You may cast artifact spells from your graveyard by paying 3 life in addition to paying their other costs. If you cast a spell this way, that artifact enters with a finality counter on it.
Noctis is an Esper artifact engine that turns your graveyard into a second hand—sacrifice or lose artifacts, then recast them from the yard for 3 life apiece, with lifelink keeping your life buffer topped off. You durdle through the early game ramping into mana rocks and value artifacts, then loop sacrifice-fodder, equipment, and powerful artifacts repeatedly to grind out advantage. Win by accumulating overwhelming value or assembling an artifact-based combo.
Strong recursion that makes artifact removal and sacrifice symmetrical effects far less painful for you
Lifelink on the commander offsets the 3-life payments and the life cost of fast mana/painlands
Esper colors give the best artifact support, tutors, and interaction in the format
Synergizes naturally with sacrifice outlets, treasure, and equipment that often die or get used up
Finality counters stop you from reusing the same artifact twice from the yard, capping infinite loops
Paying 3 life repeatedly is dangerous against aggro, burn, or life-loss strategies despite lifelink
Reliant on the commander being on the battlefield to function, so commander hate slows you down
Can be slow and durdly; lacks an inherent fast clock without a dedicated wincon
Pairs with cheap artifacts to chain recursion and build near-infinite value engines.
Add fast mana and dedicated tutors (Mana Vault, Whir of Invention, Goblin Engineer) plus self-mill or discard outlets to load the graveyard quickly. Build toward a tight artifact combo finish—Aetherflux Reservoir with cheap artifact loops, or Krark-Clan Ironworks lines—so the value engine has a hard kill. Round out with premium Esper interaction (Cyclonic Rift, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell) to protect Noctis and survive the durdle turns.
Legendary Creature — Human Noble
