In Magic: the Gathering, expansion sets and Masters sets tend to have their own built-in archetypes, and that includes Double Masters. One such archetype is white/blue artifact beatdown.

Overall, the Double Masters set cares a great deal about artifacts, since this set has many of them and all colors but green care about them. But blue and white aren't going to sacrifice their artifacts the way red and black do; instead, they build up their artifacts into robots of sheer carnage.

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Mighty Machines

Blue and white, when combined, are slow but steady in Constructed and Limited games alike. Often, these colors form control decks, and in the lore, they form the Azorius Senate on Ravnica. But in the Shards of Alara block, Modern Masters 2015 and now Double Masters, blue/white decks have an affinity for artifacts, not just combo shells. When drafting this set, a player may come across many blue, white, or blue/white cards that lend their power to artifacts or are artifacts themselves. Such decks want to put a few powerhouse artifact creatures on the field, then pump them up with power/toughness boosts, extra abilities, evasion and even Equipment. Double Masters' Equipment is best used in the red/white archetype, but it's useful in white/blue as well, since white has Stoneforge Mystic and Stonehewer Giant.

These colors will not sacrifice any artifacts, the way red and black will. Instead, some serious synergy will allow a white/blue deck to push its artifacts over the top and crush its opponent in due time. Where to start? How about the powerful, offensive creatures that can deliver serious damage and get pumped by allied cards. Glassdust Hulk is a power player, despite its "meh" 3/4 stats for 3WU. But it's all upside from there; Glassdust Hulk gets +1/+1 anytime another artifact enters the battlefield on its side, including tokens, and it becomes unblockable for the tun. In a pinch, its controller can Cycle it away for either W or U. If that Hulk has a strong Equipment in hand, such as Cranial Plating or Sickleslicer, its unblockability will be a major asset.

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Esperzoa is another excellent attacker, and it's undercosted, being a 4/3 flier for just 2U. It does come with a downside, forcing the controller to bounce one artifact per turn. But in most circumstances, that's an upside, since this allows the same artifact to set off many ETB triggers, such as that of Glassdust Hulk. Re-casting the same Darksteel Axe once per turn can keep the Glassdust Hulk unblockable for the entire game. Sphinx of the Guildpact is a huge 5/5 flier for {7}, a great way to close out the game, and Inkwell Leviathan is even bigger and scarier (though it can't be equipped due to having Shroud). Blade Splicer and Master Splicer each make 3/3 Golem artifact tokens and grant them extra bonuses.

These offensive artifact creatures are going to need some support aside from Equipment, and blue and white together offer all kinds of backup. Alabaster Mage can give a friendly creature lifelink, while Leonin Abunas can give all friendly artifacts hexproof. Tempered Steel gives +2/+2 to all friendly artifact creatures, and Ethersworn Canonist can slow down the opponent if they aren't playing many artifacts. And all that is just in white mana; blue offers even more. Grand Architect can turn artifacts blue and give allied blue creatures +1/+1, and it allows friendly blue creatures to tap for {2} if that mana is being spent on artifacts. Master of Etherium is the king of artifacts, giving all allied artifact creatures +1/+1 and scaling up according to how many artifacts its controller has. Treasure Mage can tutor for any artifact costing {6} or more, such as Wurmcoil Engine or Sundering Titan, and Thirst For Knowledge is an aggressive card draw spell whose downside is gentler if an artifact is in hand. Meanwhile, Reshape is a sorcery that can sacrifice an artifact to tutor the library for an artifact of the same or lower CMC. That card might be the only artifact sacrifice outlet in these colors, as opposed to the sacrifice-heavy strategy of a black/red deck.

Colorless artifacts can support their fellows in a variety of ways. Golem Artisan is a must-have for this deck; its first ability is an outstanding mana sink that pumps up attackers, and its second ability can grant a variety of evergreen abilities. Chief of the Foundry is a 2/3 that gives all allied artifacts +1/+1 (a great choice if Master of Etherium isn't available) while Sculpting Steel can enter the battlefield as a copy of any artifact. One Master of Etherium can become two. And although it costs a whopping {9} mana, Darksteel Forge can make a white/blue artifact practically invincible.

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