Atraxi Warden MTG Card

Atraxi Warden excels in card advantage, bolstering hands to maintain a lead in long games. Its ability to accelerate resources and interact at instant speed offers strategic flexibility. Navigating its high mana cost and specific color needs is crucial for optimal play.

Doctor Who (WHO)
2023-10-13 - Number 617

Doctor Who (WHO)
2023-10-13 - Number 12

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Alien Eye
Abilities	Flying,Suspend
Power	6
Toughness	6

Text of card

Flying When Atraxi Warden enters the battlefield, exile up to one target tapped creature. Suspend 5— (Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay and exile it with five time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost. It has haste.)

Cards like Atraxi Warden

Atraxi Warden emerges as a versatile creature in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, sharing some common ground with guardians like Wall of Omens. Both serve as effective barriers, though Atraxi Warden blesses its controller with a scry ability, allowing for better deck manipulation. Wall of Omens lacks this foresight but compensates with card draw, offering immediate hand replenishment instead.

Another comparable sentinel is the Omenspeaker, a creature known for its scrying ability akin to Atraxi Warden. The difference lies in their secondary abilities; where Atraxi Warden specializes in safeguarding planeswalkers, Omenspeaker does not offer this protection. Additionally, the Warden’s stats make for a sturdier defensive presence.

These similarities highlight Atraxi Warden’s dual function – as both a watchful protector and a shaper of destinies through scry. Drawing comparisons, this card fits comfortably among creatures designed to defend while offering strategic advantage, a commendable balance of board control and foresight for players in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Atraxi Warden by color, type and mana cost

Personal Incarnation - MTG Card versions

Archon of Coronation - MTG Card versions

Crovax, Ascendant Hero - MTG Card versions

Spirit of the Hearth - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Atraxi Warden’s abilities allow for filtering through the deck to get to the essential spells and creatures needed in crucial moments. This essential feature bolsters your hand, keeping you ahead in the long game.

Resource Acceleration: With the inclusion of Atraxi Warden in your deck, you can experience a boost in your mana resources. This acceleration can be critical for deploying key spells ahead of schedule, which can often tip the scales in your favor.

Instant Speed: The advantage of having a card that operates at instant speed cannot be overstated. Atraxi Warden’s ability to interact during an opponent’s turn or at the end of their turn provides strategic flexibility and surprise factor that can disrupt opposing strategies.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To fully leverage Atraxi Warden’s abilities, players are often required to discard a card. This can be challenging during tight gameplay where every card in hand is vital for maintaining an edge over the opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: Atraxi Warden demands a precise combination of mana to cast, necessitating a dedicated slot within decks that can accommodate its color identity. This can restrict the card’s versatility across various deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Atraxi Warden brings unique capabilities to the table, the cost to get it into play is considerable. In environments where tempo and speed are crucial, the mana investment for Atraxi Warden could be a stumbling block, especially when there are alternatives that may offer more immediate or cost-effective benefits.

Reasons to Include Atraxi Warden in Your Collection

Versatility: Atraxi Warden brings flexibility to any collection, enabling it to seamlessly adapt to various deck builds. Its ability to manipulate combat and offer defense options make it a staple for players who want a utility card with multiple applications.

Combo Potential: The synergy this card has with other cards that thrive on manipulating the battlefield or benefiting from protection to key creatures is noteworthy. The combo potential for intricate interactions in gameplay can be exploited by imaginative deck builders who see beyond the immediate use of the card.

Meta-Relevance: In a game scene where the tempo can determine the victor, Atraxi Warden holds its own. It’s a card that resonates well in a meta where controlling the flow of combat or protecting valuable assets is crucial for maintaining an edge over the opponent.

How to beat

The Atraxi Warden card introduces a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering gameplay, focusing on controlling the pace by protecting valuable assets and gradually leveraging its benefits. To successfully overcome this obstacle, pinpointing the card’s weaknesses is imperative. Similar to strategic encounters with cards like Meddling Mage or True-Name Nemesis, Atraxi Warden requires a carefully crafted approach.

Atraxi Warden shines in a game when it can leverage its abilities, akin to Mother of Runes providing protection or Stoneforge Mystic fetching key equipment pieces. Mitigating Atraxi Warden’s influence involves either preemptively removing potential targets or employing instant speed disruption to negate its activation. Consider cards offering versatility like Abrupt Decay or the broad-reaching capabilities of a Supreme Verdict to navigate around the Warden’s defenses without falling into a trap of overcommitting resources.

Ultimately, pinpointing the moment to disrupt the board, similar to strategic plays against a Dark Confidant or a Silverblade Paladin, can be invaluable. It is about understanding the tempo and dismantling the rhythm that Atraxi Warden aims to establish. With precise timing and appropriate countermeasures, the Warden can be neutralized, allowing players to reclaim control and advance their own game plan.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Atraxi Warden MTG card by a specific set like Doctor Who and Doctor Who, 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 Atraxi Warden and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Atraxi Warden Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2023-10-13 and 2023-10-13. Illustrated by Slawomir Maniak.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2023-10-13	Doctor Who	WHO		617	2015	Normal	Black	Slawomir Maniak
2	2023-10-13	Doctor Who	WHO		12	2015	Normal	Black	Slawomir Maniak

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Atraxi Warden has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Atraxi Warden card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2023-10-13	As the second triggered ability resolves, you must cast the card if able. You must do so even if it requires targets and the only legal targets are ones that you really don't want to target. Timing permissions based on the card's type are ignored.
2023-10-13	Cards exiled with suspend are exiled face up.
2023-10-13	Exiling a card with suspend isn't casting that card. This action doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to.
2023-10-13	If an effect refers to a "suspended card," that means a card that (1) has suspend, (2) is in exile, and (3) has one or more time counters on it.
2023-10-13	If the card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.
2023-10-13	If the first triggered ability of suspend (the one that removes time counters) is countered, no time counter is removed. The ability will trigger again at the beginning of the card's owner's next upkeep.
2023-10-13	If the second triggered ability is countered, the card can't be cast. It remains exiled with no time counters on it, and it's no longer suspended.
2023-10-13	If the spell requires any targets, those targets are chosen when the spell is finally cast, not when the card is exiled.
2023-10-13	If you can't cast the card, perhaps because there are no legal targets available, it remains exiled with no time counters on it, and it's no longer suspended.
2023-10-13	If you cast a card "without paying its mana cost," such as with suspend, you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those if you want to cast the card.
2023-10-13	Suspend is a keyword that represents three abilities. The first is a static ability that allows you to exile the card from your hand with the specified number of time counters (the number before the dash) on it by paying its suspend cost (listed after the dash). The second is a triggered ability that removes a time counter from the suspended card at the beginning of each of your upkeeps. The third is a triggered ability that causes you to cast the card when the last time counter is removed. If you cast a creature spell this way, it gains haste until you lose control of that creature (or, in rare cases, you lose control of the creature spell while it's on the stack).
2023-10-13	The mana value of a spell cast without paying its mana cost is determined by its mana cost, even though that cost wasn't paid.
2023-10-13	When the last time counter is removed, the second triggered ability of suspend (the one that lets you cast the card) triggers. It doesn't matter why the last time counter was removed or what effect removed it.
2023-10-13	You are never forced to activate mana abilities to pay costs, so if there is a mandatory additional mana cost (such as from Thalia, Guardian of Thraben), you can decline to activate mana abilities to pay for it and hence fail to cast the suspended card, leaving it in exile.
2023-10-13	You can exile a card in your hand using suspend any time you could cast that card. Consider its card type, any effects that modify when you could cast it (such as flash) and any other effects that stop you from casting it (such as from Meddling Mage's ability) to determine if and when you can do this. Whether you could actually complete all steps in casting the card is irrelevant. For example, you can exile a card with suspend that has no mana cost or that requires a target even if no legal targets are available at that time.