Arcane Artisan MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityMythic
TypeCreature — Human Wizard
Power 0
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Enables drawing and exiling for tactical deck cycling and strategic plays.
  2. Quickly puts high-cost creatures into play, bypassing their mana costs.
  3. Allows activation on opponent’s turn for unexpected battlefield advantages.

Text of card

, : Target player draws a card, then exiles a card from their hand. If a creature card is exiled this way, that player creates a token that's a copy of that card. When Arcane Artisan leaves the battlefield, exile all tokens created with it at the beginning of the next end step.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Arcane Artisan’s ability to draw a card and then exile a card from your hand enables a unique type of card advantage, cycling through your deck to find the pieces you need while simultaneously setting up potential power plays.

Resource Acceleration: This card can put a creature card into play without paying its mana cost, significantly accelerating your available resources and potentially bypassing hefty casting costs.

Instant Speed: While Arcane Artisan’s ability itself doesn’t function at instant speed, it facilitates instant speed interaction by allowing you to activate it during your opponent’s turn, before your untap step, thus keeping up the momentum and surprise factor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When activating Arcane Artisan’s ability, a player must discard a card, potentially depleting valuable hand resources that could be critical later in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Arcane Artisan’s ability requires blue mana, which confines it to blue-based decks or those with reliable mana fixing to accommodate its color needs.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an activation cost of three mana, including one blue, Arcane Artisan’s ability might be seen as an investment that doesn’t always align with the pace of competitive gameplay where swifter, more immediate responses are crucial.


Reasons to Include Arcane Artisan in Your Collection

Versatility: Arcane Artisan fits seamlessly into decks that capitalize on creature abilities and sneak tactics. Its ability to circumvent traditional casting costs allows for unexpected plays across various strategies.

Combo Potential: The card excels in combinations with high-impact creatures. Its exile-and-clone ability can set up powerful board states or enable game-winning combos by sidestepping hefty mana requirements.

Meta-Relevance: With a meta that often rewards both quick win conditions and solid control, Arcane Artisan provides an edge by dodging common removals while pressuring opponents with potential instant threats.


How to beat

Arcane Artisan presents a unique challenge on the battlefield as it allows its controller to cheat powerful creatures onto the board without paying their mana costs. Understanding its strengths is key to devising effective strategies to overcome this blue creature’s abilities. With a strategy-focused game plan, players can employ various removal spells or focus on stripping the card of its effectiveness by exiling or neutralizing the creature it brings onto the field.

Interaction is key and timing disrupts the very essence of the Artisan’s advantage. Consider using instant speed interaction like counterspells when the Artisan’s ability is activated to prevent a surprising creature from hitting the board. Cards like Surgical Extraction can also be effective by targeting key creatures in the opponent’s deck. Furthermore, applying pressure with an aggressive deck can also shift the opponent’s focus from setting up their board to defending their life total. Arcane Artisan may be a formidable card, but with a well-thought response and fast-paced action, you can outmaneuver your opponent and negate the Artisan’s influence in the game.


Cards like Arcane Artisan

Arcane Artisan brings a unique twist to creature-based strategies within the world of Magic the Gathering. When we scan the landscape of similar cards, we find similarities to Thalia’s Lancers as both cards leverage the ‘look and put onto the battlefield’ ability. The Artisan, though, stands out by focusing on putting a creature card onto the battlefield directly from your hand without casting it, whereas the Lancers fetch a legendary card into your hand from the deck.

Classifying further, we draw parallels with the card Master Transmuter. This artifact creature also manipulates the battlefield by allowing you to return an artifact you control to your hand and sneak another artifact card from your hand onto the battlefield. Subtleties in their deployment make Arcane Artisan a novel choice for players looking to bypass casting costs and surprise opponents with sudden creature appearances.

In the end, assessing the capacity of Arcane Artisan to disrupt ordinary play patterns, it represents a strong alternative among MTG’s lineup of cards allowing for indirect ways to bring creatures into play. Players value this for its potential to turn the tides by enabling powerful creature effects to trigger unexpectedly.

Thalia's Lancers - MTG Card versions
Master Transmuter - MTG Card versions
Thalia's Lancers - Resale Promos (PRES)
Master Transmuter - Conflux (CON)

Cards similar to Arcane Artisan by color, type and mana cost

Wall of Water - MTG Card versions
Prodigal Sorcerer - MTG Card versions
Apprentice Wizard - MTG Card versions
Homarid - MTG Card versions
Daring Apprentice - MTG Card versions
Time Elemental - MTG Card versions
Reef Pirates - MTG Card versions
Rootwater Shaman - MTG Card versions
Wind Drake - MTG Card versions
Volrath's Shapeshifter - MTG Card versions
Clam Session - MTG Card versions
Stronghold Biologist - MTG Card versions
Quicksilver Wall - MTG Card versions
Wall of Air - MTG Card versions
Phantom Warrior - MTG Card versions
Wormfang Drake - MTG Card versions
Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - MTG Card versions
Ghost of Ramirez DePietro - MTG Card versions
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar - MTG Card versions
Queen of Ice // Rage of Winter - MTG Card versions
Wall of Water - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Prodigal Sorcerer - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Apprentice Wizard - The Dark (DRK)
Homarid - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Daring Apprentice - Mirage (MIR)
Time Elemental - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Reef Pirates - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Rootwater Shaman - Tempest (TMP)
Wind Drake - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Volrath's Shapeshifter - Stronghold (STH)
Clam Session - Unglued (UGL)
Stronghold Biologist - Nemesis (NEM)
Quicksilver Wall - Prophecy (PCY)
Wall of Air - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Phantom Warrior - Duels of the Planeswalkers (DPA)
Wormfang Drake - Judgment (JUD)
Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
Ghost of Ramirez DePietro - Commander Legends (CMR)
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Queen of Ice // Rage of Winter - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Arcane Artisan MTG card by a specific set like Battlebond and Kaldheim Commander, 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 Arcane Artisan and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Arcane Artisan Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-06-08 and 2021-02-05. Illustrated by Tommy Arnold.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-06-08BattlebondBBD 332015normalblackTommy Arnold
22021-02-05Kaldheim CommanderKHC 362015normalblackTommy Arnold

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Arcane Artisan has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-06-08 If Arcane Artisan leaves the battlefield before its activated ability has resolved, the token that ability creates will still be exiled at the beginning of the next end step.
2018-06-08 If a card in exile has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2018-06-08 If an effect such as that of Doubling Season causes Arcane Artisan’s first ability to create two tokens, its last ability will exile both of those tokens. However, if something becomes a copy of the token or creates a copy of that token later (such as Evil Twin or Cackling Counterpart), that copy won’t be exiled.
2018-06-08 If any of those tokens have an ability that triggers at the beginning of the end step, that ability will trigger and resolve even if the token is exiled during the end step before that ability resolves.
2018-06-08 If multiple Arcane Artisans are creating tokens, each will exile only the ones it created.
2018-06-08 If the card 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.

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