Elspeth, Sun's Champion Emblem MTG Card
2013-09-27 - Number 11
2023-04-21 - Number 43
2023-08-04 - Number 80
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Type | Emblem — Elspeth |
Text of card
Creatures you control get +2/+2 and have flying.
Cards like Elspeth, Sun's Champion Emblem
The Elspeth, Sun’s Champion Emblem is an iconic addition to the array of loyalty abilities in MTG, akin to other powerful emblem creators like Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Unlike Jace’s emblem, which provides a persistent library decimation effect, Elspeth’s emblem grants an enduring advantage by bolstering creatures, giving a +2/+2 bonus to your army. This transformative ability doesn’t directly affect the board state upon creation but ensures a dominant presence as the game progresses.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar presents a similar emblem effect, providing a permanent buff to creatures with +1/+1. While not as potent as Elspeth’s boost, Gideon’s emblem is easier to obtain due to his lower loyalty threshold for activation. Additionally, Sorin, Solemn Visitor can craft an emblem to give creatures +1/+0 and lifelink; a useful tool for a different strategy, focusing on life as a resource rather than sheer power.
Although each planeswalker offers distinct emblem effects and strategies, Elspeth, Sun’s Champion’s emblem stands out as a powerhouse in creature-focused decks, propelling players towards victory with a formidable and unremovable modification to their forces.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The emblem created by Elspeth, Sun’s Champion offers a persisting advantage by allowing you to continuously produce three 1/1 Soldier tokens during each of your upkeep phases. This steady increase in creatures bolsters your board presence and applies ongoing pressure to your opponents.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly increasing your mana pool, the emblem indirectly accelerates your resources. By providing a consistent stream of tokens, it frees up mana and other resources you would otherwise use on creature spells, allowing you to allocate them towards more strategic plays and board control tactics.
Instant Speed: Although Elspeth’s ultimate ability which grants the emblem isn’t at instant speed, the emblem itself ensures that you start gaining the benefits right away at the beginning of your next upkeep. This immediacy can swiftly shift the tide of the game, catching opponents off guard and making it more difficult for them to recover or respond effectively.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One downside to striving towards Elspeth’s emblem is the steep requirement in managing resources. You often have to play a long game and protect Elspeth, Sun’s Champion until you can activate her ultimate, which may necessitate discarding valuable cards meantime to keep her safe.
Specific Mana Cost: The emblem’s genesis is tied to Elspeth, who has a demanding white mana cost. Deckbuilders must commit to heavy white mana investment, potentially restricting the card’s inclusion to mainly white or two-color decks that have a strong white mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Achieving Elspeth, Sun’s Champion’s emblem requires a large mana investment over multiple turns. For six mana to cast Elspeth and additional turns to generate the emblem, a player might find alternative strategies to achieve board control or end the game quicker, considering this planeswalker’s loyalty ability progression.
Reasons to Include Elspeth, Sun’s Champion Emblem in Your Collection
Versatility: Elspeth, Sun’s Champion Emblem is a unique addition to any player’s arsenal, offering an enduring advantage that persists even if the planeswalker that created it has left the battlefield. This emblem provides a lasting effect that can strengthen various deck types, particularly those that aim to control the game and maintain board dominance.
Combo Potential: With its ability to repeatedly buff creatures you control, this emblem works wonders in decks focused on creature synergy or token generation, turning every creature you play into a significant threat and enabling powerful combinations with strategies centered around creature boosts.
Meta-Relevance: Considering the ever-fluctuating nature of the MTG meta, an emblem like Elspeth, Sun’s Champion provides a persistent effect that can be incredibly effective against decks that struggle with continuous creature growth. It enhances your late-game staying power and can be the key to outlasting opponents in attrition wars.
How to Beat the Elspeth, Sun’s Champion Emblem
Confronting the emblem created by Elspeth, Sun’s Champion in MTG is a challenging task given its ability to grant an overwhelming advantage to your opponent. This emblem, once unleashed, ensures that creatures you control get +2/+2 and have flying, an attribute that significantly bolsters your adversary’s battlefield presence. To overcome this, adapting your strategy is essential.
Key to surpassing this emblem’s effect is employing board wipes or spells that can alter the tide of the game regardless of creature enhancements. Cards like Supreme Verdict or Wrath of God can clear the board, disregarding the emblem’s bonuses entirely. Alternatively, establishing control through powerful enchantments like Humility can neutralize the threat by setting creature power and toughness to 1/1, effectively mitigating the emblem’s impact. Moreover, you can use cards like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to tip the creature stats balance in your favor.
Therefore, while the emblem from Elspeth, Sun’s Champion presents a formidable barrier, with the right approach and arsenal of cards, it is indeed possible to overpower its influence and maintain control of the game’s pace.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Elspeth, Sun's Champion Emblem MTG card by a specific set like Theros and March of the Machine Commander, 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 Elspeth, Sun's Champion Emblem and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Printings
The Elspeth, Sun's Champion Emblem Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2013-09-27 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013-09-27 | Theros | THS | 11 | 2003 | Emblem | Black | Eric Deschamps | |
| 2 | 2023-04-21 | March of the Machine Commander | MOC | 43 | 2015 | Emblem | Black | Tyler Jacobson | |
| 3 | 2023-08-04 | Commander Masters | CMM | 80 | 2015 | Emblem | Black | Tyler Jacobson |