Dragon Mask MTG Card

Dragon Mask offers card advantage and board presence through instant-speed creature protection. The mask’s activation cost can accelerate resource usage without increasing mana ramp. Despite its benefits, it requires card discard and a specific mana color, limiting versatility.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact

Text of card

o3, oc T: Target creature you control gets +2/+2 until end of turn. At end of turn, if that creature is in play, return it to owner's hand.

"With no further options, I was forced to don the mask." —Rashida Scalebane

Cards like Dragon Mask

Dragon Mask is an intriguing artifact in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, offering a distinct take on creature protection. Much like other equipment cards, such as Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves, it aims to safeguard your valued creatures. However, Dragon Mask presents an unusual twist, allowing the return of a creature to its owner’s hand to save it from potential threats. Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves instead grant hexproof or shroud, preventing opponents from targeting your creatures altogether but not protecting against board wipes.

Comparably, we have the Whispersilk Cloak, which not only makes a creature untargetable but also unblockable, thus enhancing offensive capabilities unlike Dragon Mask’s purely defensive approach. Nevertheless, Dragon Mask has the unique advantage of potentially reusing enter the battlefield effects by recasting creatures.

Overall, Dragon Mask holds its own within the MTG protective gear arsenal. Its specialty lies in providing a reusable safeguarding option that can continuously leverage creature abilities, distinguishing it from equipment that focuses solely on static defensive buffs.

Swiftfoot Boots - MTG Card versions
Lightning Greaves - MTG Card versions
Whispersilk Cloak - MTG Card versions
Swiftfoot Boots - MTG Card versions
Lightning Greaves - MTG Card versions
Whispersilk Cloak - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Dragon Mask’s ability can give you the upper hand by facilitating card advantage. It does this by potentially saving a vital creature from removal and then returning that creature to play, maintaining your board presence and card resources.

Resource Acceleration: Although Dragon Mask doesn’t directly accelerate resources in the traditional sense of ramping mana, it can effectively bypass mana costs of replaying creatures saved by its ability. This economical use of mana can preserve resources for other strategic plays within the same turn or future turns.

Instant Speed: The key feature of Dragon Mask is its capability to be activated at instant speed. This allows players to wait until the most advantageous moment during the course of gameplay to protect their creatures. Whether that’s in response to a board wipe or targeted removal, Dragon Mask provides flexibility and the element of surprise, keeping adversaries on their toes.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Dragon Mask demands players to discard a card to initiate its effect. This can deplete your hand, leaving you at a potential disadvantage, particularly when your card options are already sparse.

Specific Mana Cost: The activation of Dragon Mask’s ability requires a specific color alignment in your mana pool. This requirement can be restrictive, since it necessitates color-specific decks, possibly hindering its inclusion in more diverse or colorless strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Allocating four mana for activating Dragon Mask can be quite steep compared to other equipment or aura cards offering similar or better enhancements. This can put players who opt for this card at a slower pace against opponents using lower-cost alternatives.

Reasons to Include Dragon Mask in Your Collection

Versatility: Dragon Mask is a unique artifact that can potentially fit in a variety of deck archetypes. It supports strategies that revolve around creature-based tactics, enabling you to protect key creatures from targeted removal or to reuse powerful enter-the-battlefield effects by returning the creature to your hand.

Combo Potential: In decks that synergize with bounce effects or benefit from recasting their own creatures, Dragon Mask’s ability to return creatures to their owner’s hand can be a crucial part of intricate combo sequences. It allows for repeated value from creatures with strong effects that trigger upon entering the battlefield or being cast.

Meta-Relevance: If the current competitive scene sees a surge in control decks employing a lot of removal spells, Dragon Mask can be highly relevant. It provides resilience against such strategies, maintaining your board presence by safeguarding your creatures and granting you the flexibility to redeploy them at a crucial moment.

How to Beat

The Dragon Mask card presents a unique challenge in MTG as it can turn the tide of battle by offering protection and a potential power boost to a targeted creature. To effectively counter this formidable artifact, players should consider incorporating efficient removal spells into their deck. Naturalize and Disenchant are excellent examples, offering a low-cost solution to take out artifacts and enchantments directly from the battlefield. It’s also wise to have counter-measures ready in the form of creature removal if the mask has already been attached, ensuring that the buffed creature doesn’t get out of hand.

Alternatively, preemptive strategies can be advantageous against players who rely on equipping creatures with artifacts like Dragon Mask. Hand disruption spells like Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek can prevent the mask from ever being played. Furthermore, running a suite of counter spells such as Counterspell or Mana Leak can halt the card right in its tracks, keeping the artifact from influencing the game. Always be mindful of the timing when utilizing these spells, as it’s essential to disrupt your opponent’s game plan before they can establish a strong board presence with the mask’s effects.

Understanding and anticipating your opponent’s strategies while having the right answers in your deck is key. This approach ensures that the impact of cards like Dragon Mask can be minimized or neutralized, allowing players to maintain control over the game state.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dragon Mask MTG card by a specific set like Visions and Classic Sixth 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 Dragon Mask and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dragon Mask Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1997-02-03 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Craig Hooper.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-02-03VisionsVIS 1441997NormalBlackCraig Hooper
21999-04-21Classic Sixth Edition6ED 2831997NormalWhiteCraig Hooper
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 15751997NormalBlackCraig Hooper
42020-09-26The ListPLST VIS-1441997NormalBlackCraig Hooper

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dragon Mask has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal