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Protection and Evasion: Tactics for a Blue-Red Artifact Mastermind

In the vast multiverse of MTG, some roles are quiet powerhouses. The two-mana mana pairing of blue and red often sparks a spell-slinging rhythm—leaning into disruption, tempo, and clever plays. When you add a legendary artificer with haste and a built-in copy mechanism to your command zone, you’re not just playing cards—you’re curating tempo, protection, and a dash of chaos every turn. 🧙‍♂️🔥💎

“My master believes anything is achievable.”

Understanding the card at a glance

This Commander 2018 mythic rare drops into your battlefield with a punch: a legendary creature — Human Artificer, priced for eternal obedience to artifacts, sporting a blue-red mana cost of {U}{R} and the ever-valuable haste. Its.oracle text reads: Haste • {U}{R}, {T}: Copy target activated or triggered ability you control from an artifact source. You may choose new targets for the copy. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.) A couple of lines that read like a blueprint for protection and evasion playbooks. The card’s dual color identity invites an Izzet-y mix of spellcraft and gadgetry, letting you react quickly to threats while shaping how your artifacts interact on the board. And yes, it’s a foil mythic from Commander 2018, a badge of collector pride for the right deck. 🎲

That copy ability is the heart of the strategy. You’re not merely casting spells—you’re layering redundancy and choice. Copying an artifact’s ability can replicate protective triggers, evasion-grants, or utility effects you control, all while your other threats keep the pressure on. The rule that mana abilities can’t be targeted is a helpful guardrail, but it also nudges you toward artifacts with non-mana activated or triggered abilities to maximize value.

Strategic angles: protection and evasive tempo

• Protect the team, not just the commander: If you have artifacts that grant temporary shields, hexproof, or damage prevention through an activated or triggered ability, Tawnos can copy those effects to the creature you choose. The result is rapid, targeted protection that can swing a combat or a race in your favor. 🧙‍♂️
• Move protection where it’s needed: Copying allows you to re-target a protective effect onto a newly threatened creature or your commander to weather spot removal or a sweeper. This flexibility is especially valuable in slower, sticky boards where every decision matters. 🔥
• Evade blockers with artifact-based evasion tricks: Some artifacts grant unblockability or temporary evasion. By repeating the relevant ability through Tawnos, you can navigate around opposing walls and buy critical turns to deploy your next engine piece. ⚔️
• Amplify artifact value in a spell-slanted shell: In a deck heavy on artifacts, you want triggers and activations to matter. Copying the right artifact ability can double-dip on card draw, protection, or board-state alterations, turning a single play into a tempo swing. 💎
• Protect your engines while you develop: The power of haste means you’re not waiting for a next turn to strike. Copying protective artifacts during your own upkeep or combat phase preserves your setup and keeps pressure on opponents. 🎨

Practical build notes

When assembling a deck around this Izzet artificer’s strengths, lean into artifacts with strong, repeatable effects that can be activated or triggered. Think draw engines, removal anchors, or equipment that grants temporary protection or evasion. Since you can copy an artifact ability, you’re not locked into a single line of play—you can pivot to defense or offense on the fly, depending on the table’s threat level. And since you’re playing in a color pair that loves flexibility, you’ll often side-step the most common catch-alls in Commander: mass removal and fast starts, while presenting your own brand of chaos. 🧭🎲

Flavor and design also matter in how you present your protection and evasion suite. The card’s flavor text—“My master believes anything is achievable.”—reads as a wink to the creative potential of control and replication. Your playstyle can honor that spirit by turning a copied artifact ability into a pivotal counterplay, a timely ace, or a last-minute rescue for a doomed board. The result is a game that feels like a fast, clever puzzle, where every copied spell is a new key to unlock your strategy’s next stage. 🧙‍♂️💎

Art, rarity, and collector’s note

The art by Matt Stewart captures the lively pulse of a tinkerer at the edge of invention—bright, kinetic, and a touch chaotic, much like the tempo-based decks this archetype invites. As a foil Magic card from Commander 2018, it’s not only a playable piece but a coveted collectible for those who treasure the foil glow that makes any board state a spectacle. The mythic status ensures it sits proudly in many players’ binders or display cases, a reminder that clever use of artifact abilities can be as stylish as it is potent. 🧙‍♂️🔥

In the end, protection and evasion aren’t just about keeping things alive; they’re about bending the game’s flow to your will. With a nimble, two-color backbone and a powerful copy engine, this commander-appropriate pick invites you to orchestrate artifact-driven defenses and evasive maneuvers that feel both elegant and explosive. The result is a dynamic, question-filled game state where your opponents never quite know what you’ll copy next—or which threat you’ll cloak in protection just in time. 💎⚔️

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