Engineered Explosives MTG Card
2004-06-04 - Number 118
2013-06-07 - Number 204
2016-09-30 - Number 36
2018-12-07 - Number 227
2020-08-07 - Number 252
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Artifact |
| Abilities | Sunburst |
Text of card
Sunburst (This comes into play with a charge counter on it for each color of mana used to pay its cost.) , Sacrifice Engineered Explosives: Destroy each nonland permanent with converted mana cost equal to the number of charge counters on Engineered Explosives.
Cards like Engineered Explosives
Engineered Explosives distinguishes itself in Magic: The Gathering as a versatile artifact. By comparison, Ratchet Bomb offers a similar explosion of permanents by accumulating charge counters, but it lacks the color specificity that Engineered Explosives presents. This can be a notable difference when targeting a multicolored board state, as Engineered Explosives can be calibrated to clear out specific threats.
Another parallel can be drawn to Powder Keg, which also destroys tokens and creatures of a certain cost without needing to pay mana for activation like Engineered Explosives. However, Engineered Explosives surpasses it by its ability to eliminate all nonland permanents of the chosen converted mana cost, not just tokens and creatures. This increases its utility in diversified metagames with an array of problematic enchantments, artifacts, and planeswalkers.
In analyzing these analogs in deck-building strategies, Engineered Explosives shines due to its flexibility and controlled board wipe capabilities. It adeptly adapts to various situations, making it a prime choice for players who value strategic precision in controlling the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Engineered Explosives by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Engineered Explosives. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Belcher | Modern | Belcher | Modern League 2024-03-13 |
 | Mono-Black Coffers | Modern | Mono-Black Coffers | Modern League 2024-03-11 |
 | Lurrus Saga | Vintage | Lurrus Saga | Vintage Challenge 32 2024-04-28 |
 | 4c Underworld Breach | Vintage | Underworld Breach | Vintage League 2024-04-23 |
| 4c Tempo | Vintage | Blue Tempo | Vintage League 2024-04-23 |
 | Five-color Control | Legacy | Beanstalk Control | Circuito Legacy Catarinense | Temporada 2024 | Etapa 4 |
| Stiflenought | Legacy | Stiflenought | Legacy Challenge 32 2024-03-23 |
 | Five-color Combo | Legacy | Painter | Charlotte Legacy League Season 2 Week 1 |
 | Murktide Regent | Modern | Murktide Regent | Modern Challenge 64 2024-03-23 |
 | Mono-Blue Tron | Modern | Mono-Blue Tron | $10K RCQ - Modern - SCG CON Philadelphia - Saturday - 9:00 am |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Engineered Explosives can be pivotal for sweeping multiple permanents off the board with a single card, enabling a significant card advantage against opponents, especially when facing a swarm of low-cost creatures or tokens.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating resources, the flexible mana cost of Engineered Explosives allows for effective mana usage. It can be engineered to destroy specific problematic permanents without wasting excess mana, ensuring efficient resource utilization.
Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, Engineered Explosives can be activated at instant speed, offering the strategic advantage of detonating at the most opportune moment. This versatility ensures you can navigate around your opponent’s plays, disrupting their strategy at a critical juncture during their turn or in response to a game-changing spell.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Engineered Explosives doesn’t directly lead to a card being discarded, but due to its Sunburst ability, using it effectively may require a diverse mana base, meaning you could be foregoing more flexible or immediate answers in your hand.
Specific Mana Cost: To maximize Engineered Explosives’ potential, you need access to many different colors of mana. This can be challenging in decks not designed to produce a wide array of colors, leading to suboptimal detonations.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While flexible in its scope, Engineered Explosives can demand a substantial mana investment before it matches the board-clearing capabilities of other, more cost-effective sweepers, especially if you’re trying to destroy higher-cost permanents.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Engineered Explosives offers a flexible solution to a wide range of threats. Easily slotted into almost any deck, it can be calibrated to destroy permanents of any specific converted mana cost, making it an adaptable tool for many game situations.
Combo Potential: This artifact thrives in environments where you can capitalize on its scalability. It can be combined with cards that alter or reduce mana costs, or even those that proliferate counters, thereby increasing its range and effectiveness.
Meta-Relevance: In a game where board presence is crucial, Engineered Explosives stands out for its ability to manage the battlefield. Against decks that swarm with tokens or rely on cost-efficient permanents, it serves as a powerful reset button, maintaining its relevance in various competitive settings.
How to beat
Engineered Explosives poses a unique challenge when facing it on the battlefield. This versatile card is renowned for its ability to deal with a broad spectrum of threats, providing players with a tool that can sweep multiple permanents off the board, depending on the amount spent to cast it. It’s a staple in formats where flexibility and adaptability are key, especially when dealing with a variety of decks.
To effectively outmaneuver Engineered Explosives, it’s essential to be strategic about the mana value of the permanents you deploy. The card is only as powerful as the mana invested into it. An approach to mitigate its impact is to diversify the mana value of your own nonland permanents, making it less likely that Engineered Explosives can remove all of your threats in one fell swoop. Another tactic involves using cards that can’t be targeted by Engineered Explosives’ ability, such as those with hexproof or protection from artifacts. In addition, keeping up instant speed removal or bounce spells can thwart your opponent’s plans by responding appropriately to the activation of Engineered Explosives’ ability, saving critical pieces on your board from destruction.
Being mindful of Engineered Explosives’ presence in an opponent’s deck, and adjusting your playstyle accordingly, will undoubtedly help in crafting a successful strategy against this powerful artifact.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Engineered Explosives MTG card by a specific set like Fifth Dawn and Modern Masters, 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 Engineered Explosives and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
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- MTG Mint Card
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Printings
The Engineered Explosives Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2004-06-04 and 2020-08-07. Illustrated by 3 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004-06-04 | Fifth Dawn | 5DN | 118 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Ron Spears | |
| 2 | 2013-06-07 | Modern Masters | MMA | 204 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Lars Grant-West | |
| 3 | 2016-09-30 | Kaladesh Inventions | MPS | 36 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick | |
| 4 | 2018-12-07 | Ultimate Masters | UMA | 227 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lars Grant-West | |
| 5 | 2020-08-07 | Double Masters | 2XM | 252 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lars Grant-West |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Engineered Explosives has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Engineered Explosives card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2020-08-07 | Colorless mana won't give Engineered Explosives another charge counter. Colorless is not a color. |
| 2020-08-07 | If a permanent has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0. |
| 2020-08-07 | Tokens that aren't a copy of something else don't have a mana cost. Anything without a mana cost normally has a mana value of 0. |
| 2020-08-07 | You can choose any value for X as you cast Engineered Explosives. The value chosen for X doesn't directly affect the number of charge counters Engineered Explosives enters the battlefield with, but it does let you pay more mana and thus spend more colors of mana to cast it. |