Inventors' Fair is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more artifacts, you gain 1 life.: Add
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Complete guide
Inventors' Fair is a powerful utility land that rewards artifact-heavy decks with life gain and a repeatable way to tutor for specific threats. It serves as both a mana source and a late-game win condition by finding the exact machine you need to finish the job. Whether you are building a construct army or assembling a combo, this land is a staple for any engineer.
Understanding Metalcraft Requirements
Inventors' Fair relies on a condition often referred to as 'Metalcraft,' requiring you to control three or more artifacts. The first ability is a triggered ability that checks this condition at the very start of your upkeep. If you do not have three artifacts the moment the upkeep begins, the ability does not trigger at all. The second ability is an activated ability that also requires three artifacts to initiate, but unlike the trigger, it only checks this condition once during activation.
The Upkeep Trigger Step-by-Step
When your upkeep starts, the game checks if you control three artifacts. If yes, the ability goes on the stack. If an opponent destroys your artifacts in response, the ability will check again upon resolution. If you no longer control three artifacts when the ability tries to resolve, you will not gain the 1 life. However, the artifacts do not need to be the same ones that were present when the ability triggered; as long as the count is three or more at both checkpoints, you succeed.
Activating the Tutor Ability
To search for an artifact, you must pay four mana, tap the land, and sacrifice it. Because the 'three or more artifacts' requirement is an activation cost, you must meet it to put the ability on the stack. A key ruling to remember: once the ability is activated, it will resolve even if you lose your artifacts before the search happens. Unlike the life-gain trigger, this ability does not re-check the artifact count upon resolution.
Strategic Timing
Since Inventors' Fair is a legendary land, you cannot have two on the battlefield at once. It is often best played early to start accumulating life, but you should hold the search ability until you absolutely need a specific artifact to win or survive. Remember that as a land, it does not use the stack when played, and it provides colorless mana immediately.
Interaction examples
Command TowerIf you have Inventors' Fair and Command Tower on the battlefield, you have access to both colorless utility and your commander's colors. If you control three artifacts, you can tap Command Tower to help pay for the search ability of Inventors' Fair, effectively trading your land drop for any artifact in your deck.
Exotic OrchardIn a game of Commander, you might need a specific artifact to deal with a threat. By tapping Exotic Orchard for mana (depending on what your opponents control) and using Inventors' Fair, you can sacrifice the Fair to search your library. Even if an opponent responds by destroying one of your artifacts, the search will still resolve because the requirement was only checked at the time of activation.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Inventors' Fair
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
There are many important moments in the story, but the most crucial—called “story spotlights”—are shown on cards. These cards have the Planeswalker symbol in their text box; this symbol has no effect on gameplay. You can read more about these events in the official Magic fiction at http://www.mtgstory.com.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
When using Inventors' Fair's activated ability, the number of artifacts you control is checked only as you activate it. It's not checked again as the ability resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
No player may take actions in a turn before Inventors' Fair's triggered ability checks to see if it should trigger. If you don't control three or more artifacts, it won't trigger.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If you control three artifacts as the ability resolves, you gain 1 life. The artifacts you control as the ability resolves don't have to be the same ones you controlled as it triggered. If you don't control three artifacts at that time, you won't gain life.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Inventors' Fair
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