Trepanation Blade MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip

Key Takeaways

  1. Inflicts card disruption by milling opponents, which may lead to strategic advantages.
  2. Offers resource acceleration by influencing the probability of drawing valuable cards.
  3. Flexibility in equipping at instant speed provides dynamic battlefield leverage.

Text of card

Whenever equipped creature attacks, defending player reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he or she reveals a land card. The creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each card revealed this way. That player puts the revealed cards into his or her graveyard. Equip


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Trepanation Blade is a unique piece of equipment that can potentially result in massive card disruption for opponents. Upon attacking, it mills cards from the top of your opponent’s library until a land card is revealed, essentially stripping away their upcoming resources and potentially removing key cards from their deck.

Resource Acceleration: This artifact has the potential to enhance resource acceleration through its milling effect. Since it removes cards from your opponent’s deck up to a land card, it can indirectly accelerate your board state by making it more likely to draw into action and less likely to face threats.

Instant Speed: While Trepanation Blade itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, the equipment can be attached to a creature at any time you could cast an instant. This flexibility allows players to adapt to the battlefield dynamically, equipping creatures right before they attack to catch opponents off guard and gain the benefits of the milling effect.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Trepanation Blade doesn’t necessitate discarding directly, it does demand a deck tailor-made to exploit its milling capabilities. Without the right setup, the card could become a wasted draw, especially in decks that aren’t geared towards this strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: This artifact has a mana cost that includes colorless mana, which can sometimes be a hurdle in mana-tight situations or in decks that rely heavily on colored mana for their key plays. Aligning mana resources to accommodate the blade means you might delay or forego other crucial spells.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting and equip cost totaling can be seen as hefty for an equipment card. Considering the necessity to connect with an opponent to trigger its effect, there might be more immediate impact cards to play at a similar cost, and the mana invested into Trepanation Blade could be a tempo loss if the equipped creature is dealt with swiftly.


Reasons to Include Trepanation Blade in Your Collection

Versatility: Trepanation Blade can be slotted into a variety of decks that capitalize on milling opponents or enhancing creature attacks. Its ability to potentially increase a creature’s power each turn makes it a flexible choice for aggressive or mill-focused strategies.

Combo Potential: This card has synergy with effects that trigger when cards are put into an opponent’s graveyard, such as those found on creatures with the Cipher mechanic or abilities that benefit from large creature attacks.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where games are drawn out and decks are tightly constructed, Trepanation Blade can serve as a useful tool to disrupt your opponent’s strategy while simultaneously applying pressure and threat escalation with each swing.


How to Beat Trepanation Blade

Trepanation Blade stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a unique equipment card that can potentially mill your opponent and simultaneously boost your creature’s power. To effectively counter this card, strategies involving artifact removal, like Disenchant or Abrade, prove invaluable. Cards like these can directly remove Trepanation Blade from the battlefield before its effects become a significant threat.

Additionally, including graveyard shuffling effects in your deck can mitigate the mill impact of Trepanation Blade. Elixir of Immortality and cards with the Echo effect can recycle your graveyard back into your library, rendering the milling aspect of Trepanation Blade less impactful.

Anticipating and neutralizing the equipped creature is also a sound strategy. Spot removal spells like Doom Blade or Path to Exile can take out a creature regardless of its power boost, ensuring Trepanation Blade’s potential for buffing attackers is kept in check.

In summary, while Trepanation Blade can be a game-changer, a deck equipped with artifact interaction, graveyard management, and timely creature removal can effectively neutralize its power and maintain control over the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

With its potential to disrupt and pressure, Trepanation Blade is a force to be reckoned with in any MTG deck. Players can harness its strategic milling to not only weaken opponents but also strengthen their own creatures. If you’re considering ways to integrate this versatile equipment into your strategies or looking for insights on how to effectively counter it, we have the resources for you. For a deeper dive into optimizing Trepanation Blade and similar cards, or for strategies on besting this unique artifact during play, join the conversation and advance your deck-building prowess with us.


Cards like Trepanation Blade

The inclusion of Trepanation Blade in a deck brings a unique angle on equipping creatures in Magic the Gathering. This artifact resonates closely with cards like Sword of Body and Mind, which also mixes mill effects with combat damage. Yet, the Trepanation Blade is distinct in its potential to mill an unpredictable number of cards, providing a variable yet possibly substantial boost to the equipped creature.

Comparable also is the Jace’s Mindseeker, with its on-cast ability to delve into an opponent’s library. While the Mindseeker’s effect is a one-time encounter, Trepanation Blade threatens to mill repeatedly with every attack. And then there’s Mindcrank, an unassuming artifact that can become exponentially more threatening with damage interaction, like the damage Trepanation Blade can levy. Though Mindcrank lacks the creature buff, its consistent mill effect upon any life loss keeps opponents on edge.

Examining the landscape of MTG cards with mill abilities shows that while there are many paths to depleting a library, the Trepanation Blade carves its niche effectively. It offers an aggressive strategy that could potentially turn every creature swing into a mill machine, spicing up combat and deck dynamics in an unpredictable and thrilling way.

Sword of Body and Mind - MTG Card versions
Jace's Mindseeker - MTG Card versions
Mindcrank - MTG Card versions
Sword of Body and Mind - MTG Card versions
Jace's Mindseeker - MTG Card versions
Mindcrank - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Trepanation Blade by color, type and mana cost

Celestial Prism - MTG Card versions
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Vedalken Shackles - MTG Card versions
Oblivion Stone - MTG Card versions
Gem of Becoming - MTG Card versions
Celestial Prism - MTG Card versions
Sunglasses of Urza - MTG Card versions
Ebony Horse - MTG Card versions
Runed Arch - MTG Card versions
Arena of the Ancients - MTG Card versions
Bösium Strip - MTG Card versions
Clay Pigeon - MTG Card versions
Ashnod's Altar - MTG Card versions
Jalum Tome - MTG Card versions
Static Orb - MTG Card versions
Patchwork Gnomes - MTG Card versions
The Stasis Coffin - MTG Card versions
Captain's Hook - MTG Card versions
Wall of Spears - MTG Card versions
Spellweaver Helix - MTG Card versions
Scale of Chiss-Goria - MTG Card versions
Lightning Coils - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Shackles - MTG Card versions
Oblivion Stone - MTG Card versions
Gem of Becoming - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Trepanation Blade MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad and Iconic Masters, 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 Trepanation Blade and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Trepanation Blade Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2011-09-30 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Daniel Ljunggren.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12011-09-30InnistradISD 2352003NormalBlackDaniel Ljunggren
22017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 2312015NormalBlackDaniel Ljunggren
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 16452015NormalBlackDaniel Ljunggren
42020-09-26The ListPLST IMA-2312015NormalBlackDaniel Ljunggren

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Trepanation Blade has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2017-11-17 If the equipped creature is attacking a planeswalker, the controller of the planeswalker is the defending player.
2017-11-17 The land card is counted when calculating the bonus, and it will be put into the graveyard with the other revealed cards.

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