Cid, Timeless ArtificerCid, Timeless Artificer | Art by Lius Lasahido

As mentioned in my Ardyn, the UsurperArdyn, the Usurper Demon Typal Deck Tech last week, Final Fantasy is a cool IP that doesn’t speak to me. There are, however, tons of interesting designs, many of which are amazing as IP-agnostic game pieces. The one I’m focusing on today is a timewalking mechanist who reminds me of when I was just learning the game in high school. The school I went to has a mascot named Sidney Raider, after the Spanish hero El Cid. This timeless hero of gallantry, bravery, and sacrifice seems a fitting commander for a deck, so let’s learn how to build around Cid, Timeless ArtificerCid, Timeless Artificer.

Interestingly enough, Cid reminds me of high school in more than just his name: he works with artifacts and cycling, which were themes of a couple of my early decks! I started playing with Champions of Kamigawa, right after Mirrodin block, which was a terrible time to learn. Damage went on the stack; mana burned if it wasn’t all spent; and broken-in-half artifacts enabled incredibly explosive starts. My first deck that could compete was a Grinding StationGrinding Station Cheerios combo deck; my second was Astral SlideAstral Slide ETBs and Morphs. Somehow, someway, Cid manages to bridge my high school experience and my current deckbuilding kick: strange typal decks!

What Does Cid, Timeless Artificer Do?

Cid is an intriguing card in the 99, and can even take multiple slots, as a deck can have any number of cards named Cid, Timeless ArtificerCid, Timeless Artificer. It also has cycling, which is another ability better served in the 99. So…why run Cid as a commander? Well, in addition to being an aggressively-costed four-drop, Cid gives artifact creatures and Heroes +1/+1 for each Artificer we control and each Artificer in our graveyard. This pump only happens if we have a copy out, so we can use our commander to take advantage of the waves and waves of Cid’s past lives we cycle away.

There are a number of legendary Artificers who could helm an Artificer-themed deck, most of whom involve adding or subtracting a color from our Azorius color identity. Ironically, the closest we can get to a predecessor to the kindly and paternal Cid is one of the incarnations of the curmudgeonly eugenicist, Urza. Urza, Lord ProtectorUrza, Lord Protector and Urza, Prince of KroogUrza, Prince of Kroog are both in the deck, so we could tag them in as the commander if wanted. The Lord Protector reduces the cost of artifacts, instants, and sorceries we cast, although we already do have some cost reducers and we don’t run many instants or sorceries. The Prince of Kroog acts as a Tempered SteelTempered Steel and a means of copying artifacts, but Cid already pumps the artifact creatures and we don’t have a glut of mana to pour into the Prince’s ability, so he doesn’t really add anything.

Trying to place this deck into known archetypes is a bit of a tough ask, as Cid has an ability that breaks a fundamental rule of singleton formats. The more successful cards that can have any number of copies tend to be focal points of their decks: Hare ApparentHare Apparent, Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach, Persistent PetitionersPersistent Petitioners, and Slime Against HumanitySlime Against Humanity. Cid is a bit more of a role-player and is the first to be able to go into the command zone. While cycling may be a blank on a commander (without committing to the bit), Cids do work together by offering flexibility. They need artifact creatures and/or Heroes to pump, however, so we can’t just pack our deck with a bunch of Cids. While there is probably a more Cid-focused cycling deck or a cheap, evasive artifact-focused aggro deck, our list is a moderate tempo-based version.

Key Cards for Cid, Timeless Artificer

One of the most important cards in a Cid, Timeless ArtificerCid, Timeless Artificer deck is…Cid, Timeless ArtificerCid, Timeless Artificer! Why is that? Well, it does the things we need, which is why we have it as a commander and why we’re playing a card where we can have any number of copies. But how many is enough? Is there such a thing as too many? Unlike other cards with similar effects, we don’t need more than 20, nor do we need a Thrumming StoneThrumming Stone, as we’re cycling instead of casting. We also have a version in the command zone, so we’re likely casting it as the primary copy and the rest will be cycled away to dig for the “real” spells. As a result, 15 Cids seems like a fair amount - one for each variant!

The other Artificers need to either produce or interact with artifacts, as Cid pumps them and many effects care about them. Padeem, Consul of InnovationPadeem, Consul of Innovation and Sai, Master ThopteristSai, Master Thopterist can draw us cards with our artifacts. Drafna, Founder of Lat-NamDrafna, Founder of Lat-Nam and Hanna, Ship's NavigatorHanna, Ship's Navigator combine to give the deck a fairly strong engine: bouncing, re-casting, copying, and recurring artifacts to slowly develop a wide board through synergy. Whirler RogueWhirler Rogue provides evasive bodies that soak up the Cid boosts like a sponge and can also tap to punch through extra damage in a pinch.

While Sol RingSol Ring isn’t usually an important card to go into detail about, the deck is mana-hungry and there are interesting combos and synergies with it. It both provides mana to fuel Drafna’s abilities and is an incredible outlet for them, as making extra Sol Rings is one of the more powerful things one can do. Mind StoneMind Stone and Mishra's BaubleMishra's Bauble are similarly powerful artifacts to juggle around, while Ornithopter of ParadiseOrnithopter of Paradise can quickly go from a setup mana creature to a game-ending threat!

How Does This Cid, Timeless Artificer Commander Deck Win?

Ideally speaking, our Cid, Timeless ArtificerCid, Timeless Artificer deck wins by powering up incidental bodies using copies of our namesake card. It’s worth noting that Cid cares about all Artificers, not just copies of himself, so we wind up with ways to add almost 40 power and toughness if we can flip our whole deck into play. While that's unlikely, it shows how many Artificers we're running, many of whom make bodies for us to pump.

When a single Thopter can slice off half of your life? Yeah, that’s a powerful aggressive line. When you factor in that that’s not even using our better cards? You better believe this deck has potential. While we’d prefer to win through cycling Cids to stack up boosts on evasive creatures, sometimes we need to rely on the synergies shared between members of the Artificer creature type, using spare copies of Cid to dig to our more powerful cards and to piece together the synergies needed to build inevitability.

Cid, Timeless Artificer Commander Deck List

Conclusion

There are some powerful cards in our deck, which enable fast starts. Sol RingSol Ring and Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel are the more egregious offenders, especially since Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel can be annoying to track. At least, with its synergy with Cids, the Sentinel can get strong enough that most players will just not be able to pay its cost. While we do play some staples, we have ways to make those staples more interesting. And while we do play 15 of the same card, that card has a lot of “play” to it. When do you cast it? When do you cycle it? Do you cast a spare copy or the commander itself? We can even use the spare copies to have access to our commander without paying for tax!

This deck is one for those who enjoy tempo decks with a solid amount of flexibility and problem solving. It’s easy to play but tough to master, as every card has decision-making trees. If you enjoy Kaijudo/Duel Masters, you’ll love the decision trees that come with each copy of Cid, as those games are largely defined by the choices of how you want to play each individual card.

How would you build a Cid deck? And how many Cids is too many? Let us know in the comments.