Cement Shoes MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cement Shoes might not directly let you draw cards, but it can potentially remove a threat from your opponent’s board. This improves your relative card advantage, keeping more of your own cards in play while dealing with an opponent’s.

Resource Acceleration: While Cement Shoes doesn’t accelerate resources in the traditional sense, it can effectively slow down your opponent’s game plan. By locking down a key creature, you’re indirectly setting the pace of the match and freeing up your resources for other strategic plays.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Cement Shoes at instant speed offers flexibility in your gameplay. You can wait until the most impactful moment to use it, perhaps in response to an opponent’s action or to surprise an adversary during combat, maximizing its potential effect on the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Cement Shoes comes with a stipulation that can hamper your hand – discarding a card is a part of its casting cost. While this may work well in reanimation strategies or settings where discard is beneficial, in most scenarios, losing a card can put you at a disadvantage, especially if your options are already limited.

Specific Mana Cost: Locked into a distinct color identity, Cement Shoes demands blue mana, making it somewhat inflexible. This can prove problematic in multicolored decks where mana consistency is crucial. If you’re not running a deck that can comfortably cater to blue mana, including Cement Shoes may not always be viable.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Looking at the spectrum of removal spells available, Cement Shoes has a relatively hefty cost for what it accomplishes. Although sinking an opponent’s creature could be powerful, the combination of the discard requirement and the mana investment might deter players when they consider alternative cards with a lower cost-to-benefit ratio.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Cement Shoes offers a niche role in decks that are looking to control the board. By enabling you to choose creatures that get -1/-1 until end of turn, it can adapt to various situations, hindering your opponent’s board presence.

Combo Potential: This card shines in decks that capitalize on -1/-1 counter synergies, potentially unlocking powerful combos with other cards that benefit from reducing creatures’ power and toughness.

Meta-Relevance: Cement Shoes could be an asset in a meta filled with strategies that rely on small, synergistic creatures. Its ability to hamper such strategies grants it a spot in sideboards or even main decks, depending on the environment.

How to beat

Cement Shoes is a card that can present quite the challenge on the battlefield. This artifact comes with a unique ability to keep creatures locked down, unable to untap during the controller’s untap step. This can be frustrating and can turn a game if not addressed swiftly. To effectively combat Cement Shoes, consider removal spells that can specifically target artifacts. Cards like Disenchant or Naturalize are popular choices as they can quickly dispose of problematic artifacts. Additionally, counterspells such as Negate can prevent Cement Shoes from ever hitting the field, allowing your creatures to remain agile and untapped.

Another strategy involves playing around it, focusing on creature abilities that don’t require tapping or using untap effects from cards like Vitalize or Dramatic Reversal. It’s essential to adapt your gameplay and possibly keep instant-speed interaction in hand if you anticipate artifacts like Cement Shoes becoming an obstacle. Keeping the board clear of threatening artifacts ensures your creatures maintain their full range of capabilities, crucial for victory in Magic: The Gathering.