Salvation EngineHow it works & interactions with other cards

An Artifact Commander

While Salvation Engine is on the battlefield, it provides a static +2/+2 bonus to every other artifact creature you control. This applies whether Salvation Engine is currently crewed and acting as a creature or sitting idle as a non-creature artifact. This makes it an excellent 'anthem' effect for decks utilizing Golems, Myr, or Thopters.

The Attack Trigger

The most potent part of Salvation Engine is its attack trigger. Whenever it attacks, you choose up to one target artifact card in your graveyard. As the ability resolves, that card is put directly onto the battlefield. Note that this trigger happens immediately upon declaring Salvation Engine as an attacker, before blockers are chosen.

The Crew Requirement

To attack and trigger its recursion ability, Salvation Engine must first become a creature. Its Crew 6 cost is quite steep, requiring you to tap any number of creatures you control with total power 6 or greater. Remember that artifact creatures you tap to pay the Crew cost will benefit from the Engine's +2/+2 bonus if they are already on the battlefield, which can help reach that power threshold more easily.

Strategic Timing

Because the recursion targets 'an artifact card,' you are not limited to artifact creatures. You can return powerful utility artifacts or even artifact lands. To maximize value, ensure you have a high-impact target in your graveyard before you commit your creatures to the Crew cost.

Interaction examples

Recurring Value with the Sad Robot

Solemn Simulacrum

With Solemn Simulacrum in your graveyard, you crew Salvation Engine and declare an attack. The Engine's trigger targets Solemn Simulacrum. The Simulacrum enters the battlefield, allowing you to search for a basic land. If the Simulacrum later dies in combat, its own trigger lets you draw a card, and it returns to the graveyard ready to be salvaged by the Engine's next attack.

Protecting the One Ring

The One Ring

If your opponent uses a destruction spell to remove The One Ring, you can use Salvation Engine to bring it back. When Salvation Engine attacks, you target The One Ring in your graveyard. It enters the battlefield tapped (if applicable) or untapped. Note that because you did not 'cast' the Ring when it returns this way, you do not gain protection from everything, but you do reset the burden counters to zero, saving your life total.