Goblin Engineer
Creature — Goblin Artificer
When this creature enters, you may search your library for an artifact card, put it into your graveyard, then shuffle.
, 
, Sacrifice an artifact: Return target artifact card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Modern Horizons 1 Timeshifts
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #1157
Goblin Engineer enters, tutors an artifact straight to your graveyard, and then sits on the board as a repeatable reanimation engine for anything costing three or less — that's two relevant effects on a two-mana body. The cost is real: the activated ability asks you to sacrifice an artifact you control, so shells that want fodder in the yard anyway, like Crime Novelist or Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver, get the most out of it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver
Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver runs a dense artifact-sacrifice package, and Goblin Engineer plugs directly into that loop — it stocks the graveyard on entry, then converts sacrifice fodder into recurring recursion for the combo pieces Dargo needs to stay cheap.
Daretti, Scrap Savant
Daretti, Scrap Savant's whole game is artifacts going in and out of the graveyard, and Goblin Engineer acts as a redundant tutor-plus-outlet that reinforces the same axis — between the two, almost nothing relevant stays buried for long.
Osgir, the Reconstructor
Osgir, the Reconstructor wants specific artifacts in the graveyard to copy on activation, and Goblin Engineer is one of the cleanest ways to bin the right piece on demand while also threatening to rebuy it if Osgir is unavailable.
Ashnod the Uncaring
Ashnod the Uncaring doubles triggered abilities, so Goblin Engineer's enter-the-battlefield tutor becomes two artifacts in the graveyard at once — that kind of graveyard density powers the sacrifice chains Ashnod decks are built around.
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider cares about artifacts entering from unconventional zones, and Goblin Engineer's reanimation trigger feeds that loop while also ensuring the right low-cost artifact is always available to reuse.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Goblin Engineer does its best work — artifact-heavy strategies like Daretti, Osgir, and sacrifice-based combo shells run it as a near-auto-include because the enter-the-battlefield tutor and the reanimation outlet are both independently useful at the same mana cost. In Legacy, the card is legal and sees occasional play in artifact-combo shells that want redundancy on Goblin Welder effects, though the three-mana activation is slower in a format where games end early. Modern has the right artifact payoffs for it to matter, and dedicated artifact or graveyard combo decks have explored it, though the competition for two-drop slots is stiff. Vintage, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper are either non-legal or too fast/too underpowered-relative-to-format for Goblin Engineer to find consistent homes.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Goblin EngineerCrime NovelistThornbite Staff
Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Ashnod the UncaringGoblin EngineerCorridor MonitorCommander's Sphere
Infinite card draw; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite death triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite LTB; Near-infinite sacrifice triggers
View combo details →
Goblin EngineerCrime NovelistIntruder Alarm
Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite untap of creatures you control; Infinite untap of creatures
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Ashnod the UncaringGoblin EngineerCorridor MonitorLotus Petal
Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite sacrifice triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Goblin Engineer isn't currently available in our feed, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the current market rate before buying. Historically it has settled in the budget-to-mid range for a non-mythic two-drop with consistent Commander demand, so it's rarely a wallet concern.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.