Heart of Kiran MTG Card
2017-01-20 - Number 153
2017-01-20 - Number 153s
2020-11-12 - Number 242
Text of card
Flying, vigilance Crew 3 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 3 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.) You may remove a loyalty counter from a planeswalker you control rather than pay Heart of Kiran's crew cost.
Cards like Heart of Kiran
Heart of Kiran stands out in the fleet of MTG vehicles with its unique blend of power, versatility, and loyalty synergy. Much like Aethersphere Harvester, another popular flying vehicle, Heart of Kiran offers a profound impact in aerial combat. Yet it strays from the life-gain path of the Harvester and steers towards using a player’s loyalty counters to control the battlefield. This adds an intriguing dynamic, especially in planeswalker-heavy decks.
Aligning closely with Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, which boasts a similar crew cost and power level, Heart of Kiran excels with a lower mana cost and the advantage of not necessitating a full crew. With the potential for immediate boarding via planeswalker loyalty, Heart of Kiran quickly activates, plowing through defenses or intercepting attacks. Skysovereign, while it dishes out damage upon entering the battlefield and whenever it attacks, has a higher casting cost and lacks the planeswalker dynamic that Heart of Kiran capitalizes on.
When evaluating the strategic use of vehicles in your MTG deck, Heart of Kiran presents a compelling case. Between its quick deployment, defensive capabilities, and compatibility with planeswalker strategies, it undoubtedly earns its status as a highly regarded option among vehicular artifacts.
Cards similar to Heart of Kiran by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Heart of Kiran. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Abzan Planeswalkers | Gladiator | Gladiator Proving Grounds: Week 08 2024 | |
 | Boros Rally | Pioneer | Naya Dwarves | UOL MKM Pioneer League |
| Boros Dwarves | Pioneer | Boros Dwarves | Pioneer Preliminary 2023-12-19 (1) |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Though Heart of Kiran doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, it offers a strategic advantage by using loyalty counters from planeswalkers as a resource. This synergy helps maintain a solid board presence without depleting your hand, indirectly contributing to the maintenance of card advantage.
Resource Acceleration: As a 2-mana artifact vehicle with a high power and toughness, Heart of Kiran provides significant cost-efficiency. Its low casting cost coupled with the ability to be crewed by planeswalker loyalty counters instead of tapping creatures accelerates your ability to deploy a formidable threat early in the game.
Instant Speed: While Heart of Kiran itself is not an instant, its vigilance allows it to be a persistent threat and remain ready to be used defensively or offensively. The flexibility of being able to crew it at instant speed during your opponent’s turn stands out, allowing for strategic depth and surprise blocks, which can be pivotal during tight matches.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Flying high in the arsenal of aggressive vehicles, Heart of Kiran’s robust defense often comes with the cost of loyalty. Pilots must commit their planeswalker’s loyalty counters or nominate a creature to the skies, which can leave your board susceptible or depreciate your strategic investments.
Specific Mana Cost: A symbol of the Inventor’s Fair triumph, this aerial artifact demands precise energy—a duo of colorless mana. Flexible in its essence, Heart of Kiran still poses a deck-building challenge, nudging you towards resourceful lands or mana-fixing spells to ensure a timely takeoff.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: In the fast-paced duels where early dominance is coveted, Heart of Kiran competes with a suite of two-cost creatures and spells. Weighing at two mana may seem lean, yet there are alternatives that commence assaults or erect defenses without the requisite of crewing or costly mobilization. In realms where tempo dictates triumph, this is a pivotal consideration.
Reasons to Include Heart of Kiran in Your Collection
Versatility: Heart of Kiran showcases excellent flexibility, fitting seamlessly into various deck archetypes. Its dual loyalty counter and crew mechanics allow it to be easily incorporated into both creature-centric and planeswalker-focused decks.
Combo Potential: This vehicle card has a natural synergy with planeswalkers, allowing it to become a formidable threat as soon as a planeswalker is played. Additionally, being a legendary artifact, it has potential interactions within strategies that can exploit these types for powerful effects.
Meta-Relevance: Given its solid stats and relatively low crew cost, Heart of Kiran remains relevant in several MTG formats. It’s particularly effective in matches where board presence and aerial dominance are key to outmaneuvering opponents, thus making it a substantial addition to competitive collections.
How to beat
The Heart of Kiran is a formidable artifact vehicle card in Magic: The Gathering. Piloted with ease due to its low crew cost, it presents challenges on both offense and defense thanks to its flying and vigilance abilities. Despite its resilience, defeating this card is not impossible. Targeted removal spells that specifically address artifacts, such as Abrade or Naturalize, can be used to swiftly dispatch Heart of Kiran before it becomes a persistent threat on the board.
Another effective strategy involves countering it early. Cards like Negate or Essence Scatter can preemptively deal with Heart of Kiran, preventing it from entering into play altogether. Board wipes also play a crucial role, as they can remove the vehicle regardless of its status. Lastly, utilizing instant-speed interaction during the opponent’s turn can negate the benefits of Heart of Kiran’s vigilance, allowing you to eliminate the vehicle without running into the problem of dealing with an unpredictable blocker.
Playing around Heart of Kiran requires foresight and quick action. By keeping pressure on your opponent and maintaining answers to the vehicle, you can minimize its impact on the game, ensuring that this powerful card doesn’t dictate the pace of play.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Heart of Kiran MTG card by a specific set like Aether Revolt and Aether Revolt 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 Heart of Kiran 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 Heart of Kiran Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2017-01-20 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by Jaime Jones.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-01-20 | Aether Revolt | AER | 153 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jaime Jones | |
| 2 | 2017-01-20 | Aether Revolt Promos | PAER | 153s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jaime Jones | |
| 3 | 2020-11-12 | Kaladesh Remastered | KLR | 242 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jaime Jones |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Heart of Kiran has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Heart of Kiran card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-02-09 | Paying Heart of Kiran’s alternative crew cost isn’t a loyalty ability. It can be done even if you’ve already activated a loyalty ability of the planeswalker this turn, and it can be done any time you could activate Heart of Kiran’s crew ability. |
| 2017-09-29 | Any untapped creature you control can be tapped to pay a crew cost, even one that just came under your control. |
| 2017-09-29 | Creatures that crew a Vehicle aren’t attached to it or related in any other way. Effects that affect the Vehicle, such as by destroying it or giving it a +1/+1 counter, don’t affect the creatures that crewed it. |
| 2017-09-29 | Each Vehicle is printed with a power and toughness, but it’s not a creature. If it becomes a creature (most likely through its crew ability), it will have that power and toughness. |
| 2017-09-29 | For a Vehicle to be able to attack, it must be a creature as the declare attackers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to attack with it is during the beginning of combat step. For a Vehicle to be able to block, it must be a creature as the declare blockers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to block with it is during the declare attackers step. In either case, players may take actions after the crew ability resolves but before the Vehicle has been declared as an attacking or blocking creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | If a permanent becomes a copy of a Vehicle, the copy won’t be a creature, even if the Vehicle it’s copying has become an artifact creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | If an effect causes a Vehicle to become an artifact creature with a specified power and toughness, that effect overwrites the Vehicle’s printed power and toughness. |
| 2017-09-29 | Once a Vehicle becomes a creature, it behaves exactly like any other artifact creature. It can’t attack unless you’ve controlled it continuously since your turn began, it can block if it’s untapped, it can be tapped to pay a Vehicle’s crew cost, and so on. |
| 2017-09-29 | Once a player announces that they are activating a crew ability, no player may take other actions until the ability has been paid for. Notably, players can’t try to stop the ability by changing a creature’s power or by removing or tapping a creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | Vehicle is an artifact type, not a creature type. A Vehicle that’s crewed won’t normally have any creature type. |
| 2017-09-29 | When a Vehicle becomes a creature, that doesn’t count as having a creature enter the battlefield. The permanent was already on the battlefield; it only changed its types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won’t trigger. |
| 2017-09-29 | You may activate a crew ability of a Vehicle even if it’s already an artifact creature. Doing so has no effect on the Vehicle. It doesn’t change its power and toughness. |
| 2017-09-29 | You may tap more creatures than necessary to activate a crew ability. |
Guide to Vigilance card ability
In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.