Magic: the Gathering has had countless Archetypes over its 30-year lifespan. Tribal decks have always been a mainstay, and the same with control. One archetype that always shows up eventually is artifacts. Artifacts have been a powerful choice to build your deck around. These decks will typically use lots of colorless creatures, artifacts, and planeswalkers.
Some artifact decks are synergistic, while others only need a single artifact to take off. Let’s take a look at a handful of artifact decks from standard and historic. We’ll rank them, talk about how they play, and look at the decklists.
7. Izzet Artifact Aggro
A distant relative of the Energizer Bunny.
This is an aggressive burn deck with the option to sideboard in some counters, which is very painful to play against. A playset of Rabbit Battery and Reinforced Ronin will allow you to establish a board presence and do some poke damage on turn one.
Patchwork Automaton and Mindlink Mech make for a serious threat, as Patchwork Automaton gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast an artifact spell, and Mindlink Mech will become a flying copy of whatever crewed it. Overall, this deck is especially dangerous against opponents who take a few turns to get rolling.
What this deck excels in:
- Strike first, strike fast with Rabbit Battery and Reinforced Ronin
- Strong artifact synergy between Enthusiastic Mechanaut, Patchwork Automaton, and Lizard Blades, causing a very fast ramp-up
- Plenty of Board control options with Abrade, Twinshot Sniper, and an optional Spell Pierce
- Eater of Virtue allows you to transfer abilities such as flying to a different creature at the cost of exiling one of your creatures
Decklist:
- 4 Rabbit Battery
- 4 Reinforced Ronin
- 4 Patchwork Automaton
- 4 Lizard Blades
- 2 Ogre-Head Helm
- 4 Enthusiastic Mechanaut
- 4 Twinshot Sniper
- 2 Abrade
- 3 The Blackstaff of Waterdeep
- 1 Eater of Virtue
- 4 Mindlink Mech
- 5 Island
- 5 Mountain
- 4 Riverglide Pathway
- 4 Den of the Bugbear
- 4 Stormcarved Coast
- 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- Sideboard:
- 4 Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
- 4 Spell Pierce
- 2 Abrade
- 2 Disdainful Stroke
- 2 Thundering Rebuke
- 1 Island
6. Mono Blue Artifacts
Vantress Gargoyle is cheap and incredibly powerful, just make sure you can meet its requirements!
This is a more unorthodox deck and takes a few turns to get rolling, but once it does, look out. Stonecoil Serpent and Gingerbrute are good options for an early board presence, helping defend you while you fish for Teferi’s Tutelage. This card lets you draw a card and mills your opponent, which allows you to attack with your Vantress Gargoyle. This is a quick win condition, as it’s a 5/4 flying creature for only two mana.
The caveat is that the opponent must have seven or more cards in their graveyard for the Gargoyle to attack, and you must have four or more cards in your hand for it to block. It may not stomp like some top-tier decks, but it’ll certainly secure some wins in the hands of a strategic player.
What this deck excels in:
- Unorthodox deck builds can confuse an opponent who expects you to be playing the meta
- Constant pressure: forcing your opponent to mill each time you draw turns this into a war of attrition
- Strong board and graveyard control with Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, and Emry, Lurker of the Loch
Decklist:
- 4 Gingerbrute
- 3 Solemn Simulacrum
- 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
- 4 Vantress Gargoyle
- 2 Folio of Fancies
- 4 Crystalline Giant
- 4 Teferi’s Tutelage
- 3 Shambling Suit
- 4 Stonecoil Serpent
- 4 Arcanist’s Owl
- 3 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
- 3 Castle Vantress
- 1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
- 1 Bucklebury Ferry
- 2 Spire of Industry
- 2 Darksteel Citadel
- 14 Island
- Sideboard:
- 2x Mystical Dispute
- 1x Aether Gust
- 1x Sorcerous Spyglass
- 3x Grafdigger’s cage
- 4x Negate
- 2x Glass Casket
5. Azorius Artifacts
Make some tokens and draw some cards. Heck, draw all the cards! Hold half your library! That's the power of Curiosity Crafter.
This deck has strong options for board, spell, and creature control. It’s based on a unique mechanic: craft with artifact. This ability, combined with Market Gnome, allows you to transform your artifacts into much more powerful artifacts.
Being Blue and White, Azorius focuses on controlling the flow of battle while whittling away your opponent’s health. It only takes a few key pieces for this deck to become an overwhelming force and a serious threat to your enemy.
What this deck excels in:
- Strong board control with Braided Net, Glass Casket, and Otawara, Soaring City
- Plenty of reset buttons using Depopulate and Unstable Glyphbridge
- Direct damage options from Spring-Loaded Sawblades and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- Tokens quickly become a threat from Thousand Moons Smithy, Restless Anchorage, and Mirrex
Decklist:
- 4 Market Gnome
- 2 Thran Spider
- 2 Curiosity Crafter
- 2 Depopulate
- 4 Fabrication Foundry
- 2 Glass Casket
- 4 Spring-Loaded Sawblades
- 4 Braided Net
- 2 Thousand Moons Smithy
- 4 Unstable Glyphbridge
- 4 The Mightstone and Weakstone
- 1 Chimil, the Inner Sun
- 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- 6 Plains
- 2 Island
- 1 Otawara, Soaring City
- 2 Adarkar Wastes
- 3 Deserted Beach
- 4 Restless Anchorage
- 4 Demolition Field
- 2 Mirrex
- Sideboard:
- 2x Fragmentize
- 1x Tormod’s Crypt
- 3x Negate
- 2x Sorcerous Spyglass
- 2x Disdainful Stroke
- 1x Pithing Needle
4. UB Affinity
The Thought Monitor seems expensive, but with enough Artifacts on the board, it becomes nearly free.
This deck is built around the Affinity for artifacts ability. This causes the spell to cost 1 less to play for each artifact you control. Seeing as every creature you have is an artifact creature, this can get out of hand rather quickly.
Start out strong with Memnites and Ornithopters, both free-to-play artifact creatures, then follow it up with a Frogmite, Myr Enforcer, or Sojourner’s Companion for a cheap and nasty beast. Next turn, put a Cranial Plating on your big beast and watch your opponent scramble.
What this deck excels in:
- Fast, powerful synergy
- Lots of card-draw and search utilities
- Potent graveyard control in sideboard
- Plenty of flying creatures
Decklist:
- 4 Frogmite
- 1 Gingerbrute
- 4 Memnite
- 2 Myr Enforcer
- 4 Ornithopter
- 4 Sojourner’s Companion
- 4 Thought Monitor
- 1 Aether Spellbomb
- 4 Blood Fountain
- 4 Cranial Plating
- 1 Shadowspear
- 4 Springleaf Drum
- 1 Welding Jar
- 3 Thoughtcast
- 4 Urza’s Saga
- 4 Darksteel Citadel
- 1 Glimmervoid
- 3 Mistvault Bridge
- 1 Sanctum of Ugin
- 2 Spire of Industry
- 3 Treasure Vault
- 1 Watery Grave
- Sideboard:
- 2 Dampening Sphere
- 2 Dispatch
- 1 Echoing Truth
- 2 Etched Champion
- 1 Grafdigger’s Cage
- 1 Pithing Needle
- 1 Relic of Progenitus
- 3 Stubborn Denial
- 1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
- 1 Thieving Skydiver
3. Mono-green Stompers
Primordial Hydra is always the biggest threat on the battlefield, and it gets bigger every turn. Keep it safe.
This deck is built around the tried and true green strategy of playing big creatures and using +1/+1 counters to make them bigger. The Ozolith gives you the ability to redistribute the counters from any of your creatures that die, which causes the enemy’s attack to strengthen your creatures. Steel Overseer quickly ramps up your artifact creatures and Scavenging Ooze can shut down graveyard decks.
What this deck excels in:
- Quickly producing large creatures
- Pumping creatures up with +1/+1 counters
- Mana ramp options Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Visionary, and Sol Ring
- Direct damage options with Ram Through and Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
Decklist:
- 4x Pelt Collector
- 2x Primordial Hydra
- 4x Scavenging Ooze
- 4x Steel Overseer
- 3x Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig
- 4x Stonecoil Serpent
- 2x Llanowar Visionary
- 2x Elvish Mystic
- 4x Gingerbrute
- 4x Ram Through
- 4x Aspect of Hydra
- 4x The Ozolith
- 1x Sol Ring
- 12x Forest
- 2x Castle Garenbrig
- 2x Bonders' Enclave
- 2x Faceless Haven
- Sideboard:
- 3x Gemrazer
- 3x Ranger's Guile
- 2x Thrashing Brontodon
- 2x Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
2. Mono White Artifacts
Toxic counters can sometimes get players to concede before the game has even started. It's a headache to deal with.
This deck is all about synergy. Your aggressive early-game creatures help to keep your enemy on the backfoot as you build an overwhelming swarm of artifact tokens. Ornithopter and Gingerbrute are excellent on the first few turns, and can quickly end games when combined with Skrelv, Defector Mite for flying, toxic thopters. Retrofitter Foundry gets out of hand quickly when left unchecked, and Portable Hole can shut down any large threats your enemy poses.
What this deck excels at:
- Synergistic pressure from artifacts
- Early aggression with Gingerbrute, Ornithopter and Skrelv, Defector Mite
- Spell tax from Esper Sentinel will slow your enemy’s strategy
- Win a couple of games by default just for using Toxic counters
Decklist:
- 4x Ornithopter
- 4x Gingerbrute
- 4x Esper Sentinel
- 4x Toolcraft Exemplar
- 3x Skrelv, Defector Mite
- 4x Ingenious Smith
- 3x Ghalma the Shaper
- 4x Michiko’s Reign of Truth
- 4x Retrofitter Foundry
- 4x Portable hole
- 2x Barbed Spike
- Sideboard:
- 2x Deafening Silence
- 1x Fragmentize
- 1x Rest in Peace
- 1x Grafdigger's cage
- 2x Baffling End
- 1x Disenchant
- 2x Pacifism
- 1x Damping Sphere
- 2x Lapse of Certainty
1. Artifact Ramp
Tezzeret is an absolute powerhouse in this deck and ensures your hand will never be empty.
This deck revolves around Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh, and a large array of artifacts to control the ebb and flow of battle. Tezzeret’s -6 emblem provides an incredible amount of card draw with the number of artifacts you have. With plenty of ways to cheat extra colorless mana, you can become a huge threat using Cityscape Leveler and Karn, Legacy Reforged.
Your sideboard gives you the option to focus a bit more on milling your enemy’s deck with powerful cards like Terisian Mindbreaker, Jace, the Perfected Mind, and Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree.
What this deck excels in:
- Controlling the game using Tezzeret’s abilities and disruptive artifacts
- Optional Mill spells for extra pressure
- Ramping board wipes with Blast Zone
- Mana Ramp with Prophetic Prism, The Enigma Jewel and Karn, Legacy Reforged
Decklist:
- 2x Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh
- 4x Omen Hawker
- 4x Thran Spider
- 1x Karn, Legacy Reforged
- 3x Cityscape Leveler
- 2x Moonsnare Prototype
- 4x Surgical Skullbomb
- 4x Candy Trail
- 4x The Enigma Jewel
- 4x Prophetic Prism
- 3x Energy Refractor
- 3x The Mightstone and Weakstone
- 2x Portal to Phyrexia
- 7x Island
- 3x Blast Zone
- 4x Hall of Tagsin
- 2x Sunken Citadel
- 2x Mirrex
- 2x Otawara, Soaring City
- Sideboard:
- 2x Jace, the Perfected Mind
- 2x Terisian Mindbreaker
- 3x Disruption Protocol
- 4x Three Bowls of Porridge
- 2x Unlicensed Hearse
- 2x Realmbreaker, the Invasion Tree
