The 10 Best MTG Artifact Creatures of All Time, Ranked

While artifact creatures have been part of Magic since the very beginning, it took a while for them to become more than clunky, colorless pack-fillers. Nowadays, artifact creatures are some of the best MTG has to offer, dominating pretty much every format.

Today, I’m breaking down my picks for the very best of these: the artifact creatures whose names ring out the loudest in MTG canon. Whether you’re looking for massive threats, subtle answers, or terrifying draw engines, there’s something for everyone among their robotic ranks.

10 | Blightsteel Colossus

Blightsteel Colossus is basically the poster boy for the brute force approach in MTG. It is one of the most expensive artifact creatures to cast, but it’s also one of the biggest and deadliest thanks to Infect.

When paired with a Haste granter like Anger Anger Haste
As long as this card is in your graveyard and you control a Mountain, creatures you control have haste. , Blightsteel can end games out of nowhere, even in Commander. There are plenty of ways to get around that huge mana cost, too, whether you’re reanimating it with Goblin Welder Goblin Welder {T}: Choose target artifact a player controls and target artifact card in that player's graveyard. If both targets are still legal as this ability resolves, that player simultaneously sacrifices the artifact and returns the artifact card to the battlefield. or just tutoring it right into play with Tinker Tinker As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact.
Search your library for an artifact card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. in Vintage.

While we’ve seen big artifact creatures that arguably offer more utility, like Cityscape Leveler Cityscape Leveler Trample
When you cast this spell and whenever this creature attacks, destroy up to one target nonland permanent. Its controller creates a tapped Powerstone token.
Unearth {8} , Blightsteel Colossus still remains the premier option in this category. It’s huge, it’s dangerous, it’s hard to stop, and it sees a ton of Commander play as a result.

9 | Phyrexian Metamorph

Clone Clone You may have this creature enter as a copy of any creature on the battlefield. effects are ten-a-penny in Magic these days, but Phyrexian Metamorph still stands as one of the best examples we’ve seen. Coming down for three generic mana thanks to the Phyrexian Mana cost is a great start, making it cheaper and more flexible than many of its peers.

On top of this, Metamorph also gets to hit artifacts, letting you duplicate an opposing The One Ring The One Ring Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring. or Sol Ring Sol Ring {T}: Add {C}{C}. in addition to the usual creature targets. If you do opt for a creature, Metamorph even makes it an artifact, which opens up a bunch of funky lines with cards like Donatello, Gadget Master Donatello, Gadget Master Sneak {1}{U} (You may cast this spell for {1}{U} if you also return an unblocked attacker you control to hand during the declare blockers step. He enters tapped and attacking.)
Whenever Donatello deals combat damage to a player, create a token that's a copy of target artifact you control. .

Add in the extra options for tutoring up and recurring Metamorph because it’s an artifact, and it’s no surprise this is one of the most popular Clones of all time. Over 370,000 decks run it in Commander, for a start, and it also sees considerable use in Vintage Workshop lists, to boot.

8 | Roaming Throne

Though it really doesn’t see any play in constructed, Roaming Throne is so good in Commander that it earns a spot here regardless. This 2023 banger appears in a whopping 655,000 decks by EDHREC numbers, which is basically unheard of for such a recent card.

While many overlooked Throne’s potential when it was first revealed, it’s extremely obvious in retrospect. Doubling all your triggers for a given type is ridiculous in any kind of Typal deck, whether it’s Elves, Goblins, or even Squirrels. That Throne becomes a creature of the chosen type itself is solid, too, especially for clunkier types like Dragon or Giant.

What’s wild about Roaming Throne, however, is that it does a ton of work even outside of Typal strategies. If you’re running a Commander that relies on its triggered ability, like Magda, Brazen Outlaw Magda, Brazen Outlaw Other Dwarves you control get +1/+0.
Whenever a Dwarf you control becomes tapped, create a Treasure token.
Sacrifice five Treasures: Search your library for an artifact or Dragon card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. or Etali, Primal Conqueror Etali, Primal Conqueror Trample
When Etali enters, each player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card. You may cast any number of spells from among the nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
{9}{G/P}: Transform Etali. Activate only as a sorcery. , then it’s often worth running to support that alone. Thanks to Ward 2, removing Roaming Throne isn’t super easy, either, making it a no-brainer include for a lot of different lists.

7 | Kappa Cannoneer

Much like True-Name Nemesis True-Name Nemesis As this creature enters, choose a player.
This creature has protection from the chosen player. , Kappa Cannoneer was a Commander precon card that went on to have a significant impact in constructed Magic. In this case, it became a powerhouse in artifact strategies in both Legacy and Vintage, and later in Modern when it was reprinted in Modern Horizons 3.

Looking at this monster, it’s really not difficult to see why this was the case. Kappa Cannoneer can come down consistently on turn two thanks to Improvise, at which point it’s essentially an untargetable, unblockable, ever-scaling threat. Its ability counts artifact tokens as well, which makes it truly ridiculous alongside generators like Pinnacle Emissary Pinnacle Emissary Whenever you cast an artifact spell, create a 1/1 colorless Drone artifact creature token with flying and "This token can block only creatures with flying."
Warp {U/R} (You may cast this card from your hand for its warp cost. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step, then you may cast it from exile on a later turn.) .

While it’s probably best-known for its constructed chops, Kappa Cannoneer is no slouch in Commander, either. Over 171,000 decks, from Mendicant Core, Guidelight Mendicant Core, Guidelight Mendicant Core's power is equal to the number of artifacts you control.
Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.)
Max speed — Whenever you cast an artifact spell, you may pay {1}. If you do, copy it. (The copy becomes a token.) to Breya, Etherium Shaper Breya, Etherium Shaper When Breya enters, create two 1/1 blue Thopter artifact creature tokens with flying.
{2}, Sacrifice two artifacts: Choose one —
• Breya deals 3 damage to target player or planeswalker.
• Target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn.
• You gain 5 life. , run the card in the 99. Factor in a price tag that’s somehow under $1 despite all this play, and Kappa Cannoneer is one of the best artifact creatures in MTG by any metric.

6 | Scrawling Crawler

Combining both Howling Mine Howling Mine At the beginning of each player's draw step, if this artifact is untapped, that player draws an additional card. and Underworld Dreams Underworld Dreams Whenever an opponent draws a card, this enchantment deals 1 damage to that player. on a single colorless creature, Scrawling Crawler is an absolute godsend for Wheel decks in Commander. This essentially does everything Nekusar, the Mindrazer Nekusar, the Mindrazer At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player draws an additional card.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, Nekusar deals 1 damage to that player. wants to do in one card, making it a staple in Nekusar and every deck like it.

In addition to its considerable Commander play, Scrawling Crawler also sees a surprising amount of use in Workshops decks way back in Vintage. Here, it can come down on turn one via the titular Mishra’s Workshop Mishra’s Workshop {T}: Add {C}{C}{C}. Spend this mana only to cast artifact spells. , and punish opponents for drawing cards even if they’re under the Protection of The One Ring The One Ring Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring. .

While it already sees a ton of play, Scrawling Crawler is also positioned extremely well to shine brighter in the future. Being a fully colorless creature with two extremely useful abilities means it’ll very likely go from strength to strength as Wizards continues to print draw engines like the new Mr. Spock, Science Officer Mr. Spock, Science Officer If you would draw a card, draw two cards instead. .

5 | Baleful Strix

Baleful Strix may not look like anything special on the surface, but it’s sneakily one of the most efficient MTG creatures ever printed, artifact or otherwise. It immediately replaces itself with a card for one thing, then sticks around as a 1/1 Flying Deathtouch, which can block and kill almost any relevant threat your opponents might field.

Because of this, and Strix’s low cost, over 331,000 Commander decks are currently running the Bird in their 99. Whether it’s serving as an evasive attacker in Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow Commander ninjutsu {U}{B} ({U}{B}, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand or the command zone tapped and attacking.)
Whenever a Ninja you control deals combat damage to a player, reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. Each opponent loses life equal to that card's mana value. , a cheap, disposable artifact in Breya, Etherium Shaper Breya, Etherium Shaper When Breya enters, create two 1/1 blue Thopter artifact creature tokens with flying.
{2}, Sacrifice two artifacts: Choose one —
• Breya deals 3 damage to target player or planeswalker.
• Target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn.
• You gain 5 life. , or an easy cantrip for Muldrotha, the Gravetide Muldrotha, the Gravetide During each of your turns, you may play a land and cast a permanent spell of each permanent type from your graveyard. (If a card has multiple permanent types, choose one as you play it.) , Baleful Strix gets around.

Thanks to a controversial reprinting at common in The Zeta Set, Baleful Strix is also dominating in Pauper now, too. A wide range of strategies, from Dimir Faeries to Grixis Affinity, are running this wildly efficient card to great effect. While a ban could well be on the horizon soon, for now Strix is one of the most prolific and playable artifact creatures in MTG.

4 | Walking Ballista

If you’re the kind of Magic player that enjoys a good combo, chances are you’re very familiar with Walking Ballista. This is a fantastic combo enabler in its own right, pairing up with the likes of Heliod, Sun-Crowned Heliod, Sun-Crowned Indestructible
As long as your devotion to white is less than five, Heliod isn't a creature.
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.
{1}{W}: Another target creature gains lifelink until end of turn. and Archangel of Thune Archangel of Thune Flying
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much life.)
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. to close out games on the spot.

On top of that, Walking Ballista is the go-to finisher for most infinite mana combos in Magic. Whether you’re pairing Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy Whenever you tap a nonland permanent for mana, add one mana of any type that permanent produced.
{5}{G}{U}: Look at the top five cards of your library. You may put a non-Human creature card from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. with Basalt Monolith Basalt Monolith This artifact doesn't untap during your untap step.
{T}: Add {C}{C}{C}.
{3}: Untap this artifact. in cEDH, or netting infinite colorless with the Basking Broodscale Basking Broodscale Devoid (This card has no color.)
{1}{G}: Adapt 1. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on this creature, you may create a 0/1 colorless Eldrazi Spawn creature token with "Sacrifice this token: Add {C}." combo in Modern, Ballista is an easy way to convert that into a damage-based win.

While it’s less popular outside of combo contexts, Walking Ballista does very much have a place in general counter-based strategies. Its wild 304,000 deck play rate in Commander, much of which is made up of decks like Kilo, Apogee Mind Kilo, Apogee Mind Haste
Whenever Kilo becomes tapped, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) , is testament to that. Given its versatility and explosive potential, Walking Ballista more than earns its spot on this list.

3 | Painter’s Servant

From one combo enabler to another, Painter’s Servant is undeniably best-known for its insane interaction with Grindstone Grindstone {3}, {T}: Target player mills two cards. If two cards that share a color were milled this way, repeat this process. . Curve this duo into each other, and you can mill an opponent out on turn three: a line which has proven good enough to lend its name to an entire Legacy deck.

Over in Commander, Servant’s unique, paradigm-shifting ability enables a wide range of other combos as well. You can exile all of your opponents’ creatures with Teysa, Orzhov Scion Teysa, Orzhov Scion Sacrifice three white creatures: Exile target creature.
Whenever another black creature you control dies, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying. , for example, or lock them out of playing creatures entirely with Llawan, Cephalid Empress Llawan, Cephalid Empress When Llawan enters, return all blue creatures your opponents control to their owners' hands.
Your opponents can't cast blue creature spells. . Shifting the colors on spells also makes color hate cards, like Pyroblast Pyroblast Choose one —
• Counter target spell if it's blue.
• Destroy target permanent if it's blue. and Deathgrip Deathgrip {B}{B}: Counter target green spell. , far more effective.

Based on its play rate alone, Painter’s Servant is an all-time classic of the artifact creature genre. It’s also one of the most unique designs Wizards has ever printed, and one I doubt they’ll ever try again in the current age of Magic.

2 | Haywire Mite

Tech cards are never as sexy as more proactive options in Magic, but Haywire Mite still feels exciting because of its sheer efficiency. This lil’ guy is just one mana to cast and one mana to crack, which makes it an incredibly effective answer to plenty of problematic permanents.

In Commander, this can deal with most of the format’s premier draw engines, like Rhystic Study Rhystic Study Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays {1}. and The One Ring The One Ring Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring. . It also sees extensive use in both Modern and Legacy, where it can snipe tech cards like Grafdigger’s Cage Grafdigger’s Cage Creature cards in graveyards and libraries can't enter the battlefield.
Players can't cast spells from graveyards or libraries. , or even combo pieces like Blade of the Bloodchief Blade of the Bloodchief Whenever a creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature. If equipped creature is a Vampire, put two +1/+1 counters on it instead.
Equip {1} .

What really makes Haywire Mite shine is that it’s a one-generic-mana artifact, which means Urza’s Saga Urza’s Saga (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. can grab it out of the deck with its final chapter. This matters in all formats, but especially constructed, where Mite almost always earns a one-of slot in Saga decks as efficient removal.

It may be an uncommon, but there’s nothing humble about Haywire Mite’s multi-format power level.

1 | Esper Sentinel

As Commander staples in Magic go, they don’t come more ubiquitous than Esper Sentinel. This iconic one-drop shows up in a staggering 910,000 decks, making it the fifth most-played white card in the format overall.

This isn’t particularly surprising, given that Esper Sentinel is one of the best, most efficient draw engines in the format. Like Mystic Remora Mystic Remora Cumulative upkeep {1} (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays {4}. and Rhystic Study Rhystic Study Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays {1}. , its ability scales up wonderfully in four-player pods, often drawing multiple cards per turn cycle for just one mana.

Esper Sentinel is also very easy to tutor up with cards like Ranger-Captain of Eos Ranger-Captain of Eos When this creature enters, you may search your library for a creature card with mana value 1 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
Sacrifice this creature: Your opponents can't cast noncreature spells this turn. and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain Tezzeret, Cruel Captain Whenever an artifact you control enters, put a loyalty counter on Tezzeret.
0: Untap target artifact or creature. If it's an artifact creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
−3: Search your library for an artifact card with mana value 1 or less, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
−7: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of combat on your turn, put three +1/+1 counters on target artifact you control. If it's not a creature, it becomes a 0/0 Robot artifact creature." . This has made the card a staple in cEDH, in addition to its massive play rate in more casual decks like Ms. Bumbleflower Ms. Bumbleflower Vigilance
Whenever you cast a spell, target opponent draws a card. Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. It gains flying until end of turn. If this is the second time this ability has resolved this turn, you draw two cards. .

While Esper Sentinel sees far less play in constructed Magic, it’s not a total dud, showing up as a solid player in Modern Hammer Time lists, for one thing. Paired with its genuine super-staple status in Commander, that makes it the best artifact creature in MTG, as far as I’m concerned.

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