Overview
Tinker Time is an artifact deck built around token variety. Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy gives your artifact creatures trample, and at the beginning of your end step creates a 0/0 red Gremlin artifact creature token and puts X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the number of differently named artifact tokens you control. Treasure, Food, Clue, Thopter and Servo tokens all count, and each one makes the next Gremlin bigger.
The 99 cards are 22 creatures, 1 planeswalker, 13 artifacts, 6 enchantments, 8 instants, 11 sorceries and 38 lands. Cards like Academy Manufactor, Gilded Goose, Tireless Provisioner, Tireless Tracker and Pia and Kiran Nalaar make Food, Clue, Treasure and Thopter tokens, and artifact payoffs such as Master of Etherium and Workshop Elders make them stronger.
Key Cards
Playing the Deck
The early game is about mana and a first token. Gilded Goose makes a Food and can ramp, Tireless Provisioner and Tireless Tracker make tokens whenever a land enters, and Sol Ring, Arcane Signet and the Izzet, Gruul and Simic Signets power out the rest. Whirler Rogue and Pia and Kiran Nalaar make Thopters, and Thopter Spy Network makes one every upkeep if you control an artifact.
The middle of the game is about making every token type and drawing cards. Academy Manufactor makes three token types at once, Saheeli, Sublime Artificer makes a Servo whenever you cast a noncreature spell, and Rashmi and Ragavan exile cards from your opponent's library and give you a Treasure. Schema Thief copies an artifact an opponent controls, Workshop Elders turns a noncreature artifact into a creature with four counters, and Reverse Engineer, Thoughtcast and Stroke of Genius draw cards.
The late game is about huge flyers and a big payoff. Hellkite Igniter gets +X/+0 for each artifact you control, Shimmer Dragon gets hexproof with four artifacts, and Sharding Sphinx and Workshop Elders give your artifact creatures evasion and extra Thopters. Fiery Confluence, Perplexing Test and Saheeli's Artistry provide a reset or a copy, and Dance with Calamity can cast a pile of spells at once.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths: The deck has real card advantage from tokens, a lot of mana and plenty of interaction, including Chaos Warp, Reality Shift, Spell Swindle and Struggle // Survive. It also has a flexible token plan, and because tokens come in so many kinds, it rarely runs out of ways to grow its board.
Weaknesses: Artifact removal and sweepers hurt a deck that has many small artifacts and tokens, and a few of the payoffs are slow, so a fast opponent can race the deck. The deck has only 22 creatures, so it relies on its tokens to apply pressure and on its commander surviving to make a Gremlin each turn.
Want to improve it? See the Tinker Time upgrade guide: fourteen swaps with the data behind each one.
Want to see what a fully optimised Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy build looks like? Try the Oracle.
✦ Build with The OracleFrequently Asked Questions
What cards are in the Tinker Time decklist?
The Tinker Time precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy. The full Tinker Time decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.
When was Tinker Time released?
Tinker Time was released on April 21, 2023 as part of March of the Machine Commander.
Who is the commander of Tinker Time?
Tinker Time is led by Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy, a Temur (U/R/G) legendary creature.
How many creatures are in Tinker Time?
The 99 cards besides Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy include 22 creatures.
How many lands does Tinker Time have?
Tinker Time has 38 lands in the 99 cards besides Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy, including basic lands.
Full Decklist
All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Tinker Time precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.