Soldevi Golem MTG Card

Ice Age (ICE)
1995-06-03 - Number 338

Soldevi Golem - Masters Edition IV (ME4)

Masters Edition IV (ME4)
2011-01-10 - Number 228

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact Creature — Golem
Power	5
Toughness	3

Key Takeaways

Grants board advantage and potential card advantage through its robust presence and combat dynamics.
Encourages strategic land and artifact use, excelling in decks designed to synergize with its attack mechanics.
Requires careful deck construction to mitigate high mana cost and specific snow mana dependency.

Text of card

Does not untap during your untap phase. : Untap target creature opponent controls to untap Soldevi Golem at the end of your upkeep. Use this ability only during your upkeep.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While not directly impacting your hand, the Soldevi Golem grants you a powerful board presence. A strong creature that can outmatch early game threats, it often requires an opponent to use more than one card to deal with, indirectly leading to card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: The requirement to tap an untapped artifact to allow Soldevi Golem to attack might seem limiting, but it can be a boon in an artifact-heavy deck. It encourages and rewards the strategic use of utility artifacts, which can often be engineered to provide resource acceleration.

Instant Speed: Although not operating at instant speed itself, the interaction with the Soldevi Golem enables reactive gameplay. Given its unique activation requirement, you can leverage instant speed artifacts or effects in your deck to untap your artifacts during your opponent’s turn, then swing with the Golem on your turn, embodying a sort of pseudo-instant speed tactic.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Soldevi Golem requires that you do not have untapped lands in order for it to attack. This can lead to a situation where you have to plan your land usage carefully or be forced to skip crucial combat phases.

Specific Mana Cost: This artifact creature comes with a demand for allocation of two colorless and two specific snow mana. Given its requirement for snow mana, the Soldevi Golem may not effortlessly align with every deck’s mana base, potentially restricting its play to decks that can reliably generate snow mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The four total mana needed to cast the Soldevi Golem can be steep, especially since it does not come with intrinsic evasion or protective abilities. This can make it a less attractive option compared to other creatures in the same mana range that offer immediate impact or defensive capabilities.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Soldevi Golem fits into artifact-focused decks and those requiring a resilient blocker. Its untap mechanism synergizes well with decks that manipulate untap steps or use tap abilities frequently.

Combo Potential: This artifact creature can become a key component in combinations that capitalize on its innate ability to untap, potentially unlocking infinite loops or bolstering artifact-centric strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where artifacts play a significant role or where decks aim to exploit the untap mechanics, Soldevi Golem’s unique attributes can provide a strategic advantage over opponents.

How to beat

Soldevi Golem is a unique artifact creature in Magic: The Gathering with a specific operational requirement: it only functions if you control no untapped lands. This can pose a challenge, but it offers a tactical avenue to overcome the golem’s defenses. The key to beating Soldevi Golem lies in maintaining pressure on the opponent’s land base. Land disruption techniques are particularly effective, forcing the opponent to keep lands tapped to ensure the golem remains active.

Utilizing strategies that involve tapping down or freezing your opponent’s lands can be a direct way to inhibit the golem’s abilities, leaving it a vulnerable and ineffective blocker. Spells that untap your lands during the opponent’s turn also merit consideration, as they can unexpectedly disable the golem, removing an expected blocker from the combat equation. It’s important to recognize that Soldevi Golem capitalizes on a player’s ability to manage lands wisely. By disrupting that balance and forcing lands to switch between tapped and untapped states, you can effectively neutralize the golem’s imposing presence on the battlefield.

In essence, when face to face with Soldevi Golem, focus on manipulating tap states to ensure it stands as little more than a statue in the heat of combat, rendering what can be a formidable foe into an easily surmountable obstacle on your path to victory.

Cards like Soldevi Golem

Soldevi Golem is a unique artifact creature that has found its place among certain decks in MTG. Its closest relative in terms of mechanical design is the Phyrexian Colossus. Both creatures have the ability to bypass the conventional casting cost through alternative means, the Colossus with life payment instead of mana. However, Soldevi Golem requires an untapped land to attack, limiting its offensive capability as compared to the Colossus which can attack at will provided you pay the life cost.

Analogous to the Golem in the artifact sphere is the more recent Epochrasite. Although lacking the raw power of the Golem, Epochrasite offers resilience by returning to play after being dealt with. Yet, the resurgence occurs in a delayed fashion, which can be a strategic disadvantage compared to the immediate board presence offered by Soldevi Golem.

On balance, the mechanical uniqueness of the Soldevi Golem allows it to serve a specialized role in decks that can exploit its strengths. When put side by side with similar cards, the Golem’s particular set of requirements for attacking and blocking gives it an intriguing niche spot in the roster of artifact creatures in MTG.

Cards similar to Soldevi Golem by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Soldevi Golem MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age and Masters Edition IV, 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 Soldevi Golem and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Soldevi Golem Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1995-06-03 and 2011-01-10. Illustrated by Anson Maddocks.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1995-06-03	Ice Age	ICE		338	1993	Normal	Black	Anson Maddocks
2	2011-01-10	Masters Edition IV	ME4		228	1997	Normal	Black	Anson Maddocks

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Soldevi Golem has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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