Conch Horn MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Artifact |
| Released | 1994-11-01 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Fallen Empires |
| Set code | FEM |
| Number | 83 |
| Frame | 1993 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Phil Foglio |
Key Takeaways
- Conch Horn lets players manipulate draws for strategic deck performance, enhancing turn outcomes significantly.
- Instant speed activation offers flexibility, adapting to dynamic game states for advantageous card selection.
- Demands careful play due to the discard requirement and specific mana cost, which may restrict use.
Text of card
, , Sacrifice Conch Horn: Draw two cards, then put a card from your hand on top of your library.
Even the most skilled of modern mages only partially understand the Conch Horn's awesome powers.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Conch Horn presents players with an opportunity to fine-tune their draw to increase the chances of accessing essential cards. With its ability to reorder the top cards of your library, it effectively sets the stage for better draws in subsequent turns.
Resource Acceleration: Though not directly providing mana or treasure tokens, the Conch Horn can indirectly lead to resource acceleration by ensuring that your draws are optimized, smoothing out your mana curve, and delivering the lands or spells needed for a swift progression of your game plan.
Instant Speed: The activation of Conch Horn’s ability at instant speed offers flexibility, allowing you to respond adeptly to your opponent’s actions. This can significantly sway the game’s direction in your favor by offering card selection during the most pivotal moments.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Conch Horn’s activation demands that you discard a card, which could put you at a disadvantage when your hand is already dwindling, making it tough to maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: It requires blue mana to activate, which means it can’t seamlessly fit into every deck archetype, thus limiting its overall flexibility in varied MTG strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a substantial cost to both play and use, Conch Horn may take up valuable mana that could be spent on more impactful spells or creatures that could alter the board state more immediately.
Reasons to Include Conch Horn in Your Collection
Versatility: Conch Horn offers the flexibility of filtering your next draws, which can be pivotal for any deck that seeks to optimize its draw step and ensure it finds the right cards at the right time.
Combo Potential: By allowing you to replace unwanted cards from your hand with fresh options from the top of your library, Conch Horn can be instrumental in setting up the pieces for a game-winning combo, particularly in decks that churn through cards to find key components.
Meta-Relevance: With a dynamic metagame that can shift towards either aggressive or control-centric decks, Conch Horn’s ability to smooth out draws keeps it consistently relevant, ensuring that you have the right answers or threats no matter what the prevailing deck types are.
How to beat Conch Horn
Conch Horn, a niche artifact card in the Magic: The Gathering universe, has a unique place amongst cards providing a fresh look at your options. This card operates by giving you the ability to reset your upcoming draws, effectively reshuffling your fate in the hope of better opportunities. Yet, for those looking to outmaneuver the Conch Horn, strategies abound.
The key is to undermine its advantage by diminishing its impact. Utilizing instant-speed removal, specifically artifact destruction, counters the Horn’s benefits before they come to fruition. This leaves the opponent’s investment of both the card and mana cost in vain. Cards like Shatterstorm or Naturalize offer simple and cost-efficient solutions to deal with artifacts like Conch Horn, thwarting your opponent’s attempt to optimize their draw and maintaining the upper hand.
Beyond direct removal, playing a deck that is less sensitive to the card draw order is another practical approach. A consistent, resilient deck can withstand the kind of advantage Conch Horn aims to provide and still maintain a competitive edge. In the dance of card advantage and strategy, outpacing the tempo Conch Horn suggests can be your clearest path to victory.
Cards like Conch Horn
Conch Horn strikes a unique chord within Magic: The Gathering as a lesser-known artifact from the Fallen Empires set. It shares the card advantage theme with Jayemdae Tome, albeit with a twist. Where Jayemdae Tome allows for a steady, albeit costly, card draw, Conch Horn provides a one-time event of drawing two cards with the added step of returning one from your hand to the top of your deck.
Evolving beyond simple draw, Crystal Ball can be seen as part of the same family tree. While not offering direct card draw, Crystal Ball provides a consistent form of deck manipulation through scrying. This subtle but powerful ability can set up the desired draws much like Conch Horn’s controlled card replacement does, although in a different rhythm, favoring long-term strategy over Conch Horn’s immediate impact. Finally, comparing to the newer Ghirapur Orrery, players gain an advantage by drawing extra cards if their hand is empty. Conch Horn instead works with your current hand, offering a quick fix, which can be especially critical in tight game scenarios.
In essence, Conch Horn has its place among MTG artifacts intended for card advantage, providing a unique blend of draw and control, suited for players who value precision over abundance.
Cards similar to Conch Horn by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Conch Horn MTG card by a specific set like Fallen Empires, 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 Conch Horn 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 MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Conch Horn has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Oldschool | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Conch Horn card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | You draw two cards, then put one back as part of the same effect. You can’t do anything in between. Anything that triggers off of card drawing will wait until you finish resolving this ability before going on the stack. |
