Chief Engineer
Creature — Vedalken Artificer
Artifact spells you cast have convoke. (Your creatures can help cast those spells. Each creature you tap while casting an artifact spell pays for 
or one mana of that creature's color.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Magic 2015 Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #7019
Chief Engineer turns your artifact creatures into living mana rocks, letting each one tap to convoke costs off your noncreature artifacts — the bigger your board, the faster your expensive artifacts land. The body is a fragile 1/3 for two mana, but in any artifact-heavy shell like Sai, Master Thopterist, the discount engine is real enough that getting Ancestral Statue or a five-mana artifact down a turn early can close games.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Sai, Master Thopterist
Sai, Master Thopterist generates a Thopter token every time you cast an artifact, and Chief Engineer immediately converts that growing Thopter army into convoke fuel — the two cards form a self-reinforcing loop where each artifact you cast cheaply produces more tappers for the next one.
Ovika, Enigma Goliath
Ovika, Enigma Goliath rewards casting noncreature spells with a flood of Goblin tokens, and Chief Engineer lets you tap those tokens toward your next artifact spell the same turn they enter — the cost reduction compounds quickly in a spells-matter shell that is already generating bodies.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Chief Engineer is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is the only format where it sees real play. In Modern and Pioneer, two mana for a 1/3 that only reduces artifact costs is too slow and too narrow when affinity-adjacent decks have access to better payoffs. Legacy and Vintage have the artifact density to use it, but those formats already have Mox and workshop-level acceleration that renders a convoke enabler redundant. Commander is the sweet spot: the games run long enough to leverage a sustained discount engine, artifact creature counts tend to be high, and the singleton restriction means you want every cost-reduction piece you can find.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Chief EngineerAncestral StatueIntruder Alarm
Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite storm count; Infinite untap of creatures; Infinite untap of creatures you control
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Price data for Chief Engineer isn't currently available in this listing, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for a live number. Given its niche Commander role and modest competitive demand, it has historically been an inexpensive pickup — worth grabbing a copy before you need it rather than hunting one down mid-deckbuild.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.