Tezzeret, Cruel Captain – Edge of Eternities
Date Reviewed: July 29, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.05
Casual: 4.17
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 3.83
Commander [EDH]: 4.08
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I would absolutely love to read/hear more of Tezzeret’s captain’s logs, beyond the snippets we got in the Planeswalker’s Guide to Edge of Eternities article. He might get along well with Captain Kirk’s mirror universe double; and perhaps surprisingly well with Captain Kirk himself, depending on the circumstances. And while Tezzeret might not love his ship like a woman, he would undoubtedly have a thing or two to teach the Starfleet captains: like don’t ignore the small things, either the details or the cheap artifacts. Some of those cards are (perhaps counterintuitively) among the most powerful cards in all of Magic, and when the captain’s around they power up a strategy that builds to a devastating peak. And it does it fast: just three trinkets gets him to the point where you can start smacking opponents over the head with a Mox. If you have artifact lands around, his untap ability makes things even faster somehow, and he also works with popular token types like Treasure. Tezzeret’s minimum case is strong, and I think his maximum case might be outright devastating.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is certainly an interesting planeswalker, and our first glimpse at him after he escaped the chaos of the Phyrexian invasion. He’s still leaning into his “artifact support” thematic, as is his wont, but with a couple of interesting twists…starting with him being colorless, which makes him a surprising boon for many decks.
That said, would decks want to run him? I’d say so. Let’s start with his ultimate, which (while interesting) might be the least-impactful part of him. His passive lets him gain loyalty, and there are definitely ways to abuse this (thanks to the proliferation of artifact tokens), and it is a way to make an innocuous board into a growing threat…but if you’re in a position to ult him, you’re already in quite a good board state, and his greatest strengths lie in his day-to-day abilities.
A free untap of an artifact each turn is excellent, as is the ability to dig out an artifact from your deck; while the limitation may seem irksome at first, remember that there are a lot of potent targets in deeper formats, and this functions as a tutor that also can turn them into a massive headache. 4 loyalty is also workable enough, and while he struggles to protect himself, it’s a cushion if you need it.
The best planeswalkers shine in their day-to-day abilities, and Tezzeret is certainly one whose “cheap” abilities are rife with potential for abuse. I feel like he’ll do the most damage in Vintage, but don’t sell him short in Legacy and even Modern. I do think he’s as good as the artifacts he has to support…and in a worst-case, that ultimate can win you the game if you have just one artifact. Still, getting there might take a bit.
Constructed: 4.25 (going to be a menace in Vintage, and he’ll also make waves in Legacy)
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5 (has some intrigue, since this is a set with a lot of artifacts)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
Thijs
After Tezzeret disappeared during New Phyrexia’s invasion of the Multiverse, he apparently fled to the Edge, where our new set takes place.
Tezzeret is still a sparky planeswalker, and he seems to be working on trying to leave the Multiverse altogether. Hey, if you had Nicol Bolas and Elesh Norn as your masters, you’d be looking for an out too.
His card was the first big spoiler of the new set and it sparked (no pun intended) quite a lot of debate. Is it powerful? Yes, it is! It’s also heavily artifact-minded, which is the reason why it will either be fantastic or terrible. As we’ve said before, the artifact count of EoE is one of the highest of all time, so in this specific circumstance I would say: play Tezzeret and play him hard. You get a loyalty counter with every artifact you play, so getting to Tezzeret’s ultimate won’t be a multi-turn obstacle, like with most planeswalkers.
I’ve seen some Legacy players adding this card to MUD decks and I’m quite curious to see what happens next.
Constructed: 3,8
Casual: 4
Limited: 3,5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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