Source transparency: This Digest item is based primarily on reporting from MTG Rocks. TMF summarizes and interprets the news; original reporting remains credited and linked.
Quark, Humble Proprietor has a built-in tension: he gives you a Treasure at the start of each upkeep, then prevents you from sacrificing Treasure tokens. Holo-Engineer lets a red-green Commander deck turn that recurring token creation into board presence instead. The Star Trek Artificer changes the tokens you would create into 3/3 colorless Illusion artifact creatures. With both cards out, Quark’s trigger can give you a creature even on other players’ upkeeps.
Academy Manufactor makes the order matter. A Quark trigger initially wants to create one Treasure. If you apply Academy Manufactor first, that event becomes one Clue, one Food and one Treasure. Apply Holo-Engineer next and the three tokens become three 3/3 Illusions. If you apply Holo-Engineer first, the event no longer creates any of the three token types Manufactor cares about, so you get only one Illusion. Across four upkeeps with all three permanents in place, the sequence can add twelve Illusions from Quark’s triggers alone.
The resulting permanents are artifacts and creatures, but they do not retain the abilities of the tokens they replace. They cannot be cracked for Treasure mana, Food life or Clue cards. Because they are no longer Treasures, Quark’s sacrifice restriction does not stop an effect that can sacrifice an artifact or a creature from using them. This makes the engine useful for a deck that wants artifact entries or sacrifice fodder as well as attacks.
Color identity matters: Quark cannot lead a normal mono-red Commander deck that includes the green Holo-Engineer. Use a commander whose color identity contains red and green and treat Quark as part of the deck. The package can also be disrupted by ordinary creature removal, and Holo-Engineer replaces your other utility tokens too. The decision is whether repeatable 3/3 bodies advance your deck more than preserving those separate resources.
Academy Manufactor makes the order matter. A Quark trigger initially wants to create one Treasure. If you apply Academy Manufactor first, that event becomes one Clue, one Food and one Treasure. Apply Holo-Engineer next and the three tokens become three 3/3 Illusions. If you apply Holo-Engineer first, the event no longer creates any of the three token types Manufactor cares about, so you get only one Illusion. Across four upkeeps with all three permanents in place, the sequence can add twelve Illusions from Quark’s triggers alone.
The resulting permanents are artifacts and creatures, but they do not retain the abilities of the tokens they replace. They cannot be cracked for Treasure mana, Food life or Clue cards. Because they are no longer Treasures, Quark’s sacrifice restriction does not stop an effect that can sacrifice an artifact or a creature from using them. This makes the engine useful for a deck that wants artifact entries or sacrifice fodder as well as attacks.
Color identity matters: Quark cannot lead a normal mono-red Commander deck that includes the green Holo-Engineer. Use a commander whose color identity contains red and green and treat Quark as part of the deck. The package can also be disrupted by ordinary creature removal, and Holo-Engineer replaces your other utility tokens too. The decision is whether repeatable 3/3 bodies advance your deck more than preserving those separate resources.
Original source: These Overlooked MTG Star Trek Green Cards Deserve More Love ↗MTG Rocks