Clocknapper MTG Card
Text of card
When Clocknapper enters the battlefield, choose beginning phase, precombat main phase, combat phase, postcombat main phase, or ending phase. Steal that phase from target player during his or her next turn. (That phase occurs as though it's your turn instead.)
Cards like Clocknapper
The Clocknapper MTG card is an ingenious piece within the wheelhouse of time-altering mechanics in Magic: The Gathering. Strikingly similar to effects wielded by cards like Expropriate, Clocknapper offers a unique twist. While Expropriate lets you choose between Time and Money, with Time granting you extra turns and Money snatching permanents from opponents, Clocknapper narrows its focus. Upon entering the battlefield, it grants you a slice of an opponent’s turn, from untap to cleanup, each slice offering strategic manipulation potential.
Vedalken Orrery and Leyline of Anticipation deserve mention for the way they alter turn dynamics, analogous to Clocknapper. They allow playing almost all types of cards as if they had flash, yet they don’t carve into opponents’ turns as Clocknapper does. Lastly, Time Warp and Capture of Jingzhou also resemble Clocknapper by offering extra turns, but they do not provide the granular control over the specific portions of a turn, a feature that marks Clocknapper’s unique strategic footprint.
Deciphering the nuances between these cards highlights Clocknapper’s distinctive approach to manipulating the flow of the game, embedding it securely as a formidable option among Magic: The Gathering’s array of turn-based cards.
Cards similar to Clocknapper by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Clocknapper is a powerhouse when it comes to disrupting your opponent’s plans and gaining an upper hand in the match. With its unique ability to control a player’s turn by choosing the phases that may get extra play or completely skip, you consistently land in advantageous board states, effectively giving you more leverage and potential actions compared to your adversary.
Resource Acceleration: While Clocknapper itself does not directly generate mana or tokens, the ability to repeat certain phases like your untap or draw step can indirectly accelerate your resources. By carefully choosing which part of the turn to repeat, you can untap additional lands for more mana or draw extra cards, effectively ramping up your available resources to deploy threats or answers sooner than your opponent.
Instant Speed: Despite Clocknapper not being an instant, its ability can have a similar impact to casting a spell at instant speed. You may deploy Clocknapper during your turn, but by carefully selecting the turn phase to affect, you can create immediate and unexpected advantages as though you had taken an action at instant speed – for instance, denying an opponent’s combat or second main phase, which can be a game changer.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Because this card requires you to exile it along with three other cards with different names from your hand, this can create a significant disadvantage. The discard mechanic obliges you to deplete valuable hand resources, potentially leaving you vulnerable to your opponent’s moves.
Specific Mana Cost: Clocknapper demands a very specific mana combination to cast, requiring both blue and colorless mana. This can sometimes restrict the card’s inclusion, making it predominantly a choice for blue-centric or multicolor decks with a reliable mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, including two blue, Clocknapper’s impact on the game might not always justify its expense, especially when there are other creatures or spells that affect the board at a lower cost.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Clocknapper is a dynamic addition to blue-based control and combo decks. Its unique ability to manipulate turns allows you to disrupt your opponent’s plans or set up pivotal plays for your win condition.
Combo Potential: With the capability to essentially steal phases from your opponent’s turn, Clocknapper pairs well with cards that untap creatures or copy abilities, multiplying its disruptive effects and setting the stage for game-winning combos.
Meta-Relevance: In a game that’s constantly evolving, flexibly responding to the meta is crucial. Clocknapper’s strategic advantage shines in environments where timing and turn order play pivotal roles, such as in matches against tempo or combo decks.
Understanding Clocknapper
In Magic: The Gathering, Clocknapper is a unique creature known for its ability to disrupt the flow of turns by stealing phases. When it enters the battlefield, you can choose your opponent’s next turn and remove a particular phase, such as the untap, upkeep, draw, main, beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, post-combat main, or end step. This clever manipulation can throw opponents off balance, effectively depriving them of valuable steps in their strategy.
How to beat
Confronting a Clocknapper requires a tactical approach. The key is to neutralize it before it can execute its ability or to mitigate its impact. Strategies include instant-speed removal spells that can be cast before the Clocknapper’s effect resolves, such as Path to Exile or Rapid Hybridization. Counterspells like Negate or Essence Scatter are also effective at preventing Clocknapper from hitting the field. Utilizing flash creatures to maintain board presence during the opponent’s turn can also alleviate the disruption caused by Clocknapper. Lastly, permanents that grant phases back or allow additional actions during turns, like Teferi, Time Raveler, can significantly diminish Clocknapper’s influence over the game.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Clocknapper MTG card by a specific set like Unstable and The List (Unfinity Foil Edition), 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 Clocknapper and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
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Printings
The Clocknapper Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-12-08 and 2022-10-07. Illustrated by Marco Teixeira.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-12-08 | Unstable | UST | 29 | 2015 | Normal | Silver | Marco Teixeira | |
| 2 | 2022-10-07 | The List (Unfinity Foil Edition) | ULST | 14 | 2015 | Normal | Silver | Marco Teixeira |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Clocknapper card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-01-19 | Beginning phase: You untap permanents you control and your opponent doesn’t. Abilities that trigger at the beginning of your upkeep happen and ones that trigger at the beginning of their upkeep don’t. You draw a card as it’s now your draw step, so your opponent doesn’t. |
| 2018-01-19 | Combat phase: Just like combat on your turn, you can attack your opponents with your creatures. The opponent you stole the phase from can’t attack with their creatures, but they can block. |
| 2018-01-19 | Ending phase: Most abilities that trigger during the end step don’t care whose turn it is, but a few do. Effects that last “until end of turn” or “this turn” will expire as normal, as they also don’t care whose turn it is. |
| 2018-01-19 | Postcombat main phase: Same as precombat main phase. |
| 2018-01-19 | Precombat main phase: You can cast all types of spells while your opponent can only cast instants and spells with flash. |
| 2018-01-19 | To steal a phase means that during that player’s next turn, as the chosen phase begins, you treat it as if it were your turn. Here’s what happens if you steal each phase: |