...and come for the ride they will, once you start turning any- and everything into an artifact! Liquimetal Coating seems like a card with a reasonable ability, but like any Card in Review, it's an ability that's easy to play with. Rather than being part of some brutal game-winning combo, however, this unassuming two-mana artifact is interesting in that it lets you easily break some hard, unspoken rules in the game. Case in point: mono-red can destroy artifacts but never enchantments. But use the Coating to turn an enchantment into an artifact, and now it's free game! Warmth, Chill, Ivory Mask, Teferi's Moat, even Circle of Protection: Red... all can be swept away so long as you have the Coating and a piece of artifact removal in reserve!
Of course, being able to remove a planeswalker card with a lowly Shatter is pretty exciting, but don't forget an old staple of red that we haven't seen in a long time: land destruction. Between the Coating and the mostly-unimpressive Myr Landshaper, your deck can run no less than eight ways to turn lands into artifacts, letting you swap your costly Craterize for a much cheaper Smelt. Throw in a Mycosynth Lattice or two and you can paint everything with a target that says "break me." While redundancy is important in any build, though, the Coating is notable for being the cheapest and least vulnerable version of this effect.
So is that the extent of things? The Coating turns your Shatters into Vindicates? Certainly it's strong, but not really worthy of an entire article. Well, artifact removal can get pretty interesting, so there are nasty tricks you can keep in mind with the Coating.
Smash to Smithereens, Ancient Grudge, Tel-Jilad Justice - While a straightforward Nature's Claim or whatever will be plenty of value for its cost, it's wise to run artifact-specific hate knowing you can always make an appropriate target. While a Shatter may get the job done, Smash to Smithereens takes a chunk out of your opponent's life total, Tel-Jilad Justice helps you draw into your next piece of artifact removal or win condition, and Ancient Grudge is two-thirds of a Violent Ultimatum for two mana if you splash green. Being cheap instants, all of them can fit comfortably on an Isochron Scepter, ensuring another permanent blasted every turn.
Manic Vandal, Vithian Renegades, Oxidda Scrapmelter - Cheaply blowing up any permanent is great, but your board isn't necessarily ahead if you use one card to blow up one card. Staple that artifact removal to a body, and you can turn the tide of a creature war by thinning your opponent's ranks every time you call in reinforcements.
Shattering Pulse - Letting a couple artifact removal spells take out some creatures instead is great, but if that's all you draw into, then Liquimetal Coating ends up sitting around with nothing else to do. Guarantee you always have another Vindicate in reserve with Shattering Pulse's buyback, destroying a permanent every turn for five mana and no card lost.
Hoard-Smelter Dragon - Combine the above two points in the form of this seldom-seen dragon from Mirrodin: four mana to blow up an artifact as often as you want, which simultaneously boosts your flying fattie to ludicrous sizes. Target your opponent's biggest creature or two and the fact that the ability is reusable might be irrelevant - your foe will be too dead for it to matter!
March of the Machines - Think it's weird for mono-red to blow up enchantments? It's not really any less weird for mono-blue to blow up lands as well. With March of the Machines out, Liquimetal Coating essentially reads "Tap: destroy target land."
Aladdin - If blowing up any permanent is good, then being able to steal any permanent should be even better! Creatures, lands, even planeswalkers... so long as Aladdin sticks around, you can permanently swipe another card every turn.
Sculpting Steel - Sometimes imitation is the best form of flattery. For just three mana you can get a copy of any permanent in play, even one of your own.
Viashino Heretic - Blowing up your opponent's stuff is great fun, but it doesn't win you the game in and of itself. The Heretic, however, helpfully does both things at once. Repeated removal is dirt cheap at just two mana per activation, but every time you take aim at a nonland permanent, he also shaves off some of your opponent's life total. Goblin Tinkerer is cheaper to play and activate, but he actually damage himself rather than your opponent. Still, he works just fine if he's only blowing up lands.
Tower of the Magistrate - A creative use of an underrated card: for just a couple tapped lands you can give any creature you control protection from any permanent your opponent controls. Being a land, of course, it's very hard for your opponent to remove this part of the combo, and it makes mana when you don't need it. Eight-and-a-half Tails, eat your heart out!
Viridian Revel - Once the Coating starts tapping, a lot of stuff is going to start dying. Why not turn your one-for-ones into none-for-ones by getting a card every time you blow up a permanent? It's good enough when every Smelt becomes a Smash, but don't forget that multiples will stack, ensuring you keep pulling answers to the next threat as well as a way to win.
Splinter - Here's a rude one. Target a basic land-turned-artifact, particularly versus a monocoloured deck, and you get to remove every land from their hand and library. It won't remove multiples from play, but your other cards should be able to pick up the slack. And really, there's no certainty more comforting than knowing your opponent will never draw a land card again.
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