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Moxonomy

Quicksmith Spy

Creature — Human Artificer3 generic manaBlue mana

The whole design hinges on a turn of phrase that sounds generous and is anything but: a chosen artifact gains a tap-to-draw ability, but only while you keep this creature around. That dependency is the price. The body is a 2/3, which means the engine is parked on something that dies to nearly every removal spell in the game, and the moment the creature leaves, the granted ability evaporates with it. The natural pairing is an artifact you would already have lying around, or one cheap enough that losing the creature does not strand a heavy investment. The wrinkle worth understanding is that the draw is a separate activated ability, not a rider on whatever the artifact already does: if you target a permanent that taps for mana or to make tokens, tapping it draws a card instead of producing its usual effect, so each turn forces a choice between the artifact's job and the card. And the ability sits on the specific permanent you targeted; an artifact that copies itself does not hand the draw clause to its copies. This is the kind of design that bolts a repeatable draw outlet onto an artifact rather than printing the outlet as the artifact itself: the creature is the conduit, not the source. The skill expression is target selection under that fragility. Pick an artifact that will still be on the battlefield three turns later and the four mana pays off; pick wrong and the draw outlet dies with a 2/3.

Quicksmith Spy (aer)
AER · #41rare
Pricing
Normal: $0.18
Foil: $0.50
Oracle Text

Rules text

When this creature enters, target artifact you control gains "Tap: Draw a card" for as long as you control this creature.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
Legal
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
N/A
Historic
N/A
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
N/A
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
N/A
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
Legal
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
N/A
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

1 set
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