Ardent Recruit
Creature — Human Soldier
Metalcraft — This creature gets +2/+2 as long as you control three or more artifacts.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Duel Decks: Mirrodin Pure vs. New Phyrexia
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #24843
Ardent Recruit is a one-mana 1/1 that can scale into a 3/3 with protection from everything — but only if you control artifacts, enchantments, and equipment simultaneously, a condition narrow enough to make it a build-around rather than a staple. In decks that can reliably meet all three, it punches above its cost; everywhere else, it's outclassed by generically better one-drops.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Ardent Recruit sees virtually no competitive play across formats — its ceiling is too conditional and its floor (a 1/1 for one) is too low to justify the slot. In Commander, it belongs only in dedicated Voltron or artifact-equipment shells where all three permanent types are constantly in play, and even there it competes with creatures that grant value on entry rather than requiring a board state to be useful. In Pauper and Legacy, the one-mana creature bar is set by threats with immediate impact, and Ardent Recruit doesn't meet it. It's a draft-environment card that occasionally finds a niche home in focused Commander builds, but nowhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data for Ardent Recruit isn't currently available, but as a low-demand common with narrow competitive applications it almost certainly sits at bulk pricing — likely a few cents in paper. Pick it up for your equipment deck without a second thought on budget, but don't go hunting for foils expecting scarcity value.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.