Farrel's Mantle MTG Card

Enables card draw and mana generation, thinning your deck for more efficient play. Flexibility to cast at instant speed offers significant tactical advantages. Requires careful management of resources due to its specific discard condition.

Fallen Empires (FEM)
1994-11-01 - Number 2

Farrel's Mantle - Masters Edition II (ME2)

Masters Edition II (ME2)
2008-09-22 - Number 13

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant

Text of card

If target creature attacks and is not blocked, it may deal X+2 damage to any other target creature, where X is the power of the creature Farrel's Mantle enchants. If it does so, it deals no damage to opponent this turn.

Cards like Farrel's Mantle

Farrel’s Mantle in Magic: The Gathering shares traits with an array of protective aura spells designed to boost creatures. A close comparison is made with cards like Holy Strength, which similarly augments a creature’s power and toughness. While Holy Strength is simpler and cheaper to cast, Farrel’s Mantle adds strategic depth with its untapping ability, allowing for repeated utility especially in combination with tap abilities or during combat.

Another comparable spell is Spectra Ward. Although Spectra Ward is more mana-intensive, it provides a substantial payoff by granting protection from all colors, making it a potent shield against a wider range of threats. Farrel’s Mantle, on the other hand, focuses on fortifying white creatures and offering agility through untapping, trading off universal protection for tactical versatility.

Understanding the unique benefits and trade-offs of Farrel’s Mantle compared to its counterparts is crucial for players sculpting a deck. It’s about finding the right balance between cost, protection, and supplementary effects that sync well with your gameplay strategy and creature line-up.

Cards similar to Farrel's Mantle by color, type and mana cost

The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration - MTG Card versions

Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant // Rune-Tail's Essence - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Farrel’s Mantle enables you to tap into consistent card draw, effectively thinning your deck to access other key cards more quickly.

Resource Acceleration: When attached to a creature, this enchantment has the potential to contribute to your mana pool, granting a boost to your resource generation, especially when the enchanted creature successfully damages your opponent.

Instant Speed: Its ability to be cast at instant speed gives you the flexibility to respond to game states efficiently, ensuring that you can adapt to your opponent’s actions and maintain the upper hand in card utility.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Farrel’s Mantle necessitates tossing a card from your hand into the graveyard, which could leave you at a resource disadvantage. Constantly having to discard to unlock its potential can be taxing, particularly in decks that don’t utilize the graveyard as a resource or lack card draw mechanisms to replenish the hand.

Specific Mana Cost: With a white mana in its casting cost, Farrel’s Mantle is restricted in terms of deck-building versatility. Players running multicolor decks could find it challenging to consistently meet the white mana requirement, particularly in fast-paced games where mana efficiency is critical.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The enchantment’s casting cost is a significant consideration within the current meta. The requirement of three mana, including two specific white mana, is cumbersome compared to other options in the same mana range. For players seeking to optimize their mana curve, there may be more mana-efficient enchantments or creatures that can offer greater benefits without the recurrent need to discard cards.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Farrel’s Mantle offers great flexibility in deck building. It can be attached to any creature turning it into a more formidable threat, which makes it useful in a variety of MTG deck themes from aggro to control.

Combo Potential: This card provides synergy in strategies revolving around triggered abilities when creatures deal combat damage. It can facilitate combos with cards that have tap or untap abilities, generating powerful interactions on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: As the game’s landscape evolves, cards that adapt to numerous situations maintain their relevance. In metas where equipment or creature-based strategies are prevalent, Farrel’s Mantle can become an integral piece by enhancing creature performance and resilience.

How to beat Farrel’s Mantle

Every MTG player knows the challenge of facing enchantments that tip the balance of the game, and Farrel’s Mantle is no exception. This particular card can turn its host creature into a persistent threat due to its ability to prevent all damage that would be dealt to the creature. As a result, the enchanted creature can become a formidable blocker or an untouchable attacker, complicating strategies for direct creature removal.

To successfully navigate against Farrel’s Mantle, it’s wise to prioritize enchantment removal spells in your deck. Cards like Disenchant or Return to Nature offer a cost-effective method to destroy the Mantle, neutralizing the advantage it provides. Another strategy is to bypass the creature entirely, focusing on cards that cause loss of life instead of dealing damage, or ones that force opponents to sacrifice creatures, thus circumventing the damage prevention clause.

Adaptability is crucial; games against decks featuring Farrel’s Mantle can quickly turn into a battle of attrition. Including versatile answers in your deck composition that can handle a variety of threats, including such potent enchantments, ensures that you retain control and dismantle your opponent’s strategy, eventually leading you to victory.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Farrel's Mantle MTG card by a specific set like Fallen Empires and Masters Edition II, 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 Farrel's Mantle and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Farrel's Mantle Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1994-11-01 and 2008-09-22. Illustrated by Anthony S. Waters.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1994-11-01	Fallen Empires	FEM		2	1993	Normal	Black	Anthony S. Waters
2	2008-09-22	Masters Edition II	ME2		13	1997	Normal	Black	Anthony S. Waters

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Farrel's Mantle 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 Farrel's Mantle 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	If you put this on your opponent’s creature, they decide whether or not to make their creature deal no damage to you.
2008-10-01	If the enchanted creature’s controller chooses to have it deal no combat damage, that combat damage is not prevented. It’s simply not dealt. A creature whose damage can’t be prevented (such as Excruciator) would deal no combat damage this way.
2008-10-01	If the same creature is enchanted with more than one Farrel’s Mantle, they’ll each trigger if that creature attacks and isn’t blocked. The creature’s controller may have it deal damage multiple times. As long as the enchanted creature’s controller chooses to use Farrel’s Mantle’s ability at least once to deal damage, the enchanted creature will deal no combat damage.
2008-10-01	This ability resolves during the declare blockers step. If the damage dealt this way is enough to destroy an attacking or blocking creature, that other creature won’t be around to deal its combat damage.
2011-01-25	The enchanted creature’s controller cannot choose to have the enchanted creature deal damage to itself. If there are no other creatures on the battlefield, then a legal target cannot be chosen so the ability does nothing.
2013-04-15	An ability that triggers when something “attacks and isn’t blocked” triggers in the declare blockers step after blockers are declared if (1) that creature is attacking and (2) no creatures are declared to block it. It will trigger even if that creature was put onto the battlefield attacking rather than having been declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step.