Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Mythic |
| Type | Legendary Planeswalker — Tezzeret |
| Released | 2018-07-13 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Core Set 2019 |
| Set code | M19 |
| Loyalty | 4 |
| Number | 286 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Zack Stella |
Key Takeaways
- Offers card advantage and adapts to ongoing games with instant-speed planeswalker abilities, fostering strategic plays in MTG.
- Demands careful hand management due to discard requirements, influencing deck strategy and card selection decisions.
- Tezzeret shines in artifact-heavy decks, presenting combo opportunities and aligning with specific meta environments for optimal play.
Text of card
+1: Draw a card. 0: Until your next turn, target artifact you control becomes a 5/5 creature in addition to its other types. −7: Put any number of cards from your hand onto the battlefield face down. They're 5/5 artifact creatures.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist enhances your hand by allowing you to draw additional cards, keeping your options plentiful and your strategy flexible.
Resource Acceleration: This planeswalker can ramp up your resources by untapping artifacts, effectively speeding up your mana production and enabling quicker deployment of your threats.
Instant Speed: The ability to activate Tezzeret’s abilities at instant speed during either player’s turn provides strategic advantage, allowing you to adapt to the battlefield on the fly and outmaneuver your opponent’s moves.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: When deploying Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist, there’s a need to strategize around its plus ability which forces a card discard. This can pose a tactical drawback if your hand is already starved for options, putting you in a position where you are sacrificing valuable cards to fuel Tezzeret’s abilities.
Specific Mana Cost: Tezzeret comes with a mana cost that specifically requires two blue mana. This detail narrows the scope of decks that can comfortably include him, often pigeonholing him into blue-centric or heavy artifact synergy builds where his cost is less prohibitive.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Clocking in at six mana to cast, Tezzeret’s impact on the game may not always align with his casting cost, especially when compared to other options available. There are planeswalkers and spells at a lower cost bracket that may provide similar or greater value more efficiently, making his high mana cost a potential liability in faster paced games where efficiency is key.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist is a jack-of-all-trades within artifact-centric decks. His ability to draw cards, control the board, and manipulate artifacts makes him a multifaceted asset regardless of your strategy.
Combo Potential: With his ultimate ability to turn artifacts into 5/5 creatures, Tezzeret can shift the tide of the game. This turns innocuous artifacts into formidable threats, working wonders in synergy-driven artifact decks.
Meta-Relevance: Given the right meta environment, one that highly values artifacts and incremental advantage, Tezzeret can become a pivotal player. His skill set aligns well with strategies that aim to outvalue opponents through sheer card efficiency and versatility.
How to beat
Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist is a powerhouse planeswalker card that can present a tough challenge on the battlefield. With the ability to ramp up your artifact game and deal direct damage, Tezzeret can certainly turn the tide of any match. To effectively neutralize this threat, it’s vital to prevent him from accumulating loyalty counters or to keep artifact synergies in check.
Direct damage spells and abilities that can target planeswalkers are a strategic way to get rid of Tezzeret. Red spells like Lightning Bolt or Shock can apply the necessary pressure promptly. Counterspells are also crucial as they can prevent Tezzeret from hitting the board in the first place. Having these in your deck, especially when matched against a blue strategy, can swing the game in your favor.
Furthermore, never underestimate the power of board control. Utilizing removal spells that can address multiple threats will limit Tezzeret’s influence. Cards like Doom Blade or Abrupt Decay can be quite useful to deal with the artifacts that Tezzeret’s abilities can bolster. Maintain awareness, keep hold of your strategy, and with careful planning, you’ll disarm Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist and keep your deck on the path to victory.
Cards like Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist
Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist slots into the realm of planeswalker cards in Magic: The Gathering with a specific niche in artifact-centric decks. It draws parallels to its predecessor, Tezzeret the Schemer. Both planeswalkers fuel artifact strategies, though Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist offers the advantage of instantly upgrading artifacts each turn, contrasting Tezzeret the Schemer’s initial focus on generating Etherium Cell tokens.
Looking towards other similar cards, we witness Tezzeret, Artifice Master, which also aligns with artifact synergies. Where Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist requires artifacts to be effective, Tezzeret, Artifice Master boasts a more versatile draw ability. It doesn’t rely solely on artifacts to be powerful, making it a preference in more diverse deck builds.
Another worthy comparison is the card Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. While not a Tezzeret card, Saheeli’s ability to create Servo tokens by simply casting noncreature spells offers an alternate, yet complementary, route for artifact lovers. Ultimately, while Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist holds its ground as a mid-range option for dedicated artifact decks, evaluating these alternatives underscores the vast possibilities within the artifact-planeswalker space in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2019, 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 Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Tezzeret, Cruel Machinist card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-07-13 | Cards put onto the battlefield using Tezzeret’s third ability enter the battlefield as 5/5 artifact creatures. They don’t enter the battlefield with their own characteristics and then become 5/5. |
| 2018-07-13 | Effects that modify a creature’s power and/or toughness, such as the ones created by Titanic Growth or a +/1+1 counter, will apply to the creature no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for any counters that change its power and/or toughness and effects that switch power and toughness. |
| 2018-07-13 | If a creature enters the battlefield as a copy of a face-down creature or if a token is created that’s a copy of one, that copy has the same characteristics as the face-down creature (in this case, a 5/5 artifact creature with no other characteristics), even though the copy is face up. |
| 2018-07-13 | If a double-faced card (such as Nicol Bolas, the Ravager) is put onto the battlefield face down, you don’t reveal it as you do so. The characteristics of its back face don’t apply. |
| 2018-07-13 | If a face-down permanent you control leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it to all players. |
| 2018-07-13 | If an effect tries to return a face-down creature to the battlefield after it leaves (such as Oath of Teferi from the Dominaria set or Abnormal Endurance from this set), that effect returns the card face up. If it tries to put an instant or sorcery card onto the battlefield this way, that card remains in its current zone instead. |
| 2018-07-13 | If the artifact was already a creature, its base power and toughness will each become 5. This overwrites any previous effects that set the creature’s base power and toughness to specific values. Any power- or toughness-setting effects that start to apply after Tezzeret’s ability resolves will overwrite this effect. |
| 2018-07-13 | Tezzeret’s second ability doesn’t remove any abilities the target artifact has. |
| 2018-07-13 | The Core Set 2019 set includes no way to turn these cards face up. If an effect from cards outside of this set does turn one face up, the effect causing it to be a 5/5 artifact creature ends. If such an effect tries to turn an instant or sorcery card face up, reveal that card and it stays face down. In that case, it remains a 5/5 artifact creature. |
| 2018-07-13 | The artifact retains any types, subtypes, or supertypes it has. Notably, if an Equipment becomes an artifact creature, it can’t be attached to another creature. If it was attached to a creature, it becomes unattached. |
| 2018-07-13 | The artifact stops being a creature immediately before your turn begins. It will be a noncreature artifact during your untap step. |
| 2018-07-13 | The resulting artifact creature will be able to attack on your turn if it’s been under your control continuously since the turn began. That is, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been a creature, just how long it’s been on the battlefield. |
| 2018-07-13 | You may look at face-down permanents you control at any time. |
