Celebrating Artifacts within The Brothers’ War, Wizards of the Coast has added 63 Retro Frame Magic: The Gathering Artifacts into the set that are playable in Limited and eternal formats.
Players attending The Brothers’ War prerelease events that start on Nov. 11, and Limited events through MTG Arena that begin on Nov. 14, will find one Retro Artifact in each BRO Draft booster pack. There are 63 in total, having a rarity ranging from Uncommon to Mythic Rare.
Each Artifact has a retro art frame within a Draft booster and is playable in Limited formats, similar to Mystical Archives from Strixhaven. But not all are worth playing, like Door to Nothingness, while others like Wurmcoil Engine are a bomb.
Here’s every MTG Retro Artifact in The Brothers’ War
| Adaptive Automation | Aetherflux Reservoir | Altar of Dementia |
| Ashnod’s Alter | Astral Cornucopia | Blackblade Reforged |
| Bone Saw | Burnished Hart | Caged Sun |
| Chromatic Lantern | Chromatic Star | Cloud Key |
| Defense Grid | Door to Nothingness | Elsewhere Flask |
| Foundry Inspector | Gilded Lotus | Goblin Charbelcher |
| Helm of the Host | Howling Mine | Ichor Wellspring |
| Inspiring Statuary | Ivory Tower | Jalum Tome |
| Journeyer’s Kite | Keening Stone | Key to the City |
| Liquimetal Coating | Lodestone Golem | Mazemind Tome |
| Mesmeric Orb | Millstone | Mind’s Eve |
| Mishra’s Forge | Mox Amber | Mystic Forge |
| Ornithopter | Perilous Vault | Phyrexian Processor |
| Phyrxian Revoker | Platinum Angel | Precursor Golem |
| Pristine Talisman | Psychosis Crawler | Quicksilver Amulet |
| Quietus Spike | Ramos Dragon Engine | Runechanter’s Pike |
| Scrap Trawler | Sculpting Steel | Self-Assembler |
| Semblance Anvil | Sigil of Valor | Soul-Guide Lantern |
| Springleaf Drum | Staff of Domination | Sundering Titan |
| Swiftfoot Boots | Sword of the Meek | Thorn of Amethyst |
| Unwinding Clock | Well of Lost Dreams | Wurmcoil Engine |
Many of the Retro Artifacts in BRO are much better in prerelease and Sealed formats than Draft. Players shouldn’t toss a random Artifact into a build just because it made the list as one of the best. A card like Elsewhere Flask, for example, isn’t going to make the main deck cut in a traditional two-color archetype build.
But, in a deck splashing a third color, it’s potentially worth including.
The BRO set is packed with Artifacts and Artifacts creatures. Upon coming across a Retro Artifact during either Sealed or Draft games, players should take the time to read the Artifact and see how it can potentially work in their deck. Players should watch out for expensive mana costs that put a card onto the battlefield, especially if the mana sink is also expensive.
Here are the best MTG Retro Artifacts to watch for while playing Draft or Sealed in The Brothers’ War.
Quicksilver Amulet
Better in the Sealed format than BRO Draft, Quicksilver Amulet cheats a giant creature onto the battlefield for a total of four mana over the course of two turns.
Springleaf Drum
The BRO set is primarily a two-color archetype Limited Draft format. Players who want to splash a third color should consider picking up Springleaf Drum. In the Sealed format, it’s even better.
Soul-Guide Lantern
Soul-Guide Lantern is a solid Artifact that exiles cards with Unearth, a mechanic within the BRO set. It’s mostly a sideboard card but is very good against archetypes like BG and WB.
Scrap Trawler
Scrap Trawler is a solid three-drop creature that slots into Artifact heavy builds. The BRO set is packed with Artifact creatures. Scrap Trawler slots right into BR Sacrifice decks that are always wanting sacrifice targets.
Foundry Inspector
Reducing the cost of Artifact spells by one, Foundry Inspector is a solid card to have in any BRO archetype. As an added bonus, it’s also a 3/2 Artifact creature.
Mystic Forge
Mystic Forge costs four mana to cast, which is on the high side. Powerstones help with the cost and being able to look at the top card of your library at any time is too good to pass up in the BRO Limited format. As an added bonus, players can cast Artifact spells from the top of their library.
Key to the City
Key to the City prevents one target creature from getting blocked during the turn you tap it and discard a card. It’s a solid late-game Artifact that can also draw cards when necessary.
Mazemind Tome
Mazemind Tome has two solid activation abilities as it can Scry one or Draw a card. Each time an ability is activated, a page counter is added to Mazemind Tome. Upon hitting four counters, its controller gains four life.
Unwinding Clock
With so many Artifact creatures in the BRO set, Unwinding Clock is worth paying the four mana to put onto the battlefield. The Retro Artifact allows players to apply pressure to opponents when playing big Artifact creatures as it essentially gives them all Vigilance.
Wurmcoil Engine
Wurmcoil Engine is a bomb within the BRO Limited format. It’s a 6/6 for six that can get paid for with Powerstones. The Artifact also has Deathtouch and Lifelink. And when it dies, it leaves behind two 3/3 tokens—one with Lifelink and the other with Deathtouch.
