All 9 Tezzeret Planeswalkers in Magic Ranked

Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh | Illustration by Bryan Sola

Though Magic has no shortage of villains, I find few as compelling as Tezzeret. A bold, powerful artificer, Tezzeret has no shortage of ambition, yet he often finds himself under the thumb a more significant threat to the Multiverse, like Nicol Bolas or Elesh Norn.

Now that Tezzeret has broken free of the Multiverse, we might see him become a threat in his own right, one to rival the villains he worked under. Or perhaps he could take a new course. Whichever way Tezzeret goes, we can comfortably say he’ll be a perfect support piece for artifact decks, like all his planeswalker cards.

What Are Tezzeret Planeswalkers in MTG?

Tezzeret, Cruel Captain | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Tezzeret planeswalkers are typically blue and or Dimir planeswalkers () that represent Tezzeret, a planeswalker from the Esper shard of Alara, and have the Tezzeret type. As Tezzeret is an artificer, his planeswalkers inevitably care about artifacts. Options include creating artifacts, rewarding you for controlling a critical mass of them, and drawing artifacts.

#9. Tezzeret, Master of Metal

Tezzeret, Master of Metal falls prey to the Planeswalker Deck curse: Any planeswalker designed for these decks has underwhelming abilities and generally costs too much mana. This one is admittedly close to playability, though. The -3 ability in particular has lots of potential as a finisher for an aggressive deck with artifact creatures. If only it weren’t 6 mana….

#8. Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist

Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist is another Planeswalker Deck exclusive that comes surprisingly close to greatness. The uptick isn’t worth it on a 6-mana planeswalker—there are 4-mana planeswalkers with better card advantage on the uptick—but the 0 ability could be good. The main thing that holds it back is that the artifact becomes a 5/5 temporarily. If it were a permanent animation, as on other Tezzerets (that cost less mana!), this could be pretty good. As is? Basically unplayable.

#7. Tezzeret, Artifice Master

Tezzeret, Artifice Master ups the quality with a cheaper cost and strong card advantage. Making Thopters is far from irrelevant. They’re useful chump blockers for Tezzeret, and they synergize with cards that care about a bunch of evasive artifacts. The ultimate is one of the better ones to go with a Doubling Season, if you’re so inclined.

#6. Tezzeret the Schemer

Tezzeret the Schemer is extremely okay. The off-brand Treasure tokens serve multiple uses in an artifact deck: They help to cast spells or provide critical mass for cards like Urza, Lord High Artificer or even this Tezzeret’s own ultimate. It’s always dicey to evaluate a planeswalker on their ultimate since it takes so much time to reach, but the Schemer’s ability feels achievable at only two upticks. Making a 5/5 each turn provides a convincing win condition, even if it’s a touch slow.

#5. Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh

Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh packages several great abilities into one planeswalker. The uptick is just Thirst for Knowledge, and the static ability is busted with Clue generation or other repeatable artifact mana sinks, like Breya, Etherium Shaper or Insight Engine. You need a way to maximize the static ability before this becomes exciting, but that’s an easy prerequisite.

#4. Tezzeret, Cruel Captain

Colorless cards are tricky to design. Because any deck can run them, their power needs to be mitigated so they don’t overwhelm the meta, as we saw with The One Ring’s domination of Modern: Practically every deck could run it, so they did. The main way Wizards addresses this is with high mana costs; any deck can run a colorless card, but not all of them can spend 7 or 8 mana. There are cheaper Karns, but they’re just kinda weak.

Tezzeret, Cruel Captain balances the colorless issue by caring too much about artifacts to go in every deck. And it’s a pretty convincing artifact planeswalker. The tutor is very strong, especially in formats where it finds Magic’s most busted cards, like Moxen and Mana Vault. The ultimate works very well, too. It’s a good closer that’s easily achievable with the static ability to add counters—remember, it doesn’t specify nontoken artifacts, so producing Treasure and Clues helps. Particularly good draws can even ultimate Tezzeret the turn you cast it, though that’s unlikely to happen on turn 3.

#3. Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge

Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge has a high cost, but that static ability makes up for it. Giving your creatures and artifacts affinity provides an immense advantage. The right setup makes casting this a multi-spell turn, even if you need to tap out. The card verges on being a glass cannon since it doesn’t protect itself, but between affinity and the massive damage (to each opponent, so it scales well in Commander) you might only need it for a turn or two anyway.

#2. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas doesn’t scale well into Commander, but it excels in Cube. A 4-mana planeswalker that comes with a 5/5 ensures that Tezzeret is protected in combat and impacts the game, even if it eats an immediate Get Lost. It also has an extremely achievable ultimate since you only need to keep it around for a turn to zap an opponent, which ends the game quite easily.

#1. Tezzeret the Seeker

Tezzeret the Seeker has another very achievable ultimate that you only need a turn for, and it’s a wonderful win condition. Though the animation is only temporary, it’s leagues better than Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist’s temporary animation because it hits all your artifacts, including Treasure, so you can rush your opponents down. But that isn’t even the best part of the card.

The uptick shines with mana rocks, primarily ones like Mana Vault and Basalt Monolith that tap for multiple mana. It also has utility with artifacts that tap as a cost for their activated abilities, like Shorikai, Genesis Engine. But even that ability is overshadowed by the tutor.

If you activate it the turn you play Tezzeret, you can put an artifact that costs up to 4 mana into play, and there are so many good options. Combo pieces like Basalt Monolith and Cloudstone Curio, stax/protection like Null Rod or Ensnaring Bridge, or just capital “G” Good cards like The One Ring and Mana Vault are at your disposal.

Tezzeret Payoffs

Very few cards reference Tezzeret specifically. Tezzeret's Simulacrum and Tezzeret's Strider are terrible artifact creatures that merely become awful if you control a Tezzeret. Tezzeret's Betrayal is almost okay as a removal spell that draws a card, but that card is always Tezzeret, Master of Metal. I don’t want that planeswalker in my deck, let alone a card dependent on it.

Looking further abroad, Tezzeret loves all of blue’s artifact stuff. As a general rule, Tezzerets care more about having a board full of artifacts as opposed to a few quality or expensive artifacts. This makes artifact token generators like Third Path Iconoclast, Worldwalker Helm, and anything that makes Thopters, Treasure, and Clues very good, while expensive artifacts Spine of Ish Sah and Portal to Phyrexia are less important.

For the Tezzerets that animate artifacts, permanently or otherwise, there are some useful tools. If you animate a vehicle like Smuggler's Copter or Parhelion II, you get any combat-related abilities without worrying about crew costs. Indestructible artifacts like Darksteel Citadel and Nutrient Block are also great to animate.

Who Is Tezzeret?

Tezzeret's Ambition | Illustration by Tyler Jacobson

Tezzeret is an ambitious artificer from Esper. After a grueling childhood in Tidehollow, Tezzeret clawed his way into the order of Seekers on Esper, only to be beaten for transgressions, which awakened his spark. Tezzeret planeswalked to Grixis, where he encountered Nicol Bolas, and he began to serve the dragon planeswalker. He led the Infinite Consortium under Bolas for a time before orchestrating a coup to seize control of the interplanar smuggling ring. Once he had it under control, he recruited Jace Beleren to protect himself against Bolas’s spies. Eventually, Jace turned against Tezzeret and defeated him, breaking his mind and leaving him on Kamigawa.

Bolas would come to Kamigawa and take Tezzeret, and eventually make him a servant once more. Tezzeret helped Bolas plan the War of the Spark, primarily by stealing an interplanar bridge from Avishkar that would transport an army of eternalized zombies from Amonkhet to Ravnica. After Bolas’s defeat by the Gatewatch, Tezzeret started to serve Elesh Norn, aiding New Phyrexia in exchange for a darksteel body. After the invasion of the multiverse failed and Elesh Norn attempted to betray him, Tezzeret went to the Edge beyond the Multiverse.

Is Tezzeret Alive? Is He Desparked?

Yes, and no. Elesh Norn tried to double cross Tezzeret, but he successfully escaped. We last saw Tezzeret in Edge of Eternities, with a planeswalker card, indicating that he retained his spark after the Omenpaths opened.

What Other Tezzeret Cards Are There?

• Tezzeret's Ambition
• Tezzeret's Betrayal
• Tezzeret's Gambit
• Tezzeret's Gatebreaker
• Tezzeret's Reckoning
• Tezzeret's Simulacrum
• Tezzeret's Strider
• Tezzeret's Touch

Wrap Up

Tezzeret, Artifice Master | Illustration by Josh Hass

Tezzeret is a fascinating character, and he has an extremely cohesive mechanical design as a planeswalker that demands to be surrounded by artifice. Because they all work with artifacts under similar mechanics, you can build around Tezzeret easily or just use one or two of them to enhance your strategy.

Which Tezzeret planeswalker do you play? Do you hope to see more of him in the future, or do you want Wizards to introduce a new artifact-focused planeswalker? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!