Hello, everyone! Every week I try to find you new and interesting decks that you can take to your local tournament or play online. Much of the time there's no common ground with these decks. They'll be a varied assortment of different colors or play styles, but this week is a little different. This week I have a variety of decks that have one thing in common, Artifacts. Let's get started.

Azorius Artifact Aggro

The first deck I have for you this week is an aggro deck with a plan for the long game. Let's take a look at it:

Azorius Artifact Aggro | THB Standard | MTG_Joe, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (23)
• 3 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• 4 Arcanist's Owl
• 4 Clockwork Servant
• 4 Gingerbrute
• 4 Steel Overseer
• 4 Stonecoil Serpent

• Planeswalkers (7)
• 2 Karn, the Great Creator
• 2 Ugin, the Ineffable
• 3 Teferi, Time Raveler

• Sorceries (4)
• 2 Dance of the Manse
• 2 Shatter the Sky

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Elspeth Conquers Death

• Lands (24)
• 3 Island
• 7 Plains
• 2 Castle Ardenvale
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 2 Field of Ruin
• 2 Karn's Bastion
• 2 Temple of Enlightenment
• 4 Hallowed Fountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Devout Decree
• 2 Dovin's Veto
• 2 Glass Casket
• 1 Meteor Golem
• 1 Mystic Forge
• 2 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Shatter the Sky
• 2 Sorcerous Spyglass
• 1 Soul-Guide Lantern

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You'll often find it necessary to block with your artifact creatures in the early stages of the game, regardless of whether this will destroy them or not. This will allow you to stay alive long enough so that you can cast a large Dance of the Manse. Doing so allows you to return the artifact creatures that have gone to your graveyard, and hopefully you'll be able to bring them back as 4/4 creatures. Doing this will usually result in you turning the tables on your opponent and you can take control of a game you were otherwise losing.

Thanks to Steel Overseer's ability to grow your creatures in size, if you have to play Shatter the Sky as a means of gaining control of the game, you'll often be able to draw a card. However, Shatter the Sky isn't the only means of removal this deck has. Elspeth Conquers Death allows you to exile any permanent your opponent controls that costs three or more mana. Not only is this a great way to get rid of a difficult to deal with creature, but you can also use it on things like enchantments or artifacts that your opponent is benefitting by having in play.

Esper Super Artifacts

The next deck I have for you features a combination of Artifacts alongside some powerful Planeswalkers. Let's take a look at the deck:

Esper Super Artifacts | THB Standard | YuriGagarin69, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (2)
• 2 Fae of Wishes

• Planeswalkers (12)
• 2 Karn, the Great Creator
• 3 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
• 4 Teferi, Time Raveler
• 3 Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 Dance of the Manse
• 4 Shatter the Sky

• Enchantments (11)
• 3 Smothering Tithe
• 4 Oath of Kaya
• 4 The Birth of Meletis

• Artifacts (3)
• 3 Folio of Fancies

• Lands (25)
• 2 Island
• 2 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 2 Temple of Silence
• 3 Mystic Sanctuary
• 4 Godless Shrine
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Ashiok's Erasure
• 2 Elspeth Conquers Death
• 1 Enhanced Surveillance
• 1 Ethereal Absolution
• 1 Happily Ever After
• 1 Kaya's Wrath
• 1 Meteor Golem
• 1 Mirrormade
• 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
• 1 Sphinx of the Guildpact
• 2 Stonecoil Serpent
• 1 Time Wipe
• 1 Wishclaw Talisman

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Another great planeswalker in this deck is Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. Her static ability creates a 1/1 Servo artifact creature token whenever you cast a noncreature spell. Since there are only two creature spells in the main deck, you'll have many chances to trigger this ability. The best part of this ability is that it triggers upon casting the spell, not upon the spell's resolution. That means that you'll get your Servo even if the spell you've cast is countered.

Another great way to gain a bunch of artifacts on an ongoing basis is through Smothering Tithe. Whenever your opponent draws a card, you'll gain a Treasure artifact token unless that player pays 2 mana. Most players will allow you to gain at least a couple of Treasure tokens since they'd rather use their mana to advance their plans. Take advantage of these "free" artifacts, and use them to get more life/damage from Tezzeret's +2 loyalty ability or to cast additional spells faster than normal.

Dalakos Artifacts

The final deck I have for you this week features a legendary Merfolk Artificer from Theros Beyond Death. Let's take a look at it:

Dalakos Artifacts | THB Standard | Ectyvolt, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Shimmer Dragon
• 2 Brazen Borrower
• 3 Burning Prophet
• 3 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• 3 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 3 Renowned Weaponsmith
• 3 Stonecoil Serpent
• 4 Dalakos, Crafter of Wonders
• 4 Fervent Champion

• Artifacts (10)
• 3 Embercleave
• 3 Mizzium Tank
• 4 Shadowspear

• Lands (24)
• 9 Island
• 9 Mountain
• 2 Temple of Epiphany
• 4 Steam Vents

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Embereth Shieldbreaker
• 2 Flame Sweep
• 3 Lava Coil
• 2 Mystical Dispute
• 3 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 2 Negate

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While there aren't a lot of good equipment cards in Standard, there are a couple worth mentioning. Embercleave is the obvious choice for equipment. It has become a Standard staple card for many decks, and for good reason. The other equipment in this deck is Shadowspear. While it doesn't equip for free when you first cast it, Shadowspear only costs 1 mana, so you can get it into play much quicker than Embercleave. Like Embercleave, it gives the equipped creature +1/+1 and trample, but instead of double strike, Shadowspear provides lifelink. If you happen to play this deck and manage to equip both weapons to the same creature, let me know, as it sounds like a story for the ages.

This deck also plays a copy of Shimmer Dragon, which was only available in the Throne of Eldraine Brawl Decks. This Dragon is a 5/6 flying creature that has a fair chance of gaining hexproof. It also allows you an easy way to draw cards each turn by tapping two untapped artifacts you control. Card advantage helps win games, so be sure to take advantage of this ability every turn if possible.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, there are multiple decks that can take advantage of playing artifacts. Each of these decks has a focus on artifacts, but each plays very differently.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below or email me directly at mikelikesmtg@gmail.com. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes