Small, inexpensive artifacts have been staples of the Magic game since its earliest days, but the Fifth Dawn expansion boosts their usefulness to another level. Cards like
Auriok Salvagers Buy and
Leonin Squire Buy bring cheap artifacts back from your graveyard and apply early attacking pressure. With sixteen artifacts that cost or less, the "Nuts and Bolts" deck takes full advantage of your creatures' scavenging abilities.
The star of the deck is
Trinket Mage Buy. When it comes into play, you can search your deck for whatever little artifact you need, even an artifact land. Let the dumb kids play with the big, expensive creatures. Many of the best Magic decks rely on cheap spells, deck manipulation, and utility. "Nuts and Bolts" has these in spades.
Trinket Mage Buy's partners in crime are
Auriok Salvagers Buy and
Salvaging Station Buy. They generate great card advantage by getting back the little artifacts you've already used so that you can play them again and again. Just keep your defenses up long enough to get about six lands in play and let these cards do their thing. You can recycle
Chromatic Sphere Buy to draw lots of extra cards,
Sunbeam Spellbomb Buy to gain tons of life, or
AEther Spellbomb Buy - the best artifact to reuse - to repeatedly return all your opponents' creatures to their hands, allowing your creatures to eventually walk in for the win.
Remember to play lots of creatures early and then use
Trinket Mage Buy and
Steelshaper's Gift Buy to find some devastating Equipment for them.
Bonesplitter Buy is always great, but the surprise gem of the deck is
Skullclamp Buy — one of the first cards you should search for. Not only does
Skullclamp Buy give your creatures an offensive boost, it also converts them into extra cards when they die. As the game progresses,
Qumulox Buy and
Synod Centurion Buy provide some beefy backup for your army.
If you need an offensive edge, consider adding a few copies of
Auriok Steelshaper Buy from the Mirrodin set. Since this creature reduces the cost of equipping a creature by {1}, it allows you to move many of your Equipment for free. It also gives all your Knights and Soldiers +1/+1 if it has Equipment on it. Extra
Bonesplitter Buys and
Auriok Glaivemaster Buys combine nicely with the Steelshaper, making your small creatures a force to be reckoned with.