Planeswalkers in Grand Melee, part 20: Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Tezzeret came out second-best in a duel with Jace Beleren. He has now been rebuilt by Nicol Bolas, and returns as that dragon’s field agent. He is currently on Mirrodin, keeping one eye on the progress of the Phyrexians, but taking no part in the ongoing war.

Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas has an affinity for artifacts, just like his original incarnation. However as a blue/black rather than mono blue planeswalker, this affinity comes through in a different way. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas costs four mana to cast, including one blue and one black mana. He enters the battlefield with three loyalty counters and has three abilities, all related to artifacts. This means you won’t be using him outside of a blue/black artifact deck. However his abilities are worth the restriction.

The first ability adds one loyalty counter and allows you to look at the top 5 cards of your library, reveal and artifact card to put into your hand, and out the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. A blue ability as far as these things go, but a useful one. Adding a single loyalty counter is all you need to access Tezzeret’s final ability too.

The second ability is useful when you need an attacker out of nowhere. For the cost of one loyalty counter, target artifact becomes a 5/5 artifact creature. Useful if you have an untapped artifact land. It can even be used on an equipment card, but remember that equipment which becomes a creature cannot be attached to a creature. If it was already attached it becomes unattached.

The final ability is great in multiplayer, including in Grand Melee. It costs four loyalty counters, and target player loses x life and you gain x life. X is equal to twice the number of artifacts you control. So if you have two artifact they lose 4 life, if you have three they lose 6 and so on. In the kind of deck you’ll use Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas in you should have nine or ten artifacts before using this ability. The ability can immediately kill an opponent as well as giving you the life to absorb attacks from the player to your right. Artifacts or spells with the proliferate ability become valuable in this deck, as they allow you to quickly restore Tezzeret’s loyalty counters, ready for another strike.

Verdict: Strong. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas will do well at the magic table with a deck built around him. The card can also be added to some other decks, but works best in a purpose-built deck.

Connections: Like Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas? You may also like [Tezzeret the Seeker] [Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker] [Jace, the Mindsculptor]
Don’t like Tezzeret? You may prefer [Sarkhan the Mad] [Jace, Memory Adept] [Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded]

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Planeswalkers in Grand Melee part 7, Tezzeret the Seeker

Tezzeret the Seeker costs five mana to cast, two of which must be blue. He enters the battlefield with four loyalty counters, and has three abilities.

Tezzeret is a different kind of blue planeswalker to Jace Beleren. He has a particular affinity with artifacts, as represented in his abilities.

His first ability adds a loyalty counter, and allows you to untap up to two target artifacts. This is a powerful and flexible ability when you deck is built around it. If you are playing with artifact lands, it mimics the first ability of Garruk Wildspeaker. If you are playing with artifacts that have a tap ability, you get a second bite at that. It also allows you to untap your just-cast Nevinyrral’s Disk, which can catch some opponents unprepared for the ensuing destruction. Tezzeret will come through that unscathed, of course.

The second ability is a –X ability. This ability removes x loyalty counters, and allows you to search your library for an artifact with a converted mana cost of X or less, reveal it, and put it into your hand. You can choose zero as the value of X and search for an artifact land, Ornithopter, or some similar card. Targeted card draw is always powerful and Tezzeret the Seeker enables the right deck (ie one full of artifacts) to draw additional cards every turn.

Tezzeret the Seeker’s final ability affects all artifacts you control. This number has hopefully been increased by using his second ability. All your artifacts become 5/5 creatures until the end of turn. Remember that any Equipment cards that become a creature cannot equip an creature and so will become unattached. Using this ability should spell the end of the melee for the player sitting on your left.

Verdict: Strong. A deck built around Tezzeret the Seeker should do well at the Melee
table, and the card can additionally be used to strengthen other decks.

Connections: Like Tezzeret the Seeker? You may also like [Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker] [Sarkhan the Mad] [Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas]
Don’t like Tezzeret? You may prefer: [Ajani Goldmane] [Chandra Nalaar] [Sorin Markov]

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