Belbe's Portal MTG Card

Grants card advantage by bypassing the need to draw and play certain creatures. Accelerates resource allocation to outpace opponents with larger threats early. Gives creatures a surprise factor by activating on an opponent’s end step.

Nemesis (NEM)
2000-02-14 - Number 127

Mystery Booster (MB1)
2019-11-07 - Number 1548

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number NEM-127

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact

Text of card

As Belbe's Portal comes into play, choose a creature type. o3, oc T: Put a creature card of the chosen type from your hand into play.

The fight will continue on a new battlefield.

Cards like Belbe's Portal

Belbe’s Portal is an intriguing artifact in Magic: The Gathering, sharing functional similarities with cards that facilitate the cheating of creatures onto the battlefield. Chronicle of the Gods is an immediate comparison, as it also allows for a bypass of mana costs for creature spells. While Belbe’s Portal requires naming a creature type as it enters the battlefield, making it specific to tribal decks, Chronicle of the Gods stands out because it has a more versatile use by letting you play any creature with a reduced mana cost.

Looking at Quicksilver Amulet, another artifact in this category, it offers a similar effect but without the tribal restriction. However, the cost of activation is slightly higher, highlighting Belbe’s Portal’s advantage in tribal-focused decks. Conduit of Ruin drops into this discussion as well, which not only lets you play bigger creatures for less but also helps you search for that creature. What sets Belbe’s Portal apart is its repeated usability, potentially summoning multiple creatures across several turns.

Ultimately, while some alternatives offer broader creature selection or additional benefits, Belbe’s Portal stands out for players committed to tribe-centric strategies, allowing them to efficiently and repetitively deploy key creatures and enact their game plan.

Cards similar to Belbe's Portal by color, type and mana cost

The Deck of Many Things - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Belbe’s Portal offers a strategic edge by allowing you to circumvent traditional casting methods. With its ability to put creatures of the chosen type directly onto the battlefield, it effectively sidesteps the need to draw and play those creatures normally, thereby presenting a subtle yet significant card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: This artifact excels at ramping up your resources, setting the stage for deploying larger threats earlier in the game. By establishing a chosen creature type with Belbe’s Portal, you streamline your path to outpacing your opponents and accelerating your board presence at a rate that can be challenging for them to match.

Instant Speed: While Belbe’s Portal itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it grants your creatures a kind of pseudo-instant speed benefit. Since you can activate the Portal on your opponent’s end step, you can bring in creatures at a time that might disrupt their strategy, preserving the element of surprise and retaining mana flexibility during your own turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Players must relinquish a card from their hand to activate Belbe’s Portal, potentially depleting valuable hand resources which could hamstring your strategy, especially in games where maintaining card advantage is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: The activation of Belbe’s Portal requires a pinpoint mana input, taxing your mana base if it isn’t fine-tuned to accommodate such an investment, which can be restrictive in multicolor decks that might struggle with consistent mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Investing five mana to get Belbe’s Portal on the field is substantial, and the payoff is not immediate. This can be a significant setback, as there are alternate means to cheat creatures into play that may not entail such a hefty mana cost upfront and can be utilized more dynamically throughout a match.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Belbe’s Portal allows for the seamless introduction of creatures into play, particularly valuable when they share a creature type. Its flexible nature means it can fortify tribal-themed decks or be a game-changer in decks built around specific creature types.

Combo Potential: In combination-based decks, the Portal can serve as a lynchpin, enabling high-cost creatures to enter the battlefield unexpectedly early. This can help players execute their strategies or unleash powerful creatures much faster than normal play would allow.

Meta-Relevance: The ever-shifting MTG landscape can sometimes put a premium on swift plays. Belbe’s Portal fits into metas where speed is of the essence, granting players the ability to bypass the usual mana costs and summoning sickness that might slow down their game plan.

How to beat

Belbe’s Portal is a powerful artifact in the world of Magic: The Gathering, allowing players to bypass traditional mana costs and deploy creatures from their hand with speed and surprise. Standing against this artifact requires a strategy that can disrupt this tempo. Artifact removal spells are the most direct approach, with options such as Disenchant or Nature’s Claim offering efficient ways to dismantle this threat.

Control decks could leverage counter magic such as Negate or Mana Leak to prevent Belbe’s Portal from ever hitting the battlefield. In addition, strategies focused on hand disruption, using Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek, can pluck the Portal from your opponent’s grip before they have the chance to activate its powerful ability.

Denying the creature types that benefit from Belbe’s Portal can also tilt the odds in your favor. Cards like Plague Engineer can disrupt tribal synergies, rendering the Portal far less effective. In the game of Magic: The Gathering, versatility and foresight are key, and keeping an arsenal of answers to threats like Belbe’s Portal can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Belbe's Portal MTG card by a specific set like Nemesis and Mystery Booster, 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 Belbe's Portal and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Belbe's Portal Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2000-02-14 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Mark Tedin.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2000-02-14	Nemesis	NEM	127	1997	Normal	Black	Mark Tedin
2	2019-11-07	Mystery Booster	MB1	1548	1997	Normal	Black	Mark Tedin
3	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	NEM-127	1997	Normal	Black	Mark Tedin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Belbe's Portal has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2007-05-01	Putting the card onto the battlefield is optional. When the ability resolves, you can choose not to.