Ixidron MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Illusion
Power *
Toughness *

Key Takeaways

  1. Ixidron hands you the power to neutralize foes and gain card advantage by transforming board states.
  2. With the right flash enablers, you can wield Ixidron’s effect with the speed and surprise of an instant.
  3. Despite its limitations in mana flexibility, Ixidron’s synergy potential makes it a formidable pick.

Text of card

As Ixidron comes into play, turn all other nontoken creatures in play face down. They're 2/2 creatures. Ixidron's power and toughness are each equal to the number of face-down creatures in play.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ixidron comes into play with the unique ability to flip all nontoken creatures face down, transforming the board state. This can neutralize opponents’ powerful abilities and set you up for card advantage as your opponent struggles to recover their creatures’ original forms.

Resource Acceleration: Though not directly impacting your mana pool, Ixidron’s mass flip can indirectly accelerate your resources by clearing the path for your attacks or disrupting opponents’ combo pieces, allowing you safer turns to develop your board and resources without immediate threats.

Instant Speed: While Ixidron itself is a creature and not an instant, the card can be played in decks with flash enablers. This flexibility allows you to cast it at instant speed, leaving opponents unprepared for the widespread board shift, often saving you in critical moments or when the timing is most disruptive for your adversary.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Ixidron demands a precise blend of mana to play, needing both blue and generic mana. Its dependency on blue mana makes it less flexible, potentially limiting its integration into multi-color decks that cannot reliably generate the necessary blue mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Ixidron comes with a mana value of five, which in the fast-paced environment of MTG can be quite steep. This cost may cause delays in its play, giving opponents an opportunity to establish their board presence or counteract its effect by the time Ixidron hits the battlefield.

Discard Requirement: While Ixidron itself does not necessitate discarding a card, the strategy surrounding its use often involves discarding or hand manipulation to maximize its effect. This can be a considerable drawback when hand resources are scarce or if the strategy does not harmonize with the rest of the deck’s mechanics.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Ixidron offers a unique twist to any blue-centric deck. Capable of turning all other nontoken creatures face down, it acts as a mass board disruptor that can shift the tide of the game. This flexibility makes it an unexpected joker card that can be a part of various control or midrange strategies.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with abilities that trigger upon creatures entering the battlefield or turning face up. Its strength lies in its potential to reconfigure the board and pave the way for high-impact plays, catching opponents off guard with sudden morph strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by creature-heavy decks, Ixidron can be a game-changer. It effectively neutralizes an adversary’s elaborate board state without actually removing their creatures from the game, circumventing various forms of protection and regeneration.


How to beat

Ixidron is a unique creature in Magic: The Gathering, famous for turning all other nontoken creatures face down. This effect can disrupt your opponents’ strategies by nullifying abilities and forcing them to play without knowledge of their creature’s stats. To effectively counter Ixidron, consider using enchantment removal spells as they aren’t affected by the face-down status and can still hinder your opponent’s creatures. Spells like Disenchant or Naturalize can be potent tools.

Another tactic is to rely on instant-speed removal or bounce effects when Ixidron enters the battlefield. By responding quickly with a card like Swords to Plowshares or Unsummon, you can deal with Ixidron before its ability takes effect. Additionally, playing with creatures that have morph or megamorph abilities can turn the tables on Ixidron, as they can be turned face up even after Ixidron’s ability has resolved, giving you a surprise element.

Lastly, having creatures with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects can be a workaround. These creatures will still trigger their abilities when turned face down by Ixidron, ensuring you retain some advantage. With a mindful gameplan and the right cards in hand, overcoming the challenge posed by Ixidron can be a rewarding part of your MTG experience.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the Ixidron card is a strategic move in MTG that can dramatically alter the course of a game. With its ability to turn the tides by flipping nontoken creatures, collectors and players can find themselves with an edge in creature-heavy matchups. Remember, knowledge is power in MTG. Harness Ixidron’s unique effect by integrating it into your deck and adapting strategies around it. Discovering the optimal moments to play this card and its interactions with other cards in your repertoire will bolster your chances of victory. Keen to make Ixidron a keystone of your deck? Dive further into our tips and strategies and embark on your journey to mastery.


Cards like Ixidron

Entering the Magic: The Gathering scene as a game-changer in disrupting board states, Ixidron represents a unique twist on creature control. Like Ixidron, cards such as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, significantly affect creatures on the board by giving opponents’ creatures a devastating reduction to their power and toughness. However, Elesh Norn does not alter the card types as Ixidron does by turning all other nontoken creatures face down.

Another comparison can be drawn with Hibernation Sliver. Although it affects only Slivers, it shares the theme of impacting creatures en masse. However, Hibernation Sliver gives players the choice to return their creatures to their hand instead of changing their board status, which is a more temporary measure compared to the long-term effect of Ixidron’s ability to flip creatures. Conversely, Mass Polymorph has a somewhat similar impact by exiling creatures and bringing new ones from the deck, yet this result is more unpredictable and based on deck contents versus Ixidron’s defined outcome of face-down creatures.

All in all, Ixidron stands out in creature control with its singular ability to neutralize an opponent’s forces by turning them into 2/2 face-down creatures without targeting, dodging numerous protective effects and disrupting synergy-heavy decks.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - MTG Card versions
Hibernation Sliver - MTG Card versions
Mass Polymorph - MTG Card versions
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - New Phyrexia (NPH)
Hibernation Sliver - Stronghold (STH)
Mass Polymorph - Magic 2011 (M11)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ixidron MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral and Commander 2014, 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 Ixidron and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ixidron Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2006-10-06 and 2019-08-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12006-10-06Time SpiralTSP 652003normalblackTerese Nielsen
22014-11-07Commander 2014C14 1162015normalblackTerese Nielsen
32019-08-23Commander 2019C19 872015normalblackAntonio José Manzanedo

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ixidron has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2006-09-25 If Ixidron and another creature are entering the battlefield at the same time, the other creature enters the battlefield face up.
2006-09-25 The controller of a face-down creature can look at it at any time, even if it doesn’t have morph. Other players can’t, but the rules for face-down permanents state that “you must ensure at all times that your face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated from each other.” As a result, all players must be able to figure out what each of the creatures Ixidron turned face down is.
2006-09-25 Turning a face-down creature face-down typically has no effect; the creature’s status is unchanged.
2006-09-25 You turn the creatures face-down *as* Ixidron enters the battlefield. There is never a moment when Ixidron is on the battlefield and the creatures are face-up. If a creature on the battlefield has a “whenever another creature enters the battlefield” ability, it won’t trigger because that creature will be face down before Ixidron enters the battlefield.
2018-04-27 Creatures turned face down by Ixidron are 2/2 creatures with no text, no name, no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and no mana cost. These values are copiable if an object becomes a copy of one of those creatures, and their normal values are not copiable.

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