Reusing Enter-the-Battlefield Effects in Kaladesh Limited

Kaladesh has a number of ways to trigger enter-the-battlefield effects multiple times. This deck is usually assumed to be White/Blue because of the white "blink" effects and blue "bounce" effects. However, in a recent draft, I had a White/Black deck with two Aviary Mechanics and a Panharmonicon, alongside five creatures with Fabricate (including a Marionette Master), two creatures with other enter-the-battlefield abilities (including a splashed Cloudblazer), and three artifacts with enter-the-battlefield abilities. I also had two Acrobatic Maneuvers that I left in my sideboard. Let's take a closer look at the cards that have enter-the-battlefield abilities and the cards that let you reuse those abilities, to see whether this is an archetype we should be trying to draft, and what colors it is most likely to be draftable in.

Reuse Effects

Here are the cards in Kaladesh that let you trigger enter-the-battlefield effects multiple times:

• Artifact: Decoction Module (Uncommon), Panharmonicon (Rare) = average of 1.3 cards in an eight-person draft
• White: Acrobatic Maneuver (Common), Aviary Mechanic (Common), Wispweaver Angel (Uncommon) = average of 5.7 cards
• Blue: Aether Tradewinds (Common), Select for Inspection (Common), Disappearing Act (Uncommon), Aethersquall Ancient (Rare), Paradoxical Outcome (Rare), Saheeli's Artistry (Rare) = average of 6.8 cards

The cards needed are primarily in White and Blue, but each of those colors has enough cards to support the archetype, which means the deck can sometimes be White/X or Blue/X instead of White/Blue.

In addition to these cards, there are also cards in White, Black, and Green that let you recur dead creatures (Refurbish, Fortuitous Find, Dukhara Scavenger, Nissa, Vital Force, Wildest Dreams, Restoration Gearsmith, and Workshop Assistant). I am not counting those cards here because your creature has to die before you can reuse their ability.

Enter-the-Battlefield Effects

There are a number of permanents that either produce energy counters when they enter the battlefield or that have Fabricate, so I'll list them separately. All lists below include cards that have an ability that triggers when you play another creature also, since the blink and bounce effects do allow you to retrigger those abilities too. Non-creature permanents are listed separately, since Acrobatic Maneuver and Select for Inspection can only target creatures.

Energy Counters

The following creatures give you energy counters when they enter the battlefield:

• Artifact: Electrostatic Pummeler — produces 3 energy counters (Rare), Multiform Wonder — 3 (Rare) = average of 0.8 cards in an eight-person draft
• White: Eddytrail Hawk — 2 (Common), Thriving Ibex — 2 (Common), Consul's Shieldguard — 2 (Uncommon), Aetherstorm Roc — 1 (Rare) = average of 6.0 cards
• Blue: Hightide Hermit — 4 (Common), Aether Theorist — 3 (Common), Thriving Turtle — 2 (Common), Era of Innovation — 2/artifact or Artificer (Uncommon), Janjeet Sentry — 2 (Uncommon), Minister of Inquiries — 2 (Uncommon) = average of 9.8 cards (Era of Innovation is an enchantment but gives you energy counters when a creature enters the battlefield, so it benefits from cards that let you recur creatures)
• Black: Thriving Rats — 2 (Common) = average of 2.4 cards
• Red: Thriving Grubs — 2 (Common), Spontaneous Artist — 1 (Common), Aethertorch Renegade — 4 (Uncommon), Maulfist Doorbuster — 2 (Uncommon), Lathnu Hellion — 2 (Rare) = average of 6.9 cards
• Green: Sage of Shaila's Claim — 3 (Common), Riparian Tiger — 2 (Common), Thriving Rhino — 2 (Common), Servant of the Conduit — 2 (Uncommon), Bristling Hydra — 3 (Rare) = average of 8.4 cards
• Multicolor: Whirler Virtuoso — 3 (Uncommon), Voltaic Brawler — 2 (Uncommon) = average of 1.8 cards

The following non-creature permanents give you energy counters when they enter the battlefield:

• Land: Aether Hub — produces 1 energy counter (Uncommon) = average of 0.9 cards in an eight-person draft
• Artifact: Woodweaver's Puzzleknot — 3 (Common), Glassblower's Puzzleknot — 2 (Common), Decoction Module — 1/creature (Uncommon), Deadlock Trap — 2 (Rare) = average of 6.0 cards
• White: Consulate Surveillance — 4 (Uncommon) = average of 0.9 cards
• Blue: Aether Meltdown — 2 (Uncommon) = average of 0.9 cards

Every color other than Black has a number of permanents that provide energy counters when they enter the battlefield, so if you have other cards that can make use of energy counters, then you may want to pick up some of the reuse effects to enable those cards.

Fabricate

The following creatures have Fabricate, and thus can create 1/1 Servos when they enter the battlefield:

• Artifact: Accomplished Automaton — Fabricate 1 (Common), Iron League Steed — 1 (Uncommon) = average of 3.3 cards in an eight-person draft
• White: Glint-Sleeve Artisan — 1 (Common), Propeller Pioneer — 1 (Common), Visionary Augmenter — 2 (Uncommon), Angel of Invention — 2 (Mythic) = average of 5.9 cards
• Black: Ambitious Aetherborn — 1 (Common), Maulfist Squad — 1 (Common), Weaponcraft Enthusiast — 2 (Uncommon), Marionette Master — 3 (Rare) = average of 6.0 cards
• Green: Highspire Artisan — 1 (Common), Peema Outrider — 1 (Common), Elegant Edgecrafters — 2 (Uncommon), Cultivator of Blades — 2 (Rare) = average of 6.0 cards

In addition to these, White has Cogworker's Puzzleknot (Common), which also produces a 1/1 Servo when it enters the battlefield.

White, Black, and Green each have an average of six creatures with Fabricate. However, blinking or bouncing a creature with Fabricate 1 doesn't seem like sufficient payoff, so let's just focus on creatures with Fabricate 2 or more. Those creatures are all Uncommon, Rare, or Mythic, so there are an average of only 1.1 in White (not counting Cogworker's Puzzleknot), and 1.3 each in Black and Green.

Other

The following creatures have enter-the-battlefield abilities that don't produce energy or Servo tokens, or do something in addition to that:

• Artifact: Bomat Bazaar Barge (Uncommon) = average of 0.9 cards in an eight-person draft (Bomat Bazaar Barge is an artifact, but can easily be turned into a creature, so I've listed it here. Eager Construct is not listed because it benefits both players equally, and Filigree Familiar is not listed because the enter-the-battlefield effect is just life gain.)
• White: Herald of the Fair (Common), Ninth Bridge Patrol (Common), Cataclysmic Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 5.0 cards (Ninth Bridge Patrol is actually a leaves-the-battlefield ability, but also benefits when creatures are blinked or bounced, so it is listed here.)
• Blue: Nimble Innovator (Common), Experimental Aviator (Uncommon), Glint-Nest Crane (Uncommon), Torrential Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 4.4 cards
• Black: Dukhara Scavenger (Common), Gonti, Lord of Luxury (Rare), Demon of Dark Schemes (Mythic), Noxious Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 3.2 cards
• Red: Pia Nalaar (Rare), Combustible Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 0.6 cards
• Green: Kujar Seedsculptor (Common), Wild Wanderer (Common), Arborback Stomper (Uncommon), Armorcraft Judge (Uncommon), Verdurous Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 6.8 cards
• Multicolor: Cloudblazer (Uncommon), Restoration Gearsmith (Uncommon), Veteran Motorist (Uncommon) = average of 2.7 cards

The following permanents have enter-the-battlefield abilities that trigger on non-creature permanents entering play, and that don't produce energy or Servo tokens, or do something in addition to that:

• Artifact: Fireforger's Puzzleknot (Common), Glassblower's Puzzleknot (Common), Metalspinner's Puzzleknot (Common), Prophetic Prism (Common) = average of 9.5 cards in an eight-person draft (Woodweaver's Puzzleknot is not listed because the non-energy portion of the enter-the-battlefield effect is just life gain.)
• Blue: Weldfast Wingsmith (Common) = average of 2.4 cards
• Black: Ovalchase Daredevil (Uncommon), Underhanded Designs (Uncommon) = average of 1.8 cards
• Red: Reckless Fireweaver (Common), Salivating Gremlins (Common), Quicksmith Genius (Uncommon) = average of 5.7 cards
• Multicolor: Contraband Kingpin (Uncommon) = average of 0.9 cards

I'm not counting cards like Fairgrounds Warden and Revoke Privileges in these lists since they can only affect one target at a time, even though it is sometimes beneficial to be able to bounce and recast them on a new and more threatening target.

Green has the most creatures with non-energy and non-Fabricate enter-the-battlefield abilities, followed by White, Blue, and Black. Red has almost none, but does instead have a number of cards that trigger when an artifact enters play, so Aviary Mechanic can still be useful in a Red/White deck that has artifacts and cards that trigger when artifacts enter play.

Conclusion

While there are a lot of cards with enter-the-battlefield effects, there a much smaller number that I'm specifically interested in recurring:

• Artifact: Prophetic Prism (Common), Bomat Bazaar Barge (Uncommon) = average of 3.3 cards in an eight-person draft
• White: Visionary Augmenter (Uncommon), Angel of Invention (Mythic) = average of 1.1 cards
• Blue: Nimble Innovator (Common), Experimental Aviator (Uncommon), Glint-Nest Crane (Uncommon) = average of 4.2 cards
• Black: Metalspinner's Puzzleknot (Common), Weaponcraft Enthusiast (Uncommon), Gonti, Lord of Luxury (Rare), Marionette Master (Rare), Noxious Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 4.3 cards
• Red: Quicksmith Genius (Uncommon), Combustible Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 1.1 cards
• Green: Arborback Stomper (Uncommon), Armorcraft Judge (Uncommon), Elegant Edgecrafters (Uncommon), Cultivator of Blades (Rare), Verdurous Gearhulk (Mythic) = average of 3.3 cards
• Multicolor: Cloudblazer (Uncommon), Restoration Gearsmith (Uncommon), Veteran Motorist (Uncommon) = average of 2.7 cards

Blue and Black have the most number of effects I really want to recur, followed by Green. Interestingly, two of the three Commons on this list are artifacts and so if you're drafting this archetype, you'll want to prioritize cards like Aviary Mechanic and Aether Tradewinds that let you reuse the enter-the-battlefield abilities of non-creature permanents.

The other thing to note is that there are actually slightly fewer of these cards than there are cards that let you reuse enter-the-battlefield abilities, so you should look to draft cards from the former category first, because recurring Maulfist Squad is just not as much fun as recurring Cloudblazer, both of which I did several times.  I'm speaking from personal experience here

White/Blue offers the most ways to reuse creatures, and recurring Cloudblazer is an amazing feeling, but this archetype can also be played with other color combinations. White/Black has Metalspinner's Puzzleknot and Restoration Gearsmith, while Green provides Arborback Stomper (and Armorcraft Judge, if you have the right deck). Red, on the other hand, is not a good second color for this deck, since its enter-the-battlefield effects mostly trigger when artifacts enter play and so don't work with Acrobatic Maneuver and Select for Inspection. Also, the Red cards listed above tend to be aggressive, while a deck that's blinking or bouncing creatures for value is more likely to want to play a slower game.

I prefer White/X to Blue/X for this archetype, since the White reuse spells leave with you with a creature in play, whether it's the original creature or a replacement one, while the Blue reuse spells leave you with one less creature on the table (although Aether Tradewinds results in your opponent having one less permanent too). Consequently, I think White/Blue, White/Black, and Green/White are the best color combinations for this archetype.