Cogwork Grinder MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact Creature — Construct
Released	2014-06-06
Set symbol
Set name	Conspiracy
Set code	CNS
Power	0
Toughness	0
Number	57
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jasper Sandner

Key Takeaways

Cogwork Grinder provides substantial board presence without depleting hand resources, ideal for strategic play.
Exiling draft cards can equate to strategic acceleration, enabling early threats with the potential for large power.
This card’s unique draft-phase ability requires careful drafting tactics to maximize its impressive scaling power.

Text of card

Draft Cogwork Grinder face up. As you draft a card, you may remove it from the draft face down. (Those cards aren't in your card pool.) Cogwork Grinder enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the number of cards you removed from the draft with cards named Cogwork Grinder.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Cogwork Grinder has a unique ability to possibly give you a sizeable creature without spending a card from your hand. Drafting cards directly into the Grinder can increase your board presence while keeping your hand ready for other strategies.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly impacting your mana resources, strategically exiling drafted cards can be thought of as a form of acceleration—putting a potentially large threat into play much earlier than usual.

Instant Speed: While Cogwork Grinder itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its ability synergizes with instant speed interactions in your draft. You can draft instants that you may use in response to your opponents’ moves, while still fueling the Grinder’s power. Integrating it in a strategy around instant speed plays can therefore complement your tactics on the battlefield.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To bring Cogwork Grinder into play, you’re tasked with removing a number of cards from your draft pool – a cost that can be quite steep, stifling your deck-building options and stripping you of valuable resources before the game even begins.

Specific Mana Cost: The construct requires a precise blend of six mana, one of which must be colorless. This particular mana cost can disrupt your flow in drafts designed around multicolored strategies or decks that run on a tight curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Casting Cogwork Grinder demands a substantial investment of six mana. For that amount, especially within the fast-paced Limited formats, players might expect a more immediately impactful creature or one that could provide a recurring advantage over time.

Reasons to Include Cogwork Grinder in Your Collection

Versatility: Cogwork Grinder is a flexible addition to any collection due to its capability to adapt to various archetypes. It thrives in decks that aim to maximize artifact synergies or exploit creatures in the graveyard, hence broadening your deck-building options.

Combo Potential: With its unique ability to exile creature cards from your graveyard to grow its power, Cogwork Grinder can become a massive threat quickly. This offers substantial synergy with self-mill strategies and can become a game-ender in combo setups.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where graveyard manipulation is prevalent, Cogwork Grinder stands as a relevant counter. Its impact increases against opponents who rely on creature recursion, providing not only a strategic edge but also the satisfaction of a well-timed disruption.

How to beat Cogwork Grinder

Cogwork Grinder represents an unusual challenge among creatures in the MTG universe. This artifact creature boasts a power boosted by the number of cards you exile from your draft pool when it enters the battlefield. To combat such a potentially formidable foe, players need to be strategic and perhaps a little cunning. One approach is to limit the cards you pass during a draft that could fuel the Grinder’s power. Keeping those powerful cards in your pool, even if they don’t fit your strategy, can be worthwhile to weaken the Grinder’s impact.

Control strategies that include counter spells are also effective. By keeping up mana for spells like Cancel or Negate, you can prevent the Cogwork Grinder from ever hitting the table. Alternatively, creature removal is key once it’s in play. Instant-speed removal such as Path to Exile or Murder can be catalysts for turning the tide, nullifying the threat by sending the enhanced creature away before it has the chance to make an impression. Always be ready with a removal spell or two in hand, and you’ll find the Cogwork Grinder much less of an issue.

Lastly, remember that the Grinder’s power relies on the draft phase. Outside of its native Conspiracies drafts, its influence dramatically wanes, making it a much less daunting card to face in a typical game of MTG.

Cards like Cogwork Grinder

Cogwork Grinder stands as a distinctive creature within the Magic: The Gathering panorama. This construct is notably compared to creatures like Phyrexian Devourer, which similarly grows in power by removing cards from play. However, the Cogwork Grinder’s unique draft-only activation makes it a rare sight, especially since it can potentially become larger than the Devourer based on the number of drafted cards a player is willing to remove.

Another mechanical kin is Arcbound Ravager, a creature that also increases its strength through the act of sacrificing other artifacts. However, unlike the Cogwork Grinder, the Ravager can sacrifice artifacts any number of times at instant speed during gameplay, offering more flexibility and immediate board impact. Not to be overlooked, Scarecrone is a card with a sacrifice theme that can repeatedly regenerate artifact creatures, offering a different angle of utility compared to the one-time significant increase in power provided by the Grinder.

Comparatively, Cogwork Grinder’s unique drafting-based mechanic provides an interesting strategic depth to the game, albeit within a limited environment. This card carries an exclusive appeal, particularly for those intrigued by its considerable scaling ability and the potential for massive power it holds in a draft setting.

Cards similar to Cogwork Grinder by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cogwork Grinder MTG card by a specific set like Conspiracy, 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 Cogwork Grinder and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cogwork Grinder has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2014-05-29	A card that is removed from the draft isn’t in any player’s card pool. That card can’t be played in any games associated with that draft.
2014-05-29	If a Cogwork Grinder owned by another player enters the battlefield under your control, the number of counters it enters with will be based on the number of cards you’ve removed from the draft with Cogwork Grinders, not the number its owner removed. Unless you also drafted Cogwork Grinder, this will be 0.
2014-05-29	If you draft multiple Cogwork Grinders, the value for X will be the same for each of them. It doesn’t matter that some of the removed cards may have been removed before you drafted the second Cogwork Grinder, for example.
2014-05-29	No other player may look at the cards you remove from the draft (unless Cogwork Spy allows a player to).
2014-05-29	You can’t remove cards from the draft that you’ve already drafted. Only cards drafted after you draft Cogwork Grinder may be removed this way.
2014-05-29	You still draft the card that you remove. This may matter if an ability refers to “the next card you draft” or similar. If that card instructs you to draft it face up, do so, then turn it face down as you remove it. If that card instructs you to reveal it as you draft it and then perform additional actions, perform those actions before turning the card face down and removing it from the draft.