Pennon Blade MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip

Key Takeaways

  1. Pennon Blade grants cumulative buffs, bolstering creature token strategies and board presence substantially.
  2. Instant equip speed provides strategic flexibility during combat, enhancing creatures unexpectedly.
  3. Its high mana cost and white mana requirement may limit its inclusion in certain MTG decks.

Text of card

Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each creature you control. Equip

Draped with the pennon of a fallen outpost, the sword came to symbolize the peoples of Zendikar becoming one.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When equipped, Pennon Blade has the potential to create an escalating advantage. Each time a creature enters the battlefield under your control, it receives a stacking bonus from Pennon Blade, effectively increasing your board presence and pressurizing your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: Pennon Blade can be a game-changer in decks built around creature tokens or wide strategies. By multiplying the power and toughness benefits across numerous creatures, you quickly accelerate your resources, putting you in a dominant position.

Instant Speed: While Pennon Blade itself isn’t cast with instant speed, the ability to attach it at instant speed when using creatures with flash can catch an opponent off-guard. This ensures you have the flexibility to adapt to the unfolding game and optimize your combat phase efficiently.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Pennon Blade has a colored mana requirement in its casting cost, necessitating at least one white mana source. Players without access to white mana may find it difficult to incorporate this card into their decks, especially those that do not naturally support white mana or colorless mana flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a three-mana casting cost and an additional investment of four mana to equip, Pennon Blade can be a steep price to pay. In environments where tempo plays a significant role, allocating seven mana across two turns can set a player behind, particularly when matched against decks that deploy more immediate threats or establish quicker board presence.

Discard Requirement: While Pennon Blade itself does not have a discard requirement, its higher mana cost could lead to situations where players are forced to discard it to hand size limits if they are unable to cast it in a timely manner, or when prioritizing other plays that aid in maintaining board dynamics or card advantage.


Reasons to Include Pennon Blade in Your Collection

Versatility: Pennon Blade offers adaptability across various deck builds. Its ability to grant a power and toughness boost alongside a valuable keyword, vigilance, makes it an excellent inclusion for creature-focused strategies.

Combo Potential: Equipping Pennon Blade can be a significant combo enabler. It synergizes well with decks aiming to amass a large number of creatures, offering an increasingly potent force as your battlefield presence grows.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where creature-based aggression or token strategies are prevalent, Pennon Blade can become an unexpected key player, turning even small creatures into substantial threats.


How to beat

Pennon Blade is an intriguing equipment card in Magic: The Gathering that can create formidable creatures on the battlefield. It becomes particularly powerful in decks with a wide array of tokens or creatures. The blade’s strength lies in its ability to grant a creature +1/+1 for each creature you control, potentially turning even the smallest token into a substantial threat. To beat a Pennon Blade strategy, it’s essential to disrupt your opponent’s creature presence.

Control decks with board wipes like Wrath of God or Doomskar are effective at removing multiple creatures at once, hindering the blade’s impact. Spot removal is also valuable; cards like Path to Exile or Fatal Push can take care of the equipped creature before the power boost overwhelms you. Moreover, countering key creatures or Pennon Blade itself with spells like Negate can prevent the scenario altogether. Lastly, remember to keep your opponent’s creature count low to minimize Pennon Blade’s influence and protect your life total from escalating attacks.

By prioritizing removal and disruption, you can navigate around the growing threats that Pennon Blade presents, ensuring your opponent’s army never reaches a critical mass that could otherwise seal your defeat.


Cards like Pennon Blade

Pennon Blade serves as a worthy utility in Magic: The Gathering for those looking to boost the power of their creatures easily. One similar card that comes to mind is Bonesplitter, a straightforward equipment that grants a consistent damage increase. While Bonesplitter offers a lower cost and a predictable buff, Pennon Blade’s strength lies in its scalability with creature tokens.

Moreover, we examine Sigil of Valor, which has the potential to turn any creature into a significant threat, provided you control a wide enough army. Though it only buffs a single creature unlike the cumulative effect Pennon Blade can have on your entire board, it requires fewer resources to activate and has a lower equip cost. Another comparison is with Behemoth Sledge, introducing not just stat enhancement but life-gaining ability as well. However, the weight of its mana cost and color restrictions may render Pennon Blade a more flexible option in a broad range of decks.

Ultimately, in a game where strategies evolve and every card’s worth is measured by its synergy and impact within a deck, Pennon Blade distinguishes itself as a potentially powerful asset, especially in token-heavy strategies that seek to capitalize on swarming the battlefield.

Bonesplitter - MTG Card versions
Sigil of Valor - MTG Card versions
Behemoth Sledge - MTG Card versions
Bonesplitter - Arena League 2003 (PAL03)
Sigil of Valor - Magic Origins (ORI)
Behemoth Sledge - Alara Reborn (ARB)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Pennon Blade MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi and Commander Legends, 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 Pennon Blade and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Pennon Blade Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2010-04-23 and 2020-11-20. Illustrated by Alex Horley-Orlandelli.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-04-23Rise of the EldraziROE 2212003normalblackAlex Horley-Orlandelli
22020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 3292015normalblackAlex Horley-Orlandelli

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Pennon Blade has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2010-06-15 As long as you control Pennon Blade, its ability constantly counts the number of creatures you control. It doesn't matter who controls the creature it's equipping (in case an opponent somehow manages to take control of that creature). If you control the creature it's equipping, the bonus will include that creature too.

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