment and board state as you’ll be casting free spells left and right every turn.

#3. Mox Opal

Printed in Scars of Mirrodin, Mox Opal is one of the best cards with metalcraft in the game. Despite being legendary, it allows artifact-centric decks to run fewer lands than they should, and some strategies might even use it as part of their infinite combos (Rona, Herald of Invasion with Retraction Helix for example).

It’s commonly seen in Legacy, but it also plays a significant role in some Commander decks.

More recently, it was unbanned in Modern, despite being banned in 2020. Five years later, it no longer holds the same power as before, as new threats dominate the format.

#2. Umezawa's Jitte

Umezawa's Jitte has been considered one of the best artifacts and probably the best equipment for a long time. Once you get it going, combat becomes miserable for your opponents. It’s a potent option for aggressive Commander strategies, and it particularly shines in Stoneblade decks in Legacy.

#1. The One Ring

The One Ring is the best legendary artifact ever printed, and one of the strongest colorless ETB effects in the game. It’s a powerhouse in every deck of every format it's been a part of, and even the nerfed version of it in Historic is quite a challenge to overcome. Surprising no one, it was eventually banned in Modern and is part of the Game Changers cards to consider when building with the Commander Brackets in mind.

I wouldn’t pay a million dollars like Post Malone did, but certainly, its power justifies its monetary base price.

Best Legendary Artifact Payoffs

While there are cards like Tezzeret the Seeker which can tutor many of these artifacts, the legendary supertype also enables their use in decks that use legendary tutors like Captain Sisay.

Another card that benefits from running these is Kethis, the Hidden Hand. It makes all these artifacts cheaper, which is a massive deal to colorless ones like The Celestus or The One Ring. Plus, its ability lets you cast them from your graveyard.

Other commanders that can serve as payoffs or build-arounds for legendary artifacts are Jodah, the Unifier, Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, and Gandalf the White.

Of course, the regular artifact payoffs will also do the trick, as in the case of Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain or Mendicant Core, Guidelight.

Bard Class offers a cute synergy with your legendary artifacts as you’ll make some like Esika's Chariot a bit cheaper. The deal with it is that whenever you play one, you’ll get to play another card from the top of your library if the class is level three.

Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn

Since many of these permanents are already useful, adding cards that reward you just for casting them extends the value further. Card draw is a common reward, including cards like Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge and Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn that help to tear through your deck. You can also find other, slightly stronger payoffs in The Sixth Doctor and The Circle of Loyalty.

Wrap Up

Mox Opal | Illustration by Volkan Baga

There are tons of legendary artifacts in MTG history, and while some are expensive to cast, others like the Moxes help you to enable those faster starts that propel you into devastating turns.

Did you like the ranking? Were there any other artifacts you would have loved to see? Please let me know in the comments or over on Draftsim’s Discord!

As always, take care, and ‘til we meet again!