Energy Tap MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Energy Tap offers significant mana at low cost, enabling early casting of powerful spells.
  2. Flexibility at instant speed allows players to adapt strategy reactively, enhancing gameplay.
  3. Best employs high-cost creatures for maximizing mana generation and combo plays.

Text of card

Target untapped creature you control becomes tapped. Add an amount of colorless mana equal to target creature's casting cost to your mana pool.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Unlike other mana generation spells, Energy Tap stands out for not only adding a significant boost to your resources but also doing so at a very minimal cost. This variance in cost versus effect can be pivotal in pushing you ahead of your opponents in terms of available mana and potential plays, creating underlying card advantage as you efficiently utilize your cards and mana pool.

Resource Acceleration: Tapping an untapped creature you control can give you an amount of blue mana equal to that creature’s converted mana cost. This surge of mana can catapult your game, allowing you to cast high-impact spells much earlier than usual. It’s a game-changer in decks that can protect and maximize the use of key creatures, transforming them into powerful mana sources.

Instant Speed: The beauty of Energy Tap comes with its ability to function at instant speed. This flexibility enables strategic depth, allowing players to wait until the last possible moment to decide the best use of both their creature and the mana it generates. By retaining reactiveness, you can adapt to the unfolding game, ready to tap into the energy when it suits your strategy most.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Energy Tap doesn’t have a discard requirement itself, it’s often used in strategies that rely on managing resources carefully. If your hand is already strained, you might not be able to afford the loss of a creature you’d rather keep on the board.

Specific Mana Cost: Energy Tap requires a single blue mana to cast, which means it naturally fits into blue-centric or blue-inclusive decks. If your deck doesn’t run blue mana, incorporating Energy Tap becomes challenging, limiting its versatility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Given the investment of one blue mana and the sacrifice of a creature’s ability to attack that turn, the output of Energy Tap might not always align with the need for a quick mana boost. There are other options for ramping up mana that might prove more efficient in a tightly constructed deck that aims for speed and resilience.


Reasons to Include Energy Tap in Your Collection

Versatility: Energy Tap adds a unique dynamic to any blue-oriented deck. It allows for a significant mana boost at a minimal cost, making it a flexible spell that can foster powerful plays, especially in decks revolving around big creatures.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with creatures that have high converted mana costs or untap abilities. The surge of blue mana generated can be the cornerstone for executing multi-spell combos or activating costly abilities within the same turn.

Meta-Relevance: With the evolving landscape of competitive play, Energy Tap maintains relevance. It enables blue decks to keep up the pace against fast aggro or to quickly pivot into formidable board states against slower control decks. The ability to turbocharge your mana resources can often be the tipping point in tight matches.


How to beat

Energy Tap stands out as an ingenious spell within the MTG universe, mainly due to its ability to turn a creature’s power into a much-needed mana surge. The advantage gained by converting a tapped creature’s full strength into blue mana can significantly accelerate a player’s strategy. Still, there are ways to outmaneuver the potential threat posed by this card, ensuring that it doesn’t tip the scales too heavily in your opponent’s favor.

To effectively counter Energy Tap, it’s essential to incorporate instant-speed removal spells in your deck. By waiting for your opponent to cast Energy Tap on their creature, you can respond with a removal spell and disrupt their plans, leaving them with a spent card and a tapped creature that’s no longer on the battlefield. This can be a severe setback, especially if they were counting on that mana to play a crucial spell.

Another strategy is to deploy counter spells that target Energy Tap directly, preventing it from ever resolving. This proactive approach can stifle an opponent’s momentum and protect your battlefield position. In essence, being prepared with timely removal or disruption spells can elegantly foil the powerful mana-generating capabilities of Energy Tap, keeping the equilibrium in your favor.


BurnMana Recommendations

Energy Tap is a magic card with a unique role in the MTG cosmos, capable of turning the tide of the game by transforming the latent power of your creatures into an immediate mana advantage. Its role in blue-heavy decks is undeniable, acting as a catalyst for rapid, high-impact plays that can outpace an opponent’s strategy. While vulnerabilities exist, clever inclusion and timing can mitigate them, allowing Energy Tap to shine as a sleeper hit in your collection. For those absorbed by the intricacies of mana acceleration and combo plays, the exploration of this card’s potential is a journey worth undertaking. Dive deeper with us into the analysis and strategic deployment of Energy Tap in your winning deck compositions.


Cards like Energy Tap

Energy Tap stands as a distinctive spell within the realm of mana-generating cards in Magic: The Gathering. This card primarily echoes the mechanics of “High Tide” which inflates the mana production of islands for a turn. Yet, Energy Tap is unique in that it targets a single creature, capitalizing on its power to produce an equal amount of blue mana and at a cost of merely one blue mana itself.

Joining Energy Tap in this niche is “Bounty of the Hunt” which, instead of providing mana, gives out +3/+3 counters divided as you choose among any number of target creatures. Although not a direct mana resource, the principle of utilizing creatures’ attributes to gain an advantage parallels that of Energy Tap. Delving deeper, there’s “Basalt Monolith” which doesn’t depend on creatures but offers an inexhaustible source of mana at the cost of becoming tapped itself. Unlike Energy Tap, Basalt Monolith brings a colorless mana approach and lacks the creature-based synergy.

Through examining the strengths and strategic uses of each, it’s clear Energy Tap offers a vital contribution to decks that can maximize the potential of high-power creatures, emphasizing its potent singular burst of mana in MTG. Its cost-effective nature can be pivotal in enabling game-winning combos or plays.

High Tide - MTG Card versions
Bounty of the Hunt - MTG Card versions
Basalt Monolith - MTG Card versions
High Tide - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Bounty of the Hunt - Alliances (ALL)
Basalt Monolith - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Cards similar to Energy Tap by color, type and mana cost

Drafna's Restoration - MTG Card versions
Reconstruction - MTG Card versions
Psychic Purge - MTG Card versions
Mind Bomb - MTG Card versions
Recall - MTG Card versions
Portent - MTG Card versions
Taunt - MTG Card versions
Sorcerous Sight - MTG Card versions
Prosperity - MTG Card versions
Eye Spy - MTG Card versions
Sleight of Hand - MTG Card versions
Broken Dam - MTG Card versions
Index - MTG Card versions
Extract - MTG Card versions
Merfolk Secretkeeper // Venture Deeper - MTG Card versions
Preordain - MTG Card versions
Serum Visions - MTG Card versions
Ponder - MTG Card versions
Breakthrough - MTG Card versions
Careful Study - MTG Card versions
Drafna's Restoration - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Reconstruction - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Psychic Purge - Masters Edition (ME1)
Mind Bomb - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Recall - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Portent - The List (PLST)
Taunt - Portal (POR)
Sorcerous Sight - Portal (POR)
Prosperity - Commander 2013 (C13)
Eye Spy - Starter 1999 (S99)
Sleight of Hand - Wilds of Eldraine (WOE)
Broken Dam - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Index - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Extract - Odyssey (ODY)
Merfolk Secretkeeper // Venture Deeper - Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
Preordain - Tales of Middle-earth Commander (LTC)
Serum Visions - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
Ponder - Doctor Who (WHO)
Breakthrough - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Careful Study - World Championship Decks 2002 (WC02)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Energy Tap MTG card by a specific set like Legends and Fourth Edition, 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 Energy Tap and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Energy Tap Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 1994-06-01 and 2016-11-16. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11994-06-01LegendsLEG 541993normalblackDaniel Gelon
21995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 691993normalwhiteDaniel Gelon
31995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 691993normalblackDaniel Gelon
41995-08-01RenaissanceREN 281993normalblackDaniel Gelon
52016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 658372015normalblackMike Bierek

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Energy Tap has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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