Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and Cool Stuff Inc, here’s the newest Golgari hybrid from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths – Fiend Artisan!
From the moment it was previewed, Fiend Artisan has been compared to both Tarmogoyf and Birthing Pod – two cards which have defined formats at various points during their lifespan.
Fiend Artisan gets +1/+1 for each creature card in your graveyard
While not as blatantly powerful as Tarmogoyf, there are many situations where Fiend Artisan can be a two-mana 3/3 or stronger, which is already good value.
X [B/G] tap, Sacrifice another creature: Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost X or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
Toolbox strategies are something we’ve seen in Standard before, most recently with Prime Speaker Vannifar, but the restrictive mana cost, lack of outwardly powerful targets, and being an easily removable creature severely hindered its potential.
Birthing Pod was dominant during its time in Standard and is currently banned in Modern, so we know the pedigree of this type of card. Will we see a repeat performance with Fiend Artisan?