Faerie Artisans MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Faerie Artificer
Abilities Flying
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Excels in card advantage, creating creature copies at no extra cost from your hand.
  2. Provides instant speed flexibility and accelerates board state without direct mana ramping.
  3. Demands strategic mana and plays, potentially limited by the presence of opponent’s creatures.

Text of card

Flying Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, create a token that's a copy of that creature except it's an artifact in addition to its other types. Then exile all other tokens created with Faerie Artisans.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Faerie Artisans shines in offering consistent card advantage in multiplayer games. Each time an opponent casts a creature spell, it crafts a copy, boosting your board presence without expending additional cards from your hand.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly ramp your mana, Faerie Artisans accelerates your board state by cloning new creatures entering the battlefield. This indirect resource acceleration can be pivotal in matches, allowing you to conserve mana for other strategies.

Instant Speed: The trigger of Faerie Artisans activates at the speed of your opponents’ spells, meaning you benefit from new creatures at instant speed. This grants you the flexibility to adapt during each turn cycle, making it easier to respond to the evolving state of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Faerie Artisans’ ability doesn’t necessitate a discard, it hinges on opponents casting creature spells, which can be limiting in matches where opponents play fewer creatures or none at all.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires both blue and generic mana, demanding a commitment to those colors and potentially straining mana bases in multicolored decks that don’t prioritize blue.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, Faerie Artisans sits at a point where players might expect a more immediately impactful presence on the board, especially in formats with a high density of lower-cost, high-impact spells.


Reasons to Include Faerie Artisans in Your Collection

Versatility: Faerie Artisans offers flexibility in multiple deck builds. Its ability to create a token copy of each creature your opponents cast opens up various lines of play, fitting right into decks that thrive on reactive strategies and tokens.

Combo Potential: This card shines when combined with effects that capitalize on entering or leaving the battlefield triggers. Leveraging these tokens, you can execute complex combos or simply overwhelm your adversaries with a diverse army of creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state that sees a lot of creature-based strategies, Faerie Artisans becomes increasingly valuable. It’s a card that adapts to the evolving battlefield, ensuring that you have a reflective answer to new threats posed by your opponents’ creature plays.


How to beat Faerie Artisans

Faerie Artisans is a unique card from Magic: The Gathering that can disrupt your opponents and clone their creatures. This can lead to a challenging game dynamic, where each new creature your opponent plays grants you a copy, thanks to the Artisans’ ability. However, despite their potential, Faerie Artisans have vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

To effectively counter this card, focus on removal strategies that limit the tokens it generates. Instant speed removal such as Path to Exile or Rapid Hybridization can be key, allowing you to respond to the trigger and remove the creature your opponent controls before the Artisan’s ability resolves. Additionally, controlling when your opponents can play creatures, through cards like Rule of Law or Arcane Laboratory, will help mitigate the advantages Faerie Artisans provide.

Lastly, employ strategies that capitalize on non-creature spells or those that change the board state without triggering the Artisans. This includes playing sweepers like Wrath of God or using cards that punish token generation, such as Illness in the Ranks. By understanding the mechanics and timing your spells effectively, you can neutralize Faerie Artisans and maintain dominance on the battlefield.


BurnMana Recommendations

The allure of MTG is in its strategic depth and the delightful surprise of cards like Faerie Artisans. If the thought of leveraging your opponents’ creatures to fortify your board intrigues you, this card could be a gem in your collection. Given its ability to copy freshly cast creatures and the potential to turn the tide in multiplayer matches, Faerie Artisans warrants consideration for deck inclusion. We encourage players to explore inventive combos and appreciate the card’s nuanced strength in various metas. For those keen on mastering the art of mimicry and token manipulation, this card promises to enhance your repertoire. Immerse yourself in the magic and enhance your gameplay with Faerie Artisans. Uncover further insights and strategies by joining us and enrich your MTG experience.


Cards like Faerie Artisans

Faerie Artisans is an enchanting option for those who play with creature strategies in MTG. It stands shoulder to shoulder with cards like Mimic Vat and Followed Footsteps, which also play with the concept of copying creatures. Mimic Vat exiles a creature that dies and gives you the option to create a copy for a turn, which differs from Faerie Artisans as it only provides a copy of a creature your opponent casts. Faerie Artisans constantly shifts the battlefield dynamic without using mana each turn.

Another analog in the MTG multiverse is the card Stolen Identity, which can create a copy of any creature or artifact when a ciphered creature deals combat damage to a player. Stolen Identity offers more control over what you’re copying compared to the automated effect of Faerie Artisans. Sculpting Steel offers a similar ability but is restricted to artifacts, making Faerie Artisans unique in its capacity to copy the latest creature an opponent brings into play, regardless of type.

These comparisons underline the uniqueness of Faerie Artisans in MTG, as it gives continuous and versatile creature copies, leading to unexpected and delightful plays, crowning it a staple in decks that thrive on duplicating the most advantageous creatures on the board.

Mimic Vat - MTG Card versions
Followed Footsteps - MTG Card versions
Stolen Identity - MTG Card versions
Sculpting Steel - MTG Card versions
Mimic Vat - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Followed Footsteps - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Stolen Identity - Gatecrash (GTC)
Sculpting Steel - Mirrodin (MRD)

Cards similar to Faerie Artisans by color, type and mana cost

Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Phantom Monster - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions
Archivist - MTG Card versions
Thieving Magpie - MTG Card versions
Inga Rune-Eyes - MTG Card versions
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
Laboratory Drudge - MTG Card versions
Undercover Operative - MTG Card versions
Hisoka, Minamo Sensei - MTG Card versions
Johnny, Combo Player - MTG Card versions
Dream Prowler - MTG Card versions
Clone - MTG Card versions
Cytoplast Manipulator - MTG Card versions
Crookclaw Transmuter - MTG Card versions
Dreamborn Muse - MTG Card versions
Turtleshell Changeling - MTG Card versions
Sower of Temptation - MTG Card versions
Glen Elendra Archmage - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Forces - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Phantom Monster - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Wall of Vapor - Chronicles (CHR)
Tradewind Rider - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Archivist - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Thieving Magpie - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Inga Rune-Eyes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Laboratory Drudge - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Undercover Operative - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Hisoka, Minamo Sensei - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Johnny, Combo Player - Unhinged (UNH)
Dream Prowler - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Clone - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Cytoplast Manipulator - Dissension (DIS)
Crookclaw Transmuter - Time Spiral (TSP)
Dreamborn Muse - Tenth Edition (10E)
Turtleshell Changeling - Lorwyn (LRW)
Sower of Temptation - Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC)
Glen Elendra Archmage - Eventide (EVE)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Faerie Artisans MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2016 and Treasure Chest, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Faerie Artisans and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Faerie Artisans Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2016-11-11 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by Tony Foti.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-11-11Commander 2016C16 82015normalblackTony Foti
22016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 142015normalblackTony Foti
32020-09-26The ListPLST C16-82015normalblackTony Foti
42023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 4882015normalblackTony Foti
52023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 922015normalblackTony Foti

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Faerie Artisans has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Faerie Artisans card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2016-11-08 A token creature that’s a copy of a player’s commander isn’t a commander.
2016-11-08 If the copied permanent has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2016-11-08 If the copied permanent is copying something else (for example, if the copied creature is a Clone), then the token enters the battlefield as whatever that permanent copied.
2016-11-08 If the permanent copied by the token had any “when
-his permanent] enters the battlefield” abilities, then the token also has those abilities and will trigger them when it’s created. Similarly, any “as
-his permanent] enters the battlefield” or “
-his permanent] enters the battlefield with” abilities that the token has copied will also work.
2016-11-08 If you control multiple Faerie Artisans, each one’s ability only exiles tokens created with the ability of that specific Faerie Artisans.
2016-11-08 The token copies exactly what was printed on the original permanent and nothing else (unless that permanent is copying something else; see below). It doesn’t copy whether that permanent is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any non-copy effects that have changed its power, toughness, types, color, or so on.
2016-11-08 The token is an artifact in addition to its other types. This is a copiable value of the token that other effects may copy.

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