While the Phyrexian story arc may have come to a close, we can still take a look at some of the most iconic mechanics to come out of the Phyrexian saga. Today we'll be talking about Living Weapon, a uniquely Phyrexian mechanic meant to take Equipments (originally introduced in Mirrodin) to a whole new level. These special Equipment cards have a life to their own, as they make a Phyrexian creature token attached to them when they enter the battlefield. Living Weapon has had major impacts on competitive play and has been featured as a mechanic in a variety of Magic: The Gathering expansions.

What is Living Weapon?

Living Weapon is a mechanic found on certain Equipment cards, primarily in sets featured on Mirrodin/Phyrexia, that makes a 0/0 Black Germ creature token and attaches the Equipment to it when it enters the battlefield.

These Equipment cards have other equip costs associated with them, and if you move the Living Weapon Equipment to another creature, the 0/0 token will go to the graveyard based on state-based actions, since it's a 0/0 creature.

History of Living Weapon

Living Weapon was first introduced in the second set of the Scars of Mirrodin block, Mirrodin Besieged which released February 11 of 2011. Previously, Magic sets were designed to appear in yearly three-set blocks, meaning three of the four Standard sets per yearly cycle would all be set on one plane.

Scars of Mirrodin brought players back to the plane of Mirrodin and into the conflict between Mirrans and Phyrexians - which would eventually lead to the climax of the Phyrexian saga in Dominaria United, The Brothers' War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and March of the Machine. Mirrodin Besieged portrayed the all-out clash between Mirrans and Phyrexians over who would dominate the plane. Thus, one of the Phyrexian-portrayed mechanics of the set was Living Weapon.

Living Weapon is uniquely Phyrexian, as each Living Weapon card makes a 0/0 Phyrexian Black Germ creature token attached to it when it enters. According to design articles published by Wizards of the Coast, Living Weapon went through multiple changes during its design cycle prior to the release of Mirrodin Besieged.

In Mark Rosewater's "Making Magic" article from 2011, he gave some interesting insights to the design of Living Weapon. The Germ tokens for Living Weapon cards were originally coined as 0/0s to "capture the flavor" of the weapons Artifacts coming to life. While the deisgn team tried 1/1 and 0/1 tokens, they essentially didn't capture the feel 0/0 tokens had, and having 0/0 tokens made the cards feel appropriately costed. The Germ tokens were Black due to the fact that if they were Artifacts it would make Metalcraft cards too good.

While Living Weapon cards could have appeared in the first set of the block, Scars of Mirrodin, they were instead introduced in the second set, Mirrodin Besieged, to enhance the flavor of the story, showing how Phyrexians were slowly taking over and corrupting the plane to their will.

Best Living Weapon Cards

Without a doubt, the most prominent Living Weapon that was printed in the Scars of Mirrodin block was Batterskull, which was released in New Phyrexia, the third set of the block.

For five mana you get a 4/4 Vigilance Lifelink creature, with the added ability of both re-quipping it to another creature or bouncing it back to your hand to replay it in case you didn't have another creature to equip it to. This gives Batterskull strong inevitability, as it can be recast over and over no matter if the original Germ token dies. Batterskull also synergizes extremely well with creatures that focus on equipment, like Stoneforge Mystic, but more on that later...

Another powerful Living Weapon card printed in the Scars of Mirrodin block is Mortarpod.

While a seemingly low-impact uncommon, Mortarpod's true potential lies in the fact that you can equip multiple creatures in a turn to deal multiple points of damage to your opponent. It also synergizes with any creatures that gain a benefit off another creature dying, like Blood Artist. You can set up some crazy combos with Mortarpod, like this Commander combo using Koll, the Forgemaster:

With these four cards assembled you have an instant win-con, dealing infinite damage over and over as you equip Mortarpod for no mana to Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh.

With the release of Modern Horizons 2 in 2021 we saw the return of Living Weapon across a number of cards, the most prominent of them being Kaldra Compleat. A spiritual successor to Batterskull, Kaldra Compleat saw an even more powerful effect stapled to Living Weapon giving it a slew of powerful abilities with the tradeoff of a higher mana cost.

Modern Horizons 3, which released earlier this year, brought some new Living Weapon cards to the table. The most notable of the handful of Living Weapon cards in this set, was Cranial Ram. Due to its potential to make Grixis Artifacts, already one of the best decks in the format, even better, and due to its similarity to the also-banned Cranial Plating and All That Glitters, Cranial Ram was pre-banned for the overall health of the format.

Living Weapon in Competitive Play

July of 2011 saw one of the biggest shake ups in Standard history - the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic. With high-level tournaments seeing 80%+ and 70%+ appearances of Jace and Stoneforge Mystic in decks respectively, there needed to be a drastic change to the format. The reason this involves Living Weapon is solely based on Stoneforge Mystic.

Take this list by fellow CSI writer Jim Davis, who made top 8 of one of Batterskull's inaugural tournaments following New Phyrexia's release in the Spring of 2011:

DARKBLADE | Standard | Jim Davis, 2011 TCGplayer.com WWS Big Apple

• Creatures (11)
• 3 Emeria Angel
• 4 Squadron Hawk
• 4 Stoneforge Mystic

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

• Instants (7)
• 2 Despise
• 2 Mana Leak
• 3 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 4 Preordain

• Artifacts (3)
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sword of War and Peace

• Lands (27)
• 4 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 2 Arid Mesa
• 3 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Creeping Tar Pit
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Marsh Flats
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Celestial Purge
• 2 Day of Judgment
• 2 Divine Offering
• 1 Duress
• 2 Flashfreeze
• 1 Jace Beleren
• 3 Oust
• 2 Spell Pierce

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In this deck Stoneforge Mystic is able to fetch not only Batterskull, but both Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of War and Peace. Squadron Hawk, while not the most powerful creature, shows up in this list as fodder to carry these Equipments that even replaces itself! I also really love the inclusion of Emeria Angel in this deck, as you can make multiple tokens with Arid Mesa and Marsh Flats, giving you more creatures to carry your swords and Batterskull.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that another CSI writer and my sensei Mike Flores ended up winning this whole event stocked with pro players with his build of Splinter Twin. According to him this event was a major breakout event for Batterskull as a premier Living Weapon staple, with 24 copies of Stoneforge Mystic showing up in the Top 8.

Thus, Stoneforge Mystic was later banned in Standard, and subsequently Modern. Stoneblade became a popular Legacy deck afterwards, as both Stoneforge and Batterskull remained legal in that format. While Stoneforge Mystic was unbanned in Modern back in 2019, it has seen some play, primarily in decks with Colossus Hammer, but in recent times has been power crept out of the format by Modern Horizons cards.

Overall Living Weapon is an exciting Phyrexian twist to the original Equipment mechanic. It's a mechanic that gave further identity to Phyrexians and their inevitable takeover of Mirrodin. Living Weapon has proven over time to have had a major impact on many Magic formats, primarily Standard and Modern, and has shown up as a mechanic in sets as recent as Summer of this year. Living Weapon remains an iconic Artifact mechanic and a showcase of some of the horrifying weaponry of the Phyrexians.

-Roman Fusco