The Antiquities War MTG Card
2018-04-27 - Number 42
2018-04-27 - Number 42s
2018-04-27 - Number 42p
2020-09-26 - Number DOM-42
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment — Saga |
Key Takeaways
- Gains card advantage by filtering the top library cards, increasing chances of drawing impactful artifacts.
- Enables faster play with artifacts that ramp up mana or have reduced costs.
- Transforms artifacts into 5/5 creatures, which can swing games but loses original artifact utility.
Text of card
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.) I, II — Look at the top five cards of your library. You may reveal an artifact card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. III — Artifacts you control become artifact creatures with base power and toughness 5/5 until end of turn.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Antiquities War sifts through the top five cards of your library, significantly increasing your odds to find key artifacts and improve your hand with quality options.
Resource Acceleration: By significantly increasing the probability of drawing into artifacts that can produce or cost less mana, this saga can propel your mana resources, making it easier to deploy other threats or answers efficiently.
Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, The Antiquities War can lead to a game state brimming with artifacts that can be used at instant speed, granting you greater flexibility and potential for surprise maneuvers during the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While The Antiquities War allows players to search for valuable artifacts, it ends with the conversion of those artifacts into 5/5 creatures. This transformation effectively discards the original utility of the artifacts, which can be a strategic setback if their abilities are crucial to your game plan.
Specific Mana Cost: This saga card requires both blue mana and generic mana, tallying up to a total cost of four mana—two of which must be blue. This specific need could restrict the card’s integration into multi-colored decks that might not always have the required blue sources available when needed.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, some players may find The Antiquities War on the pricier side, especially when considering that the primary benefit is delivered on the third lore counter. Players often compare the cost-effectiveness of sagas to other cards with immediate or more flexible benefits.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: The Antiquities War offers adaptability by nurturing artifact-centric strategies, fitting neatly into deck builds focused on artifact synergy and power ramp.
Combo Potential: It excels in opening up explosive plays, particularly through the third lore counter which transforms all your artifacts into powerful 5/5 attackers, potentially setting up game-ending moves.
Meta-Relevance: In a metagame where artifacts play a key role, this card can significantly disrupt opponent setups, while also providing a consistent deep-dig for artifact solutions over two turns.
How to beat
The Antiquities War is a unique saga card from the Magic: The Gathering Dominaria set that can dramatically alter the landscape of a game. In turns, this enchantment transforms your noncreature artifacts into a formidable army, leading to potential game-ending swings. Yet, understanding its progression is key to dismantling its impact. Countering the saga before the final lore counter is placed is an effective method, as it prevents the anticipated surge of animated artifacts. Artifact removal spells also play a crucial role, targeting the key pieces before they become threats on the third chapter’s resolution.
Enchantment removal becomes highly valuable when facing The Antiquities War, with options such as Disenchant and Naturalize being able to nullify the saga at any stage of its development. Keeping pressure on the artifact deck’s life total and resources while managing the board state can disrupt the delicate build-up The Antiquities War requires. Prioritize threats and neutralize them swiftly, never allowing the artifact synergy to reach its peak performance. Controlling the pace of the match and setting the rhythm ensures that the ticking time bomb never goes off, ultimately securing victory against this powerful saga from the histories of Dominaria.
BurnMana Recommendations
The Antiquities War is a saga that unfolds the potential of artifacts in your MTG gameplay. It navigates you through the discovery of vital pieces, escalating your board presence and leading to overwhelming turns. With its transformative nature, artifacts become mighty warriors, but planning is key to ensuring these new assets swing the game in your favor. Our guidance does not stop here; there are tactics to refine and hidden gems to reveal. If you’re looking to optimize artifact strategies or seeking ways to outmaneuver this saga, visit us for insights and strategies to enrich your MTG journey.
Cards like The Antiquities War
The Antiquities War is a standout saga from the Dominaria set, harnessing the potent lore of Magic: The Gathering’s history. It echoes the thematic essence of cards like Tezzeret the Seeker, given its affinity for locating and leveraging artifacts. Both push toward a strategy that emphasizes the power of noncreature artifacts. However, The Antiquities War offers a unique twist with its saga structure, culminating in a grand transformation of artifacts into aggressive 5/5 creatures.
In relation to other enchantments, it can be compared to Trail of Evidence, which amasses clues to draw cards. While both cards are powerful in artifact-centric decks, The Antiquities War serves a dual purpose by also acting as a finisher in addition to enhancing card advantage. Another similar card is Mechanized Production, which can duplicate artifacts on the battlefield while aiming for an alternate win condition, though at a slower pace without the immediate board impact that The Antiquities War provides upon reaching its final lore counter.
Considering the synergy with artifacts, the escalation of effects, and the potential for a game-ending state, The Antiquities War indeed holds a remarkable position among MTG sagas and artifact-centric strategies, offering an explosive angle to artifact manipulation.
Cards similar to The Antiquities War by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase The Antiquities War MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria and Dominaria Promos, 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 The Antiquities War and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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
See Magic products
Printings
The The Antiquities War Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-04-27 and 2018-04-27. Illustrated by Mark Tedin.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018-04-27 | Dominaria | DOM | 42 | 2015 | saga | black | Mark Tedin | |
| 2 | 2018-04-27 | Dominaria Promos | PDOM | 42s | 2015 | saga | black | Mark Tedin | |
| 3 | 2018-04-27 | Dominaria Promos | PDOM | 42p | 2015 | saga | black | Mark Tedin | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | DOM-42 | 2015 | saga | black | Mark Tedin |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where The Antiquities War has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering The Antiquities War card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-04-27 | A chapter ability doesn’t trigger if a lore counter is put on a Saga that already had a number of lore counters greater than or equal to that chapter’s number. For example, the third lore counter put on a Saga causes the III chapter ability to trigger, but I and II won’t trigger again. |
| 2018-04-27 | An Equipment that becomes an artifact creature becomes unattached if it’s attached to a creature. Its equip ability can be activated, but it won’t become attached to the target creature. |
| 2018-04-27 | As a Saga enters the battlefield, its controller puts a lore counter on it. As your precombat main phase begins (immediately after your draw step), you put another lore counter on each Saga you control. Putting a lore counter on a Saga in either of these ways doesn’t use the stack. |
| 2018-04-27 | Each symbol on the left of a Saga’s text box represents a chapter ability. A chapter ability is a triggered ability that triggers when a lore counter that is put on the Saga causes the number of lore counters on the Saga to become equal to or greater than the ability’s chapter number. Chapter abilities are put onto the stack and may be responded to. |
| 2018-04-27 | Effects that modify an artifact creature’s power and/or toughness, such as the effect of Titanic Growth, will apply to the creature no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for any counters that change its power and/or toughness and effects that switch its power and toughness. |
| 2018-04-27 | If The Antiquities War somehow becomes an artifact enchantment prior to resolving its final chapter ability, it will become a 5/5 Saga artifact enchantment creature, and will then be sacrificed after that ability resolves. |
| 2018-04-27 | If counters are removed from a Saga, the appropriate chapter abilities will trigger again when the Saga receives lore counters. Removing lore counters won’t cause a previous chapter ability to trigger. |
| 2018-04-27 | If multiple chapter abilities trigger at the same time, their controller puts them on the stack in any order. If any of them require targets, those targets are chosen as you put the abilities on the stack, before any of those abilities resolve. |
| 2018-04-27 | Once a chapter ability has triggered, the ability on the stack won’t be affected if the Saga gains or loses counters, or if it leaves the battlefield. |
| 2018-04-27 | Once the number of lore counters on a Saga is greater than or equal to the greatest number among its chapter abilities—in the Dominaria set, this is always three—the Saga’s controller sacrifices it as soon as its chapter ability has left the stack, most likely by resolving or being countered. This state-based action doesn’t use the stack. |
| 2018-04-27 | The final chapter ability of The Antiquities War affects only artifacts you control at the time it resolves. Artifacts you begin to control later in the turn won’t become 5/5 creatures. |
| 2018-04-27 | The final chapter ability of The Antiquities War overwrites an artifact creature’s normal base power and toughness and all previous effects that set an artifact creature’s base power and toughness to specific values. Any power- or toughness-setting effects that start to apply after the ability resolves will overwrite this effect. |
