Shard MTG Card


Shard provides card advantage, ensuring a continuous flow of play and strategic dominance. Accelerates resources, enabling faster gameplay and strategic spell casting flexibility. Functional at instant speed, Shard offers gamers unpredictability and nuanced control.
Shard - Kaldheim
TypeToken Enchantment — Shard
Abilities Scry
Released2021-02-05
Set symbol
Set nameKaldheim
Set codeKHM
Number1
Frame2015
LayoutToken
BorderBlack
Illustred byAaron Miller

Text of card

, Sacrifice this enchantment: Scry 1, then draw a card.


Cards like Shard

The Shard card, with its blend of power and resource manipulation, is a key puzzle piece in MTG decks that focus on domain strategies. Shard echoes the mechanics of cards like Nylea’s Presence, which also ensures that all land types are at your disposal. However, Shard does not provide the card draw that Nylea’s Presence offers upon entering the battlefield.

Chromatic Lantern is another analogous card that grants the ability to tap lands for mana of any color, which is a feature of Shard. Still, Chromatic Lantern is an artifact with a broader impact, offering mana fix across all your lands without the need to enchant a specific one. Prismatic Omen is a more subtle counterpart, granting a similar effect without the additional keyword abilities, like converge, that benefit from Shard’s domain strategy enhancement.

When comparing the flexibility and synergy of these cards within a MTG deck, Shard does stand out in scenarios where amplifying your domain count bolsters your game plan. While not as versatile as Chromatic Lantern in mana fixing or as immediate as Nylea’s Presence with card draw, Shard’s specialized application in domain-focused decks gives it a niche yet influential role.

Nylea's Presence - MTG Card versions
Chromatic Lantern - MTG Card versions
Prismatic Omen - MTG Card versions
Nylea's Presence - MTG Card versions
Chromatic Lantern - MTG Card versions
Prismatic Omen - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Shard card shines by offering multiplicative card advantage. It empowers players to access additional cards which can lead to gaining an upper hand over the opposition. This advantage is crucial for keeping the flow of plays steady and outpacing the opponent.

Resource Acceleration: This card excels in propelling your resource growth, by potentially unlocking new mana possibilities. This acceleration can be a game-changer, allowing players to deploy threats earlier than normal or maintain momentum by casting multiple spells in a turn.

Instant Speed: The utility of Shard at instant speed cannot be overstated. It allows players to remain flexible and reactive, making decisions with full knowledge of an opponent’s actions. Furthermore, it seamlessly integrates into a strategy of unpredictability and control, keeping adversaries on their toes.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Like many powerful effects in the game of Magic, Shard cards often come with a trade-off, compelling players to discard potentially valuable cards from their hand. This mechanic can put you at a disadvantage, especially when the strategic reserves in your hand are already dwindling.

Specific Mana Cost: Shard cards are known for their tricolor identity, which necessitates a particular blend of mana. This stringent color requirement can be restrictive, frequently confining the card’s synergy to decks that can reliably produce the exact mana combinations needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Even though the abilities provided by many of these cards can be substantial, they often come at a premium mana cost. In fast-paced games where efficiency is key, the high mana investment can slow you down and leave you vulnerable to opponents with quicker, low-cost strategies.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Shard cards in MTG are known for their ability to support a wide range of strategies and fit into various deck archetypes. Their flexible mana base is particularly suited for multicolor decks that capitalize on different color combinations.

Combo Potential: Shards can be integral components in some powerful combos, providing the essential colors necessary to execute game-winning plays. These cards help streamline your deck’s performance and give you the edge in combining effects for greater impact.

Meta-Relevance: Recognizing the importance of shard cards in the current competitive landscape is crucial. They often play a central role in decks that are consistently performing well in tournaments, making them a must-have for players looking to stay competitive.


How to beat

The Shard card in MTG presents a multifaceted challenge on the battlefield. This card, known for amplifying a player’s mana base and providing a strategic edge, is not easily countered. Overcoming the momentum it can give your opponent requires a focused approach. Implementing land destruction tactics could be key in dampening the power of Shard, as it disrupts the mana acceleration it offers. Cards like Stone Rain and Molten Rain can prove instrumental in this strategy.

Similarly, strategies that limit a player’s ability to utilize lands or mana can also be effective. Employing cards such as Damping Sphere creates constraints on the lands that produce more than one mana, directly challenging the advantage brought on by Shard. Furthermore, hand disruption techniques work well to prevent your opponent from ever getting the opportunity to cast Shard or derive benefit from it. Thoughtseize and Duress allow you to proactively remove Shard from your opponent’s hand before they have the chance to apply its power to the game.

In essence, to stymie the strengths Shard provides in MTG, one should consider an approach that combines land disruption, resource limitation, and hand disruption, thereby preserving the balance of play and maintaining a competitive edge.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shard MTG card by a specific set like Kaldheim, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Shard and other MTG cards:

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