Sleeperspell: Golem's Heart
The heart of a golem gives life to more than just the iron husk around it.
Sleeperspell is a series discussing forgotten gems hidden throughout Magic: The Gathering’s (MTG) history. I aim to showcase cards that can be used in today’s MTG climate.
Golem's Heart was released in 2010 as part of the Scars of Mirrodin expansion. Mirroden is known as an artificial, metal plane that was invaded by the Phyrexian. This set had numerous artifacts compared to previous, which was par-for-the-theme course. So why is this card important today?
For two colorless mana, Golem’s Heart gains you 1 life for any artifact spell cast by a player. While 1 life doesn’t sound like much, it can be quite useful in Commander or Oathbreaker formats, especially with the higher number of artifact cards recently released.
The newest set, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, saw a total of 107 cards that have the card type of artifact. 79 of those are cards are brand new, while the other 28 were from previous sets. The Innistrad block of Crimson Vow and Midnight Hunt saw a total of 57 artifact cards, where 39 were new cards and 18 were from previous sets.
More importantly, Neon Dyanasty created a new type of artifact creature card that can be equipped to another creature. 16 of those 79 new cards can use the new Reconfigure mechanic to attach itself to a different creature. If this mechanic returns in future sets, the amount of new artifacts will pump Golem’s Heart even more!
When deciding if Golem’s Heart fits your specific needs, review the following cards that you may see in the wild or are included in your own deck:
Smothering Tithe
One of the most powerful enchantment cards in MTG is Smothering Tithe. Per EDHREC, this card is in 139846 decks which is 31% of the 455067 decks created. If you are playing against three players in either the Commander or Oathbreaker format, and someone is playing white, it’s likely that this card exists in their deck. If you are playing white, and someone else is playing blue, card draw may be rampant which could add even more value for you.
Any Treasure artifact token is an easy 1 life gain for you when using Golem’s Heart. On average, I could see gaining at least 10 health off Smothering Tithe alone. Combine both Golem’s Heart and Smothering Tithe’s mana cost would mean you pay 6 mana to gain 10 health, and that’s not including other artifacts opponents or yourself would play. And don’t get me started if you are running a health deck that adds counters to other cards you own or a life drain deck that takes health away from other players.
Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith
Toggo, Goblin Weaponsmith could see a resurgence with the help from the newest set, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. If you are able to make Toggo a Partner (a unique mechanic where you could have two commanders) or include them in the 99, there is a good chance Toggo comes out early to take advantage of land drops to create numerous Rock artifact tokens.
Why would anyone care about Rock artifact tokens? Besides throwing them at any target, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty created a new mechanic called Modified. A Modified creature is any creature that is equipped, enchanted by an aura, or have a counter of them. Toggo’s ability works extremely well with two new legendary creatures: Chishiro, the Shattered Blade and Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei. Chishiro was given their own preconstructed commander deck sold by Wizard of the Coast (WotC) and both cards are fairly cheap to buy as singles. Similar to Smothering Tithe, any Rock artifact token is 1 life gained for you when using Golem’s Heart. A great example to show how useful Toggo’s ability is can be seen in Episode 40 of Game Knights.
Mistakes Were Made
After careful research and being notified by other players, I ignored a very important part on Golem’s Heart which is the word “cast.” A player must cast a card for you to actually gain life. Due to this, I strikethrough all my previous research, but will leave it up anyways. The little things like this matter in the rules, so I’ll do my best to be better.
Artificer Combos and Commanders
Artificers is a creature type where they focus their efforts on artifacts. Nearly every Artificer have an artifact-related ability such as creating artifacts, using artifacts to pay mana cost, or even creating duplicate artifact tokens. Pay close attention to any commander that has Artificer as their type; there is a good chance their deck will revolve around using and abusing artifacts. Some of the more played Artificer cards are Urza, Lord High Artificer; Osgir, The Reconstructor; Goblin Engineer; Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer; any Tezzeret Planeswalker; and many others.
Vehicles Are Back
Vehicle is an artifact type that was introduced in 2016. These cards are commonly shown with a bronze exterior. The interesting mechanic with Vehicles is that they do not have a power or toughness stat ability until they become creatures per the Crew keyword. Crew allows Vehicles to temporarily become an artifact creature with their power and toughness coming into effect.
With Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, 24 Vehicle cards were included, and 16 of those are brand new cards. WotC also created a preconstructed commander deck called ‘Buckle Up’ that hyper-focused on Vehicles and synergies to give life back to the underappreciated Vehicles of the past. If more Vehicle decks make their way into different formats, Golem’s Heart is staple for those decks or countering those decks with extra health thrown in.
In Conclusion,
Where things are heading with the newest sets and lore implications, there is a good chance we see more artifact cards being created or reintroduced. In 2021, Golem’s Heart was added to The List (a rotating catalogue of cards within Set Booster packs) and should not be slept on. Golem’s Heart is a Sleeperspell for numerous decks and will continue its rhythm into the future MTG climate!
