Academy at Tolaria West MTG Card
2009-09-04 - Number 1
2018-12-25 - Number 9
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Plane — Dominaria |
Text of card
At the beginning of your end step, if you have no cards in hand, draw seven cards. Whenever you roll chaos, discard your hand.
Cards like Academy at Tolaria West
Academy at Tolaria West is an intriguing entry in the lineup of land cards in MTG, with unique characteristics that encourage comparison. Its closest parallel is Tolarian Academy, a card that taps for blue mana for each artifact you control. While Academy at Tolaria West does not generate mana directly based on artifacts, it allows you to search your library for a legendary card, putting it right into your hand, highlighting its value in decks that hinge on legendary synergies.
Moving along, Inventors’ Fair is another land with a research-oriented theme, offering life gain and the ability to search for an artifact card, though it requires a cost and a certain number of artifacts in play to activate. In contrast, Academy at Tolaria West is tailored for legendary cards, widening the possible strategic integrations beyond artifacts. Then there’s Serra’s Sanctum, which taps for white mana for each enchantment you control. While not parallel in effect, it demonstrates the versatility and strategic depth of lands like Academy at Tolaria West that eschew simple mana production for more complex abilities.
Consequently, within the realm of specialized land cards in MTG, Academy at Tolaria West enjoys a niche due to its legendary tutoring potential. This positions it uniquely in deck-building, especially where legendary cards are pivotal.
Cards similar to Academy at Tolaria West by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Academy at Tolaria West is part of a powerful legacy of cards offering significant card advantage. It helps you search your library for a card with a mana value of 0 or 1, effectively increasing your hand with quality options.
Resource Acceleration: This card acts as an excellent resource accelerator in the right deck. It allows you to put lands on the battlefield, pushing your mana availability further ahead and letting you cast more powerful spells sooner than your opponent.
Instant Speed: The functionality of Academy at Tolaria West is not locked to your main phases. Its instant speed means you can optimize your play, responding to the evolving game situation or end-of-turn opportunities. This flexibility is essential for maintaining the upper hand in a highly strategic game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The necessity to toss away another valuable card to leverage Academy at Tolaria West can often clash with a player’s game plan, especially when hoping to maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a finite combination of mana types, which can be restrictive for multicolor decks that may struggle with producing the precise requirements consistently.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Sporting a higher mana investment compared to other options in its category, it competes for a slot with cards that may provide an immediate impact or more versatile effects at a lower cost.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Academy at Tolaria West shines in its ability to seamlessly integrate into various strategies. Its land tutor ability ensures that any deck that thrives on specific land combinations or has a heavy land synergy can capitalize on its unique capability.
Combo Potential: This card opens up numerous combo possibilities, especially in decks that focus on landfall mechanics or benefit from having an array of nonbasic lands in play. The potential to fetch any land plays well in enabling high-impact plays and complex combo lines.
Meta-Relevance: With ever-shifting deck archetypes dominating play, Academy at Tolaria West maintains relevance by providing a consistent and reliable way to access key lands. It aligns well with decks designed to adapt and react to the current competitive landscape, ensuring your mana base is not only versatile but also highly optimized for whatever situation arises.
How to beat
Academy at Tolaria West is an intriguing land in the world of Magic: The Gathering that demands a strategic approach to defeat. As a powerful location capable of tutoring for any legendary card, going up against it can seem daunting. It offers the player consistency in their gameplay by pulling out key pieces of their deck, acting as a cornerstone in legendary themed decks.
Beat the Academy by applying pressure early in the game. Land destruction cards can be exceptionally useful in disrupting your opponent’s mana base, thereby limiting their ability to use the Academy’s ability effectively. Additionally, running counterspell or discard effects can prevent your opponent from making the most out of the card they fetch. It is crucial to recognize that once Academy at Tolaria West becomes active, the window to turn the game in your favor narrows significantly. Maintain a balance between offense and defense, and prioritize your efforts to neutralize the Academy as it charges up to full potential.
Taking these strategies into account, outmaneuvering the Academy at Tolaria West adds a layer of complexity to the match. Ensuring you have the correct tools and timing to interrupt its mechanics is key to claiming victory in the varied landscape of Magic: The Gathering gameplay.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Academy at Tolaria West MTG card by a specific set like Planechase Planes and Planechase Anthology Planes, 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 Academy at Tolaria West and other MTG cards:
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Printings
The Academy at Tolaria West Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2009-09-04 and 2018-12-25. Illustrated by James Paick.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009-09-04 | Planechase Planes | OHOP | 1 | 2003 | Planar | Black | James Paick | |
| 2 | 2018-12-25 | Planechase Anthology Planes | OPCA | 9 | 2015 | Planar | Black | James Paick |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Academy at Tolaria West card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2009-10-01 | A face-up plane card that's turned face down becomes a new object with no relation to its previous existence. In particular, it loses all counters it may have had. |
| 2009-10-01 | A plane card is treated as if its text box included "When you roll {PW}, put this card on the bottom of its owner's planar deck face down, then move the top card of your planar deck off that planar deck and turn it face up." This is called the "planeswalking ability." |
| 2009-10-01 | Academy at Tolaria West's first ability has an "intervening 'if' clause." That means (1) the ability won't trigger at all unless you have no cards in hand as your end step begins, and (2) the ability will do nothing unless you have no cards in hand by the time it resolves. |
| 2009-10-01 | If an ability of a plane refers to "you," it's referring to whoever the plane's controller is at the time, not to the player that started the game with that plane card in their deck. Many abilities of plane cards affect all players, while many others affect only the planar controller, so read each ability carefully. |
| 2009-10-01 | If you discard your hand as a result of rolling {CHAOS}, Academy at Tolaria West's first ability will then trigger at the beginning of your end step (unless you planeswalk or somehow put a card in your hand before then). |
| 2009-10-01 | The controller of a face-up plane card is the player designated as the "planar controller." Normally, the planar controller is whoever the active player is. However, if the current planar controller would leave the game, instead the next player in turn order that wouldn't leave the game becomes the planar controller, then the old planar controller leaves the game. The new planar controller retains that designation until they leave the game or a different player becomes the active player, whichever comes first. |