In the popular fantasy card game Magic: the Gathering, players are all-powerful planeswalkers who summon monsters and cast spells to duel their opponents. Among these spells are artifacts, which vary widely from helmets and swords to steampunk contraptions and rune-carved rocks. Many are also creatures.

Suppose you want to make the biggest, baddest artifact deck of all? Commander is a good place to start, that being the format where the field is wide open for experimentation. Artifacts are often colorless, but they have an affinity for blue, white, and black mana, too. Try using a three-colored or four-colored commander like Sharuum the Hegemon or Breya, and load up your deck with some stellar cards for a mechanical paradise. This list is not comprehensive, but it’s a fine start for your next artifact deck.

10 Unwinding Clock

To begin with, this ultimate artifact deck will want to cover its blind spots. Artifacts are known for having a lot of synergy, and that even includes tapping and untapping each other to stay active.

With Unwinding Clock on your side, your creatures are always vigilant and ready to block, and any artifacts with tap abilities are ready to tap once again. Any “mana rocks” you have, such as Commander’s Sphere or the Signets, will also be ready to provide you some mana. Never get caught unawares again!

9 Arcbound Ravager

This monster made the biggest splash when it entered Standard back in the original Mirrodin block, and it’s a key player in the Affinity deck of Modern. But it’s solid in Commander, too, and Modular is just as useful as it looks.

If your artifacts are about to be destroyed, feed them to this thing and watch it grow! Should it die, another mechanical minion of yours will inherit its power, ready to fight. Add some graveyard recursion, and this ability can really get out of hand. And in case it ever matters, Arcbound Ravager can sacrifice itself.

8 Darksteel Forge

The term “indestructible” entered the game in 2004’s Darksteel, and artifacts have never been the same. Try to find an alternate way to get Darksteel Forge on the battlefield, and, well… your artifacts have almost nothing to fear.

With this, you can block with impunity, shrug off most boardwipes, and watch as your opponents redirect their “destroy” effects elsewhere. Don’t get too cocky, though, since exile, bounce, and forced sacrifice effects circumvent indestructibility.

7 Academy Ruins

We mentioned graveyard recursion earlier, and here it is. Academy Ruins requires some blue mana, but that shouldn’t be an issue; artifacts and blue mana are good friends. This land also taps for mana, just in case.

But we really want that activated ability! For just 1U and tap, you’re putting any choice artifact from the scrap heap and back to your library’s top, ready for action sooner than later. This can even form an infinite combo with Mindslaver in a one-on-one game, should you have enough mana to cast and use the Mindslaver and activate Academy Ruins all in one turn.

6 Master Transmuter

Mold that metal like clay in your hands! This Conflux rare has been an artifact all-star ever since its printing, and despite its weak body, it’s a monster. just pay one blue and tap, bounce an artifact you control to your hand, and put another one into play!

Actually, you can put the same artifact back into play right away, and this allows Master Transmuter to act as a blink effect. It can save an artifact from destruction or exile, and remove unwanted auras or counters from a creature. And of course, this is a grade-A method for putting a very expensive artifact onto the battlefield on the cheap. We’re thinking Darksteel Forge.

5 Steel Overseer

Here’s another artifact creature from Modern Affinity that serves our needs well. It’s tiny, but cheap, and you don’t need any colored mana to use it. Good start.

But look at that ability! You just have to tap this thing to put a +1/+1 counter on each artifact creature you control, including Steel Overseer itself. With just a few turns of that, you’re looking at a truly bone-crushing artifact army. Add some proliferate abilities (mainly in blue and black) and pump your creatures even faster.

4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

In the lore, Tezzeret is one of the smartest men alive, and any artifact is a potential tool for domination in his hands. This two-colored planeswalker can peek through the top five cards of your library for an artifact, and in this deck, that’s an easy score.

If need be, Tezzeret can morph any artifact into a sizeable 5/5 creature, a fine way to keep him safe as you build toward his third ability. And that ability is downright vicious, allowing you to drain life points from another player equal to twice the number of artifacts you control! With a token artifact army under your command, for example, that number is going to be through the roof.

3 Scourglass

The artificers of Esper managed to capture the incredible power of Wrath of God and graft it into this awe-inspiring machine. And they didn’t stop there… they also modified it to spare all artifacts as well as lands!

True, you won’t wipe out your opponents’ own artifacts with this, but nearly all of their creatures will get vaporized with Scourglass’s incredible power. Best of all, you can get it back with Academy Ruins to do it all over again. Not even Wrath of God or Damnation can match that.

2 Fabricate

Blue mana is good at scry and card draw, but even then, you might not draw the game-winning card you really needed. Or, your super-duper combo is missing a component. Fear not. It’s time to tutor!

Among tutor cards, Fabricate is a bit on the expensive side, but it’s not color-heavy, and it can fetch any artifact you like. Find your Darksteel Forge and slap it onto the battlefield with Master Transmuter, or find a Wurmcoil Engine to ruin someone’s day.

1 Karn, the Great Creator

This is Karn’s third planeswalker card, and it specializes in artifacts much more than the other two. For one thing, Karn won’t let your opponents activate their own artifacts, so that’s a serious battlefield edge already.

Add a loyalty counter, and Karn can morph an artifact into a creature as Tezzeret can. And should you use his other ability, you’re in for the ultimate tutor! Find yourself a shiny new artifact from outside the game, such as in your trade binder, and put that sucker in your hand. Different games will call for different cards, and even your 99-card deck can’t answer absolutely everything your opponents might do. But Karn opens up some much-needed options with that ability!

NEXT: Magic the Gathering: The 10 Coolest New Legendary Creatures From Throne of Eldraine