Haunting Wind MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment
Released	1994-03-04
Set symbol
Set name	Antiquities
Set code	ATQ
Number	17
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jeff A. Menges

Key Takeaways

Haunting Wind penalizes opponents’ artifact ability use, creating strategic advantage and indirect card benefits.
High mana cost and color specificity may limit deck-building options and adaptability in MTG play.
Counteracts heavy artifact-reliant decks, making it a powerful meta-responsive card in certain MTG formats.

Text of card

Each time an artifact in play is tapped or its activation cost is paid, Haunting Wind does 1 damage to that artifact's controller. Is not triggered by continuous artifacts.

These devices lured so many spirits that sometimes entire battlefields would become haunted at once.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Haunting Wind generates indirect card advantage by imposing a cost on your opponent whenever they trigger an artifact’s ability. This can deter or even prevent the use of artifacts, indirectly impacting the opponent’s resources and preserving your own.

Resource Acceleration: While Haunting Wind doesn’t directly accelerate resources, it can influence the pace of resource usage. It can slow down opponents reliant on artifacts for mana, thereby giving you a relative acceleration in board development and resource availability.

Instant Speed: Although Haunting Wind is a permanent that does not operate at instant speed itself, its continuous effect can complement strategies that do. It places a persistent threat on the field that works well with instant-speed interactions, allowing you to optimize your plays even as you keep opponents on their toes.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tapping into the strategy of disrupting your opponent’s artifacts comes at a personal price with Haunting Wind. The card’s unique effect could backfire if you don’t have the necessary hand advantage, leading to potentially critical sacrifices on your part.

Specific Mana Cost: Deck-building with Haunting Wind requires a commitment to two specific types of mana—Black and Blue. This requirement could restrict the diversity of your deck and make it less adaptable to different types of opponents and strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Clocking in at four mana, Haunting Wind presents players with a mana investment that may not align with the pace of their strategy. This leads players to consider whether its potential to disrupt is worth the slot in their deck over a more immediately impactful card at a similar, or lower, mana cost.

Reasons to Include Haunting Wind in Your Collection

Versatility: Haunting Wind is a unique card that can be a useful sideboard option in formats where artifacts are prevalent. It serves as a form of passive control, deterring opponents from using artifact abilities freely.

Combo Potential: In decks that are designed to punish or inhibit opponent’s resources, Haunting Wind can act as a continuous source of life loss, especially in conjunction with cards that increase artifact usage cost or duplicate damage effects.

Meta-Relevance: Given the right environment, where competitive decks heavily rely on artifact mechanics, Haunting Wind becomes a niche but powerful tool. It can disrupt well-known strategies and counter popular artifact-based win conditions.

How to Beat Haunting Wind

Haunting Wind is a unique artifact disruption card in Magic: The Gathering that can potentially constrain players who heavily rely on artifact strategies. Its ability to inflict damage each time an artifact becomes tapped is tailored to target decks with numerous artifacts, particularly those that tap them regularly for mana or effects.

To outmaneuver this card, consider using instant-speed artifact removal like Disenchant, which enables you to safely remove Haunting Wind before your artifacts are tapped. Alternatively, employing cards that untap your artifacts, like Voltaic Key, can dilute Haunting Wind’s impact by spreading out the triggers over multiple turns and minimizing the damage taken.

Strategic deckbuilding can also play a pivotal role. Crafting a deck that operates efficiently with minimal artifacts, or one that focuses on alternative resources like enchantments or creature-based strategies, will inherently sidestep Haunting Wind’s ability. Using hexproof or shroud to protect your key artifacts is another approach, as it can shield them from being targeted by opponent’s spells and abilities while under Haunting Wind’s gaze. Building a deck resilient to such targeted disruptions can give you an upper hand in the match.

Cards like Haunting Wind

Haunting Wind stands as a unique piece in the Magic: The Gathering arsenal of artifacts control. It shares thematic ground with cards like Power Surge, which also punishes players for interactions with artifacts. Yet, Haunting Wind deals damage each time an opponent uses an artifact’s ability that isn’t a mana ability, distinguishing itself with a persistent threat throughout the game. Unlike Power Surge, there’s no requirement for artifacts to remain tapped to inflict damage.

Moving to Phyrexian Tyranny, we notice a similarity in the punishment strategy, though it targets a broader spectrum by dealing damage whenever a player draws a card. Haunting Wind’s effect remains specifically tailored to artifacts, making it a strategic choice against decks heavily reliant on artifact abilities. Lastly, consider Furnace of Rath. While it doesn’t directly interact with artifacts, it doubles the damage dealt to any player, amplifying Haunting Wind’s impact when both are on the field.

Assessing the nuances of these comparable cards reveals that Haunting Wind provides a specialized form of control against artifact-centric strategies, establishing its own niche in player decks focused on exploiting the artifacts’ dominance in the battlefield.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Haunting Wind MTG card by a specific set like Antiquities, 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 Haunting Wind and other MTG cards: