Armguard Familiar MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Artifact Creature — Equipment Beast |
| Abilities | Reconfigure,Ward |
| Released | 2022-02-18 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty |
| Set code | NEO |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 1 |
| Number | 46 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Joshua Raphael |
Key Takeaways
- Armguard Familiar ensures consistent deck sifting and hand enrichment during attack phases.
- This card increases mana resources, enabling earlier threat deployment and responses.
- Operates at instant speed, allowing players to adjust tactics swiftly in-game.
Text of card
Ward (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays .) Equipped creature gets +2/+1 and has ward . Reconfigure (: Attach to target creature you control; or unattach from a creature. Reconfigure only as a sorcery. While attached, this isn't a creature.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Armguard Familiar offers a strategic edge by allowing you to sift through your deck at a consistent pace. Each attack phase not only applies pressure on the opposition but also enriches your hand, ensuring that you have the right tools to advance your position.
Resource Acceleration: This trusty companion enhances your mana efficiency. An increase in your resource pool leads to a significant advantage, granting you the ability to deploy more threats or answers onto the battlefield ahead of schedule.
Instant Speed: The versatility of Armguard Familiar is not to be overlooked. It operates at instant speed, offering a dynamic response to the fluid game state. This allows you to adapt swiftly and effectively, reacting to your opponent’s plays with precision.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Armguard Familiar necessitates card discard in order to activate its ability. This requirement can be taxing in gameplay scenarios where card advantage is crucial. Discarding a card means one less tool in your arsenal, potentially leading to a disadvantage against decks that optimize card retention.
Specific Mana Cost: This MTG card is slightly restricted in terms of mana flexibility. With a mana cost that includes colorless as well as a specific color, it requires a dedicated mana source, thus constraining it to decks that can reliably generate the necessary mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering its utility and effect, Armguard Familiar comes at a rather high mana cost. Other cards in the same mana range may provide greater impact or versatility, making Armguard Familiar a less optimal choice in competitive play where maximizing value per mana is key.
Reasons to Include Armguard Familiar in Your Collection
Versatility: Armguard Familiar shines in its ability to adapt to various playstyles. It is a low-cost creature that can easily fit into decks focused on ramping up or those needing early board presence, complementing a wide array of strategies with its mana-boosting ability.
Combo Potential: This card can serve as a linchpin in numerous combos, particularly in decks that capitalize on power boosts or artifact synergies. With Armguard Familiar on the field, your spells effectively have a built-in discount, enabling a faster execution of your game plan.
Meta-Relevance: In the ever-shifting landscape of the game, maintaining relevance is key. Armguard Familiar can be a timely addition if artifact-centric decks or those that require an edge in spellcasting speed are dominating the scene. Its contribution to such decks cannot be understated, making it a crucial component for competitive play.
How to beat Armguard Familiar
Armguard Familiar is an intriguing creature in the Magic: The Gathering universe that bolsters the defensive capabilities of its controller’s planeswalkers. With its simple yet effective ability to prevent all but one damage that would be dealt to planeswalkers you control, it can be quite a nuisance for opponents who are looking to quickly dispatch your key strategic assets.
When facing this stout defender, there are several strategies players can consider. Focusing on removal spells that bypass Armguard Familiar’s damage limitation, such as direct “destroy” or “exile” effects, can prove to be effective. Cards like Murder or Path to Exile, for instance, can remove the Familiar outright, mitigating its protective ability. Another approach is to utilize board wipes, like Wrath of God or Doomskar, which can clear the Familiar alongside other creatures, regardless of its damage-prevention capability.
Finally, consider shifting strategies away from targeting planeswalkers and towards direct player damage or leveraging an overwhelming board presence. Overrunning the opposition with a wide array of creatures or employing an alternative win condition that’s unaffected by Armguard Familiar can ensure your route to victory remains unblocked. It’s essential to adapt and utilize your deck’s strengths to overcome the defensive hurdle posed by Armguard Familiar effectively.
Cards like Armguard Familiar
Armguard Familiar finds its place among the companions that provide subtle but notable perks to players in Magic: The Gathering. When compared to other low-cost creatures, such as Bronze Sable, Armguard Familiar distinguishes itself with its ability to grant a toughness boost to planeswalkers you control. Bronze Sable brings nothing beyond its vanilla stats, making Armguard Familiar a notably more strategic option in decks that synergize with planeswalkers.
Alseid of Life’s Bounty also shares some similarities, providing a protective lifelink ability at a single mana value. While Alseid can defend key creatures or enchantments, Armguard Familiar aims at a different kind of resilience—fortifying the very planeswalkers that command your strategic advances. For those deploying planeswalkers, often pivotal to a deck’s performance, this makes Armguard Familiar a card that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Examining the slight yet impactful ways low-cost creatures like Armguard Familiar can influence the board state demonstrates the versatility and depth found in MTG’s card catalog. Those subtle differences are what can turn the tides of a duel, especially in formats where every card choice counts.
Cards similar to Armguard Familiar by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Armguard Familiar MTG card by a specific set like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, 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 Armguard Familiar and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Armguard Familiar has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Armguard Familiar card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2022-02-18 | Although it causes an Equipment to become attached to a creature, reconfigure is not an “equip ability” for the purpose of cards like Fighter Class and Leonin Shikari. |
| 2022-02-18 | An Equipment creature can never become attached to itself. If an effect tries to do this, nothing happens. |
| 2022-02-18 | An Equipment creature with reconfigure can be attached to creatures by effects other than its reconfigure ability, such as the activated ability of Brass Squire. |
| 2022-02-18 | An Equipment doesn't become tapped when the permanent it's attached to becomes tapped. For example, if you attack with a creature that is equipped with Acquisition Octopus, then use reconfigure to unattach Acquisition Octopus after combat, the Octopus will be untapped and could be used to block during your opponent's turn. |
| 2022-02-18 | As soon as an Equipment creature with reconfigure stops being a creature, any Equipment and Auras with enchant creature abilities become unattached. Auras that can enchant an Equipment that isn't a creature remain attached to it. |
| 2022-02-18 | Attaching an Equipment with reconfigure to a creature causes that Equipment to stop being a creature until it becomes unattached. It also loses any creature subtypes it had. |
| 2022-02-18 | If a permanent with reconfigure is somehow still a creature after it becomes attached (perhaps due to an effect like that of March of the Machines), it immediately becomes unattached from the equipped creature. |
| 2022-02-18 | If a player casts a spell that targets multiple permanents their opponent controls with ward, each of those ward abilities will trigger. If that player doesn't pay for all of them, the spell will be countered. |
| 2022-02-18 | If an Equipment with reconfigure somehow loses its abilities while it is attached, the effect causing it to not be a creature continues to apply until it becomes unattached. |
| 2022-02-18 | Reconfigure represents two activated abilities. Reconfigure -ost] means “ -ost: Attach this permanent to another target creature you control. Activate only as a sorcery,” and “ -ost: Unattach this permanent. Activate only if this permanent is attached to a creature and only as a sorcery.” |
| 2022-02-18 | Similarly, if an Equipment is tapped, its reconfigure abilities may still be activated and it may still become attached to creatures. Becoming attached doesn't untap it. In most cases, an attached Equipment being tapped won't affect gameplay, but it will be relevant if it becomes unattached again before it untaps. |