Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Reezug, the Bonecobbler: a quiet engine for multiplayer magic
When you sit down at a table with four, five, or six players, every decision feels magnified. Life totals are shared, political capital is currency, and the board state can swing on a single swing of the turn. Enter Reezug, the Bonecobbler, a legendary spirit artificer from the digital-only Alchemy: Dominaria set. With a modest mana cost of {1}{B} and stat line of 1/3, this mythic enabler quietly crawls under the radar as a card that rewards patience, Planning, and a touch of necromantic mischief. 🧙♂️🔥💎 In multiplayer, that “quiet engine” vibe often becomes the difference between falling behind and delivering a late-game tempo swing that redefines the table’s trajectory.
The core ability, distilled
Reezug’s tap ability is deceptively simple: “Tap: Target creature card in your graveyard perpetually becomes an artifact. You may cast that card this turn. (It loses all other card types.)” In a multiplayer frame, that means you can resurrect a key threat from your own graveyard and cast it that same turn—only now it’s an artifact spell, not a creature. The card in your graveyard remains permanently an artifact from then on, which can alter how you sequence plays and how your opponents see your graveyard as a potential treasure trove for the table to pry open. This is not a one-shot tempo card; it’s a persistent engine that rewards careful timing and the right targets. ⚔️🎨
Why the mechanic shines in multiplayer formats
- Political tempo and win conditions: In a crowded pod, threatening to drop a big threat that’s been transformed into an artifact and cast on the same turn can force decisions. Opponents may scramble to answer a potential game-ending play, granting you mana and time to leverage your board. Reezug acts as a pressure valve that scales with the table—your graveyard becomes a shared space of possibility, not a private dump.
- Artifact synergies in a blue-tinged black shell: Although your color identity is black, the artifact angle invites a broader spectrum of support—from card draw to mana acceleration and recursive recursion. The artifact status can enable synergy with generic artifact-friendly accelerants or tech that cares about artifacts entering the battlefield—whether it’s payoffs from treasure-hunting effects, or protective tools that shine when artifacts proliferate. In a multiplayer setting, that shared artifact track can outpace single-target removal and stall tactics.
- Graveyard resilience and tactical recursions: Reezug doesn’t just fetch a one-off threat; it invites you to curate a graveyard suite that remains a viable fallback for many turns. In the chaos of multiplayer, having a back-pocket creature card ready to flip into an artifact and cast can catch opponents off guard and keep you in the game when early pressure doesn’t land. 🧠💡
Practical multiplayer strategies you can try
Here are some concrete angles to explore at the table, with Reezug at the table’s center. The ideas blend tempo, value, and a dash of whimsy, all with a dash of bone-chilling flavor.
- Target value in your graveyard: Choose a creature card that has immediate impact when cast, or one with a strong enters-the-battlefield effect. The moment you turn it into an artifact, you gain permission to cast it this turn, potentially delivering a surprise swing that disrupts an opponent’s plan and buys you a critical turn to stabilize. 🧙♂️
- Staggered recursions: Don’t burn your target in a single go. In multiplayer, you often have multiple opponents with different threats; plan to fetch a modular set of threats (one with defensive utility, one with a big finisher, one with a synergy payoff) and re-use Reezug’s ability across turns to keep the board unpredictable.
- Protect the engine: Because Reezug’s effect is not an immediate board-wide reset, you’ll want to shield him from removal while you assemble your graveyard toolkit. A few well-placed counterspells or threats that deter opponents from over-committing can keep you in the game long enough to convert your graveyard into late-game inevitability. ⚔️
- Mind the timing window: In a four-to-six-player game, there’s almost always a critical moment when a single card can tilt the table. Reezug’s window to cast that targeted card this turn means you’ll want to plan turns ahead—one spell you cast on a crowded turn can cascade into further plays on the next. The timing discipline matters as much as the card itself.
Potential caveats and how to navigate them
As with many niche engines, Reezug isn’t a slam-dunk. In multiplayer, you’re often the target of removal or graveyard-hate from multiple players. Because your value relies on a graveyard-enabled line, broad sweep effects and artifact hate can stall your day. You’ll want to diversify your protection suite and avoid putting all your faith into one plan. And since the card is in Alchemy: Dominaria, you’ll mostly find it in digital tables rather than the physical Commander mains, so be mindful of the format you’re playing and the metagame’s appetite for graveyard shenanigans. Nevertheless, the resilience of turning a graveyard monster into an artifact you can cast later means your table will remember the moment Reezug finally flips the switch. 🧩
Flavor, lore, and the art you’re admiring
Reezug, the Bonecobbler carries a flavor that fits right into Dominaria’s sprawling mythos: a spirit artificer who rummages through bone and metal to craft relics—artifacts with a life of their own and a story as old as the battlefield. StoicHua’s illustration gives you a workshop of dark wonder, where bone and brass whisper about the next coup or comeback. The card’s presence at the table is part necromancer, part tinkerer, all about turning the past into present power. Thematically, Reezug feels like a nod to the long-standing love MTG fans share for graveyard play, creative reuse, and the thrill of a well-timed, underhanded plan that outsmarted the room. 🎨🧙♂️
Value, collectability, and crossover appeal
As a mythic rarity in a digital release, Reezug taps into the collector’s curiosity about unique, high-impact interactions. Its dual identity—graveyard recursion and artifact conversion—makes it a nice centerpiece for a themed deck that explores how black mana can spearhead clever, table-flavored wins. And if you’re a fan of the Alchemy line’s experimental spirit, this card offers a window into how digital-only sets push designers to craft interactions that reward flexible thinking and multiplayer misdirection. The result is a card that feels both familiar in its graveyard-resurrection instinct and boldly new in its artifact-casting twist. 💎🔥
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