How Clockwork Steed Interacts with Planeswalkers in MTG

In TCG ·

Clockwork Steed card art — Masters Edition II

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Clockwork Steed and Planeswalkers: a curious crossroads of tempo, loyalty, and metal-hoofed menace

There’s something irresistibly nostalgic about Clockwork Steed. A colorless artifact creature from Masters Edition II, it shows up with a quiet swagger: a four-mana 4/3 horse built from gears, cogs, and a little bit of clockwork magic. Its text reads like a puzzle box for planeswalkers and combat math: it can’t be blocked by artifact creatures, it enters with four +1/+0 counters, and if it attacked or blocked in a turn, you shed a counter at end of combat. Add in the upkeep-based option to top off counters, up to a hard cap of four, and you’ve got a card that rewards careful planning and a bit of “build-a-mule of a clock” patience. 🧙‍♂️🔥💎

Planeswalkers operate on loyalty counters, a different economy from creature +1/+1 or −1/−1 counters. Clockwork Steed doesn’t directly “touch” loyalty in the way a burn spell or a flagship walker interaction might, but it carves out unique lines of attack and defense around planeswalkers that resonate with thoughtful players. Because Steed is colorless and has no color identity, it fits neatly into many builds that lean into big threats, slow bleed, or toolbox-style strategies. Its absence of color also makes it a surprisingly stubborn obstacle to artifact-heavy boards that want to slow down walks with blockers. In a meta full of walkers with strong loyalty pools, a well-timed Steed swing can shave a chunk off a walker’s durability while threatening to push through unblocked damage when the time is right. ⚔️

Understand the knobs that Clockwork Steed gives you against planeswalkers

First, the default package is straightforward but surprisingly potent. Clockwork Steed enters as a 4/3 creature, but its four +1/+0 counters turn it into a formidable 4/3 powerhouse right away. That means you can push 4 damage to a loyalty counter on a planeswalker in a single combat, potentially destroying walkers that sit at or around four loyalty. The kicker is that this is not a “one-and-done” plan. If you attack and survive, you’ve paid attention to the end-of-combat clause: you remove one +1/+0 counter from Steed. That creates a natural cadence: you trade four power for the chance to reduce a walker’s life by a neat chunk, and then you decide how aggressively you want to press on future turns. The result is a mode of play that rewards patient sequencing and selective aggression. 🧙‍♂️

  • The Steed can threaten a planeswalker early thanks to its high power in the first swing. If an opponent is banking on loyalty growth to stabilize, a single attack can push past their early defenses and force a decision on the walker’s fate. A successful hit at four loyalty can topple many walkers in a single combat. ⚡
  • Because it cannot be blocked by artifact creatures, Clockwork Steed becomes a sharp tool against boardstates packed with Myr, Clues, or other artifact enforcers. Planeswalkers are often supported by artifact-based backlines; Steed helps you bypass that, delivering damage to loyalty with a degree of inevitability. 🎯
  • The upkeep ability—pay X, tap to put up to X +1/+0 counters on this creature—lets you top off to four counters when you have mana to spare. This is a rare but elegant way to reset your offensive tempo across turns, ensuring you can reapply pressure to a walker who stubbornly clings to loyalty. Remember, you cannot exceed four counters, so you’re trading off the chance to accumulate more for a reliable ceiling of four on each upkeep. 🔧
  • The end-of-combat counter removal keeps players honest: you can’t simply swing forever without consequence. If Steed attacked or blocked this turn, it sheds a counter, nudging the board back toward balance. This creates a dance where you must decide whether to press the attack again next turn or conserve your resources for another line of play. The result is a nice little rhythm that makes planeswalker matchups feel like a game of clockwork chess. 🕰️
  • In practical terms, most walkers sit at five or more loyalty on average, so a single four-power swing won’t instantly eliminate them. But that four-damage swing can force awkward blocks, provoke a spike inl loyalty-damage planning, or set up a follow-up strike from another attacker. It’s not just raw damage—it’s tempo, bluff, and precise calculation rolled into one compact package. 🎲

Deck-building ideas and matchups where Steed shines

When you include Clockwork Steed in a plan, you’re signaling a willingness to engage planeswalkers on their terms. It’s particularly effective in decks that lean into artifact synergy, ramp, or slow-control archetypes where you want a consistent threat that remains relevant across several turns. The fact that Steed is from Masters Edition II gives it a touch of nostalgia that appeals to long-time players who remember the era when artifact synergy and clockwork themes were a staple of the design space. The artistry of Terese Nielsen on this card—though not the borderless modern style—contributes to the tactile, mechanical vibe that fits well with “step-by-step” battlements against walkers. The hidden charm is that a single well-timed activation can reassert pressure when walkers try to stabilize behind heavy loyalty buffers. 🧙‍♂️🎨

From a play-pattern perspective, think of Clockwork Steed as a midrange flanker: not too flashy, but relentlessly reliable in the right contexts. Its ability to avoid blocking by artifact creatures makes it a potent reminder that sometimes the most valuable answers to walkers aren’t direct removal spells—they’re threats that airplanes-ahead tempo can’t simply wall off. If your list contains mana and synergy for repeated upkeep activations, you can keep Steed at its four-counter ceiling with a touch of patience, letting you threaten four loyalty-denting strikes across a couple of turns. That kind of resilience—the ability to threaten a planeswalker while preserving your board state—feels timeless, much like the clockwork itself. 🔧⚙️

Collectors and legacy players might also appreciate Clockwork Steed for its rarity and reprint status. As an uncommon from a Masters-era set, it scratches a nostalgic itch while offering practical play in casual and some Commander shells where colorless engines and artifact interactions shine. The card’s value isn’t driven by modern tournament staples, but by the charm of its design and the satisfaction of sequencing a clean, decisive payoff against a planeswalker’s plan. In the grand tapestry of MTG, Steed is a reminder that even “non-color” artifacts can punch well above their perceived weight when the conditions are right. 🎎

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