Magic: The Gathering's newest set, Double Masters, is a boon for artifact lovers everywhere. In fact, each color except green is fixated on them.
Several archetypes and color combinations in this set focus on artifacts in some capacity or other, and while a few artifacts in the set are colored (like Master of Etherium), most of them are colorless as per tradition. That allows these artifacts to be easily slotted into any Double Masters Limited deck, and, better yet, many of these artifacts are staples in Constructed formats and are worth serious money.
Archetype Anchors
The artifacts of this set can stand alone, and there are so many of them that it may be possible for a player to make an all-artifact deck in Limited games. However, that would arguably be a waste of the true power of artifacts in this set. Aside from Green, which focuses on tokens and ramp, every color is makes good use of artifacts and in more than one way. Mana rocks, equipment, artifact creatures and huge, game-winning artifacts all have a role to play, and even non-artifact cards in this set can create artifacts, such as Lifesmith (a white card) and Dire Fleet Hoarder (a black card). These artifacts can do anything from pumping attacking creatures to getting sacrificed.
Red/white is a fine place to start. This archetype wants to go wide and use some Equipment to push damage, and Double Masters features some of the best Equipment there is. Hammer of Nazahn gives the equipped creature +2/+0 and makes it indestructible. It can also equip creatures for free when those creatures enter the battlefield. Batterskull is a mythic rare Equipment that can take over a game all by itself, giving the equipped creature +4/+4, lifelink and vigilance. It can also bounce itself and create a 0/0 Germ token via the Living Weapon ability. Cranial Plating gives the equipped creature a major power boost if its controller has plenty of artifacts, and the five Swords practically speak for themselves.
Creatures like Kemba, Kha Regent, Goblin Gaveleer and Godo, Bandit Warlord all love Equipment cards, and the same is true of Weapons Trainer. Many of the creatures in this archetype either look for or can expertly use Equipment, and Stoneforge Mystic is an excellent option for finding an Equipment card of choice.
Red/black takes a different route: artifact sacrifice. If paired with green, black will sacrifice creatures primarily, but with red, artifacts can be melted down to deal damage or retrieve other artifacts from the graveyard. Salvage Titan is a huge, black artifact creature that returns from the dead if three artifacts are sacrificed, and Defiant Salvager gets +1/+1 counters on demand by sacrificing artifacts at sorcery speed. Red offers Galvanic Blast, which deals double damage if Metalcraft is online, as well as Orcish Vandal, which can sacrifice artifacts to deal 2 damage to its targets. Tuktuk the Explorer is a 1/1 Goblin that, upon death, creates a mighty 5/5 Golem artifact creature. Colorless artifacts for this deck include Ichor Wellspring, Throne of Geth, Kuldotha Forgemaster, Culling Dais and Bosh, Iron Golem.
Blue-white also loves artifacts, but it would rather keep them on the battlefield instead of sacrificing them. Glassdust Hulk is a 4/3 artifact creature that gets bigger and becomes evasive whenever a friendly artifact enters the battlefield, and Grand Architect boosts artifact creatures and draws mana from them rather than sacrificing them. There's also Master of Etherium, a blue artifact creature that gives +1/+1 to allied artifact creatures, and white offers Blade Splicer and Master Splicer, which can create and enhance some 3/3 Golem artifact creature tokens. Colorless Artifacts like Welding Jar, Sculpting Steel, Myr Battlesphere and Golem Artisan work well for blue/white decks in Limited.
There is a minor blue/black Proliferate/sacrifice archetype, which uses artifacts ranging from Throne of Geth to Lux Cannon (Proliferate works on charge counters as well as +1/+1 counters). Other good cards for this archetype include Walking Ballista, Culling Dais, Defiant Salvager and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon (to proliferate poison counters). Time Sieve is another strong addition, especially with Myr Battlesphere or other token generators.
Artifacts And Financial Value
Many of the rare and mythic rare artifacts in Double Masters are vital cards for Commander, Legacy and Modern, and that fact reflects in their prices. The five Swords are all valuable cards, since they give the equipped creature +2/+2, protection from two enemy colors and excellent triggered abilities. Sword of Fire and Ice, for example, is worth around $40 on TCGPlayer, and Sword of Light and Shadow is sitting at $22 or so. Other powerhouse artifacts include Walking Ballista ($13), Mox Opal ($35), Wurmcoil Engine ($15.50), Chrome Mox ($38), Blightsteel Colossus (around $36), Mana Crypt ($89.50) and Ensnaring Bridge ($16). Most of the other artifacts have much lower financial value, but all the same, they are quite effective for most Limited games.