Orazca Relic MTG Card

Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
2018-01-19 - Number 181

Orazca Relic - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)

Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
2021-07-23 - Number 213

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Artifact
Abilities	Ascend

Key Takeaways

Provides card advantage with draw potential upon sacrificing with city’s blessing.
Enables instant speed plays enhancing turn optimization and strategic responses.
Despite advantages, high mana cost and set-specific mechanics may limit versatility.

Text of card

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.) : Add to your mana pool. , Sacrifice Orazca Relic: You gain 3 life and draw a card. Activate this ability only if you have the city's blessing.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Orazca Relic offers a sustained source of card advantage through its ability to draw. This keeps your hand replenished, ensuring that you maintain the upper hand over your opponent with a steady flow of options.

Resource Acceleration: Activating Orazca Relic can boost your mana resources significantly. Upon sacrificing it while having the city’s blessing, you gain additional mana, propelling you ahead in the race to deploy more threats or answers on the board.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of using Orazca Relic at instant speed offers strategic depth. You can optimize your turns for efficiency, cracking the Relic for card draw and mana at the most opportune moment—often at the end of an opponent’s turn or in response to an action that might threaten your game plan.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Orazca Relic doesn’t force you to discard, but it does ask for a significant sacrifice. To activate its final ability, you must exile it and also have the city’s blessing, which means you need ten or more permanents. Gathering this amount is not always possible, leaving the relic’s full potential untapped.

Specific Mana Cost: While the artifact itself has a generic mana cost, being a part of the Ascend mechanic ties it tightly with a specific set’s theme. This association may pigeonhole it into specific deck types or themes, which can be limiting compared to more versatile artifacts that fit into a variety of decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For three mana, the payoff for running Orazca Relic is not immediate, and it competes with other three-cost artifacts and spells that could offer more immediate board presence or card advantage. Players often prefer options that have a more immediate impact on the game state over a delayed potential gain.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Orazca Relic offers a level of adaptability that can be a boon to any deck that may struggle with maintaining card advantage or searching for an elusive key piece. Its ability to both ramp and provide life gain makes it a valuable addition across various archetypes.

Combo Potential: This relic shines in its ability to synergize with strategies that capitalize on artifacts. By sacrificing it at a critical moment, not only do you draw a card, but you also open up avenues for leveraging its departure to trigger a range of powerful effects and combos.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where the board state can be unpredictable and diverse, Orazca Relic stands out as a strategic asset. Its utility ensures it remains a relevant choice amidst changing deck trends and the shifting tides of the competition.

How to Beat

Orazca Relic is a subtle yet potentially powerful artifact in the game of Magic: The Gathering. This card can be used as a source of mana acceleration and, when ascended, a tool for both life gain and card draw. To effectively counter Orazca Relic, players should anticipate and disrupt the opponent’s ascent to the City’s Blessing.

One strategy involves utilizing artifact removal spells such as Naturalize or Abrade, which can destroy Orazca Relic before the opponent can take advantage of its ascension abilities. Applying pressure with aggressive creatures can also force an early activation, preventing the full benefit of the card.

Keep track of the number of permanents your opponent controls and try to limit them below ten to avoid the City’s Blessing. In doing so, you will minimize the impact of Orazca Relic and maintain the upper hand in resource management, one of the core components of strategic gameplay in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards like Orazca Relic

Orazca Relic stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a versatile artifact that can often be seen in ramp decks or decks that seek to benefit from its ascend mechanic. When compared to Pristine Talisman, another common artifact, Orazca Relic offers both mana generation and the potential for card draw and life gain, providing a significant late-game advantage for players who achieve the city’s blessing. On the flip side, Pristine Talisman grants incremental life gain with each tap but lacks the card draw Orazca Relic can provide.

Another artifact worthy of comparison is Mind Stone, which has a lower casting cost and can also be sacrificed to draw a card. Though Mind Stone allows for faster play and immediate card draw without the need for the city’s blessing, Orazca Relic’s ascend mechanic could tip the scales in long-term matches, presenting a bigger payoff for players.

Considering these factors, Orazca Relic can be a potent option for players looking for artifacts that not only ramp up their mana resources but also have the potential to deliver extra value in the later stages of the game. Its unique combination of mana generation, life gain, and card draw—should the ascend condition be met—places it as a card of interest in certain Magic: The Gathering strategies.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Orazca Relic MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan and Forgotten Realms 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 Orazca Relic and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Orazca Relic Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2021-07-23. Illustrated by Kieran Yanner.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2018-01-19	Rivals of Ixalan	RIX		181	2015	Normal	Black	Kieran Yanner
2	2021-07-23	Forgotten Realms Commander	AFC		213	2015	Normal	Black	Kieran Yanner

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Orazca Relic has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Orazca Relic card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2018-01-19	A permanent is any object on the battlefield, including tokens and lands. Spells and emblems aren't permanents.
2018-01-19	Ascend on a permanent isn't a triggered ability and doesn't use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can't respond to getting the city's blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can't respond before you get the city's blessing.
2018-01-19	If you cast a spell with ascend, you don't get the city's blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city's blessing.
2018-01-19	If you control ten permanents but don't control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don't get the city's blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won't have the city's blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control.
2018-01-19	If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterwards (most likely due to the “Legend Rule” or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city's blessing before it leaves the battlefield.
2018-01-19	Once you have the city's blessing, you have it for the rest of the game, even if you lose control of some or all of your permanents. The city's blessing isn't a permanent itself and can't be removed by any effect.