Golem's Heart MTG Card
2006-01-02 - Number 60
2010-10-01 - Number 161
2002-06-24 - Number 37869
2020-09-26 - Number SOM-161
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Artifact |
Text of card
Whenever a player casts an artifact spell, you may gain 1 life.
The heart of a golem gives life to more than just the iron husk around it.
Cards like Golem's Heart
Golem’s Heart slides smoothly into the realm of artifact synergy in Magic: The Gathering. It sits within a family of cards that reward players for casting spells, specifically mirroring the effects seen in Firemind’s Research. Both cards accumulate benefits from spell casts, however, Golem’s Heart focuses on a narrower path, offering a straightforward life gain for each artifact played. It’s a subtle distinction but can resonate well in a deck crafted around artifact utilization.
When compared to Etherium Sculptor, another artifact-centric card, there’s an interesting trade-off. While Etherium Sculptor doesn’t provide life, it does lower the cost of future artifacts, allowing for a potentially faster and more overwhelming board presence. Conversely, Golem’s Heart doesn’t speed up your plays but can be a formidable ally in prolonging the game and stabilizing health totals against aggressive opponents.
Choosing between these nuances boils down to deck strategy and the pace at which you want to unfold your game plan. With Golem’s Heart, players could find a sweet spot of staying power, subtly but steadily edging out an advantage with each artifact that touches the board. In Magic: The Gathering, such incremental gains are often the key to victory.
Cards similar to Golem's Heart by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Golems’s Heart shines in decks that revolve around casting numerous artifacts. Each summoning or trigger generates a life gain, providing a steady and incremental advantage over the course of a match. This makes it a subtle, yet potent, tool for outlasting opponents.
Resource Acceleration: Though it doesn’t accelerate mana in the traditional sense, the life gain from Golem’s Heart ensures that you can maintain a healthy life total, effectively giving you more time to deploy your resources while the artifact synergies work to provide an indirect acceleration.
Instant Speed: While Golem’s Heart itself isn’t an instant, it capitalizes on artifacts played at instant speed. This ability to interact with the stack ensures that the card provides value in a responsive and flexible manner, fitting seamlessly into strategies planning to deploy artifacts in opponents’ turns.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Golem’s Heart lacks any associated disadvantage in discarding, presenting an opportunity cost—using this slot for Golem’s Heart may preclude the use of cards with more immediate or profound impacts on the game state.
Specific Mana Cost: Golem’s Heart requires an investment of generic mana, which, while flexible, means that it cannot be specifically used as a tool to optimize mana curves in decks heavily biased towards one color.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment for Golem’s Heart, although not exorbitant, could be considered high given the incremental gain it offers. Players may find the card’s value diminishing in comparison to other artifacts or spells that could more significantly advance their board presence or strategic objectives.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Golem’s Heart offers a unique capability to synergize with various deck builds, particularly those revolving around artifacts or spellcasting. As an artifact itself, it can slide into decks focusing on artifact manipulation or that benefit from each spell cast, regardless of the spell’s nature or color.
Combo Potential: This card holds potential for combos in decks that rapidly cast spells. Each instance of casting triggers Golem’s Heart’s ability, offering a steady stream of life points which can be crucial for outlasting opponents in prolonged games or for fueling life-dependent mechanics.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where long games and incremental advantages decide the outcome, Golem’s Heart can be significant. Its continuous life gain can provide the necessary edge against strategies that rely on wearing down the opponent slowly. Moreover, if artifact-centric strategies are prevalent, the inclusion of Golem’s Heart becomes even more justified.
How to beat Golem’s Heart
Golem’s Heart presents a unique challenge when you’re facing it across the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. As an artifact that grants its controller life whenever a player casts an artifact spell, it can become a continuous source of annoyance, bolstering your opponent’s life total turn after turn. The key to dismantling the advantage Golem’s Heart provides lies in prioritizing the removal of artifacts or disruption of casting.
One efficient strategy is to use artifact removal spells that can dispatch Golem’s Heart directly. Cards such as Naturalize, Disenchant, or Abrade can effectively eliminate it from the game, cutting off the lifeline it offers. Another approach is to implement countermeasures that restrict artifact casting, thereby negating the heart’s ability to gain life altogether. Strategies include employing counter spells targeting artifacts or using cards that increase the casting cost of artifacts, making them too costly for your opponent to deploy.
Ultimately, prompt recognition of the threat Golem’s Heart poses and deploying targeted removal or interference with your opponent’s artifact strategy can swing the game back in your favor. Keep these tactics in mind, and Golem’s Heart will no longer be the deciding factor in your MTG matches.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Golem's Heart MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and DCI Promos, 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 Golem's Heart and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
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Printings
The Golem's Heart Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2006-01-02 and 2010-10-01. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 37869 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Alan Pollack | ||
| 2 | 2006-01-02 | DCI Promos | PDCI | 60 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Alan Pollack | |
| 3 | 2010-10-01 | Scars of Mirrodin | SOM | 161 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Matt Cavotta | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | SOM-161 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Matt Cavotta |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Golem's Heart has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Golem's Heart card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2011-01-01 | Unlike Golem Foundry and the Smith cycle, Golem’s Heart’s ability triggers whenever any player casts an artifact spell, not just when you do. |
| 2011-01-01 | Whenever a player casts an artifact spell, Golem’s Heart’s ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of it. It will resolve before the artifact spell does. |