Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Human Wizard
Abilities Flash
Power 3
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Teferi grants creature spells flash, allowing for strategic surprise plays and control over the board.
  2. A mana cost of five, with three in blue, can be demanding but is offset by high-strategic value.
  3. Teferi’s static ability is a game-changer, severely restricting when opponents can cast spells.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash (You may play this spell any time you could play an instant.) Creature cards you own that aren't in play have flash. Each opponent can play spells only any time he or she could play a sorcery.

To save this plane, he must forsake all others.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir lets you play your creature cards as though they had flash, allowing you to deploy threats ‘on-demand’, preserving your hand’s ambiguity, and gaining card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While Teferi itself does not directly accelerate resources, playing creatures at instant speed can effectively untap your lands on each turn, letting you maximize mana usage and keeping up with opponents.

Instant Speed: Teferi transforms your creature spells, giving them instant speed. This disrupts opponents’ strategies by allowing you to wait until the last possible moment before making a move, ensuring you’re always one step ahead.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir does not have a direct discard requirement, decks utilizing him may need to account for discarding other cards to make room for his critical control abilities. Managing your hand becomes essential, which can unexpectedly pressure your resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Teferi’s casting cost requires three blue mana, making him a particularly heavy commitment in this color. Players must carefully construct their mana bases to accommodate this demand, potentially reducing the deck’s flexibility to include spells of other colors or demanding a higher density of blue mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir comes into play later than many other control options. In high-paced games, the mana investment can seem steep when compared to other cards that impact the board earlier or offer similar disruptive abilities at a lower cost.


Reasons to Include Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in Your Collection

Versatility: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir’s ability to make creature spells you control uncounterable ensures a smoother gameplay across various deck types, easing the concerns of spells being negated by opponents.

Combo Potential: This card shines by facilitating instant-speed interactions and combos, allowing you to cast creatures as though they had flash, thus surprising opponents and disrupting their plans at critical moments.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where timing can be pivotal, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir’s unique ability to restrict opponents to casting spells only at sorcery speed gives you a significant advantage by limiting their responsive plays, making it a relevant choice in many competitive environments.


How to beat

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is a formidable blue creature card that can turn the tide of a Magic: The Gathering match with its ability to allow you to cast spells as though they had flash and to disrupt opponents’ timing by restricting spell casting to their own turns. Overcoming this card requires a strategic approach that exploits its weaknesses.

One effective method is to utilize instant speed removal spells before Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir hits the board. This preemptive tactic prevents your opponent from gaining the upper hand. In addition, playing around Teferi’s limitation is key. As such, cast your most critical spells on your turn to avoid the constraints imposed by Teferi’s static ability. Utilizing abilities that do not rely on casting spells can also circumvent Teferi’s control.

Moreover, countering Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir as it is cast can be the most direct way to maintain your ability to play on your opponent’s turn. Remember, keeping mana open for counterspells or holding onto instant speed interaction will give you a fighting chance against the potent mage. In a pinch, employing board wipes might reset the playing field. Teferi represents both a challenge and a lesson in pacing and timing within the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir’s dynamic playstyle can add a powerful edge to your MTG experience. Whether you’re fortifying your control deck or looking to disrupt opponents with cunning tactics, Teferi emerges as a notable asset. Enhance your collection’s versatility and counterplay potential by including Teferi for unmatched instant-speed strategies. Keep your gameplay fresh by considering how this card interacts with similar MTG staples, ultimately refining your deck’s architecture. Looking to delve deeper into MTG strategy and optimize your deck with Teferi’s abilities? Continue your journey to mastery with us and unlock the full potential of your MTG arsenal.


Cards like Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir plays a unique role within the realm of Magic: The Gathering, providing a powerful control element by allowing you to cast creature spells as though they had flash. This mirrors the functionality of cards like Leyline of Anticipation, which grants a similar ability for all spells, not just creatures. Teferi’s strength, however, lies in its additional clause that prevents opponents from casting spells during your turn, creating a strategic advantage reminiscent of other control cards such as Vedalken Orrery, yet with Teferi’s added layer of disruption.

When weighing this against the capabilities of Alchemist’s Refuge, a land card granting flash at the cost of mana, Teferi offers a body on the board and a more sustainable passive effect. Another card to consider is Quickling, granting flash to itself and requiring the return of a creature you control to your hand, which offers a more situational form of flash utility in comparison to Teferi’s broad enabling power.

In assessing the nuances of these similar MTG cards, we discern that Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir stands out for its combined abilities to alter the speed of creature spell casting while imposing significant restrictions on your opponents’ timing, marking its esteemed place in decks seeking control and tempo.

Leyline of Anticipation - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Orrery - MTG Card versions
Alchemist's Refuge - MTG Card versions
Quickling - MTG Card versions
Leyline of Anticipation - Magic 2011 (M11)
Vedalken Orrery - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Alchemist's Refuge - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Quickling - Magic 2015 (M15)

Cards similar to Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir by color, type and mana cost

Vesuvan Doppelganger - MTG Card versions
Water Elemental - MTG Card versions
Air Elemental - MTG Card versions
Sandbar Crocodile - MTG Card versions
Pirate Ship - MTG Card versions
Segovian Leviathan - MTG Card versions
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - MTG Card versions
Mawcor - MTG Card versions
Timin, Youthful Geist - MTG Card versions
Geology Enthusiast - MTG Card versions
Coastal Hornclaw - MTG Card versions
Meloku the Clouded Mirror - MTG Card versions
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - MTG Card versions
Cloudhoof Kirin - MTG Card versions
Drelnoch - MTG Card versions
Adarkar Windform - MTG Card versions
Infiltrator il-Kor - MTG Card versions
Mulldrifter - MTG Card versions
Chasm Drake - MTG Card versions
Belltower Sphinx - MTG Card versions
Vesuvan Doppelganger - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Water Elemental - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Air Elemental - Core Set 2020 (M20)
Sandbar Crocodile - Media Inserts (PMEI)
Pirate Ship - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Segovian Leviathan - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Mawcor - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Timin, Youthful Geist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Geology Enthusiast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Coastal Hornclaw - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Meloku the Clouded Mirror - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Cloudhoof Kirin - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Drelnoch - Coldsnap (CSP)
Adarkar Windform - Coldsnap (CSP)
Infiltrator il-Kor - Future Sight (FUT)
Mulldrifter - The List (PLST)
Chasm Drake - Magic 2012 (M12)
Belltower Sphinx - Magic 2012 (M12)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral and From the Vault: Legends, 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 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2006-10-06 and 2021-03-19. Illustrated by 4 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12006-10-06Time SpiralTSP 832003normalblackD. Alexander Gregory & Jeremy Jarvis
22011-08-26From the Vault: LegendsV11 132003normalblackVolkan Baǵa
32017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 752015normalblackVolkan Baǵa
42021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 912015normalblackD. Alexander Gregory & Jeremy Jarvis

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-03-19 If a spell on the stack has split second while you control Teferi, you can’t suspend creature cards since split second stops you from casting them, even though suspending them is a special action.
2021-03-19 If a spell or ability lets an opponent cast a spell as part of its effect (such as suspend and rebound do), that opponent can’t cast that spell since the resolving ability is still on the stack. This is true even if the spell is an instant.
2021-03-19 If an effect allows an opponent to cast spells any time they could cast an instant (for example, if your opponent also controls Teferi), the restriction of Teferi’s last ability takes precedence over that permission.
2021-03-19 Teferi’s last ability means that in order for an opponent to cast a spell, it must be that opponent’s turn, during a main phase, and the stack must be empty. This is true even if a rule or effect allows a sorcery to be cast at another time.
2021-03-19 While you control Teferi, you may exile creature cards in your hand with suspend any time you could cast an instant.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks