all permanents are artifacts mtg

In the vast and intricate multiverse of Magic: The Gathering, few concepts are as simultaneously elegant and world-bending as the phrase "all permanents are artifacts." This is not merely a deck-building theme but a fundamental reimagining of the game's core ontology. It represents a paradigm where the natural laws of a plane are overwritten by a singular, unifying principle of artifice. This article explores the manifestations, implications, and profound strategic depth of this concept within the game's lore, card design, and competitive play.

Table of Contents

The Philosophical and Mechanical Foundation

Key Cards and Enablers: Building the New Reality

Strategic Implications: A Transformed Battlefield

Flavor and Lore: Worlds of Pure Artifice

Conclusion: The Ultimate Synthesis

The Philosophical and Mechanical Foundation

Magic traditionally categorizes permanents into distinct types: creatures, enchantments, artifacts, lands, and planeswalkers. Each type operates under its own set of rules and interactions. The statement "all permanents are artifacts" collapses these categories into one. Philosophically, it proposes a universe where everything is constructed, engineered, or mechanized. There is no "natural" world; even living beings and the land itself are manifestations of complex artifice. Mechanically, this opens a floodgate of synergies. Cards that care about artifacts suddenly have their scope expanded exponentially. A forest is now an artifact, as is an angel, a sorcerous enchantment, or a visiting planeswalker. This creates a singular, overwhelming axis for deck construction and battlefield control.

Key Cards and Enablers: Building the New Reality

This reality is made possible through specific, powerful cards that enact this global change. The most iconic and comprehensive is Mycosynth Lattice. This legendary artifact does the heavy lifting, explicitly stating that "All permanents are artifacts in addition to their other types." It is the linchpin of the strategy, the card that rewrites the rules of the game. Another critical piece is Karn, the Great Creator, whose static ability prevents opponents from activating abilities of noncreature artifacts. Under a Mycosynth Lattice, this locks opponents out of using their lands, enchantments, and other key pieces, often leading to an instant concession.

Supporting these centerpieces are cards that exploit this new uniformity. Vandalblast can now destroy every permanent an opponent controls for a single red mana if overloaded. Hellkite Tyrant can win the game by stealing all permanents, as they are all artifacts. March of the Machines, while making all artifacts into creatures, interacts dangerously with Lattice by turning all lands into 0/0 creatures, typically destroying them. Cards like Master of Etherium or Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas see their power magnified beyond measure, as every permanent contributes to their abilities.

Strategic Implications: A Transformed Battlefield

The strategic landscape under this effect is utterly transformed. The player who establishes this paradigm gains an insurmountable advantage through synergy and disruption. Their card draw engines like Thoughtcast become drastically cheaper. Their removal suite, from Abrade to Metallic Rebuke, gains universal applicability. The battlefield is homogenized in their favor.

Conversely, this state creates unique vulnerabilities. Mass artifact destruction becomes mass land destruction and board wrath combined. A single Fracturing Gust or Cleansing Nova can be catastrophic. This creates a tense dynamic where establishing the "all artifacts" world is a high-risk, high-reward play. It demands either a swift victory following its establishment or protective measures like Darksteel Forge to grant indestructibility to this new artificial universe. The combo is often assembled in commander formats or older, powerful constructed formats, where it serves as a definitive, game-ending lock.

Flavor and Lore: Worlds of Pure Artifice

Flavorfully, this concept finds its home on planes like Mirrodin (now New Phyrexia). Mirrodin was literally a world of metal, its core infused by the planeswalker Karn. Its very ecosystem was artifice, with "organic" life forged from metal. The phrase "all permanents are artifacts" is the perfect mechanical translation of Mirrodin's reality. Every forest, plains, and mountain is an artifact land. Every creature is a construct or an organic-metal hybrid. Enchantments represent viral glimmers or engineered fields. Here, the mechanic is not a trick but a reflection of the plane's essence.

This stands in stark contrast to a plane like Zendikar, where the land is wild and alive, or Ravnica, a city of stone and guild magic. Imposing the artifact reality on such planes represents a Phyrexian-style compleation—a forced, totalizing industrialization of reality itself. When a player drops Mycosynth Lattice on a board representing a forest duel, they are narratively imposing Phyrexia's will, converting the natural into the artificial in a brutal display of ontological conquest.

Conclusion: The Ultimate Synthesis

The concept of "all permanents are artifacts" represents one of Magic's most ambitious and cohesive design intersections. It is where mechanics, strategy, and flavor achieve a potent synthesis. It challenges players to think beyond traditional card typology and envision a battlefield governed by a single, overwhelming law. While enabled by a small suite of powerful cards, its implications ripple through every aspect of the game, from deck construction and instant-win combos to deep narrative resonance. It is a testament to the game's depth that a single, simple-sounding phrase can unlock such a complex, transformative, and thematically rich avenue of play, forever changing how one perceives the very components of the game.

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