Tsabo's Web MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Tsabo’s Web offers card advantage and insights into opponents’ hands, enhancing strategic gameplay.
  2. It indirectly accelerates resources, giving players a potential upper hand in maintaining tempo.
  3. The card’s specific mana cost and discard requirement may limit its flexibility in decks.

Text of card

When Tsabo's Web comes into play, draw a card. Lands with an activated ability that doesn't produce mana don't untap during their controllers' untap steps.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When a match boils down to resources, Tsabo’s Web can provide a subtle but significant upper hand. Delicately woven into the fabric of its text is the ability to restrict your opponent’s options by targeting untapped lands. Furthermore, it affords you critical insight into your adversary’s strategies by revealing their hand, keeping you one turn ahead and ensuring that each move you make contributes towards a greater likelihood of victory.

Resource Acceleration: Tsabo’s Web is not a traditional accelerator, yet the edge it provides comes from its ability to potentially lock down an opponent’s lands. This form of indirect resource manipulation could lead to a resource deficit for the opponent and, in turn, create a de facto increase in your relative resources. This strategic stymie can lead to a tempo advantage pivotal in the delicate dance of advantage in gameplay.

Instant Speed: While Tsabo’s Web does not operate at instant speed itself, its ongoing effect influences the pace and timing of the game. It effectively functions as a deterrent to opponents, pushing them to act outside their planned sequence of play. This can force premature actions or dissuade them from utilizing specific strategies, altering the flow of the game and giving you, the player, more control over the game’s tempo.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tsabo’s Web may not always be a welcome draw as it necessitates that a player discard another card from their hand upon casting. This can set you back, especially when the hand you’re holding is crucial for your strategy or when you’re already struggling with card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both generic and black mana to cast, Tsabo’s Web is more challenging to include in multi-color decks that might not always have the necessary black mana readily available. This limits the card’s flexibility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an investment of two mana, the impact of Tsabo’s Web on the game is subject to debate. Although it can disrupt certain land-types, there are other card options available that can either handle a wider range of threats or offer additional benefits for a similar, if not lower, mana cost, granting you a more significant tactical advantage.


Reasons to Include Tsabo’s Web in Your Collection

Versatility: Tsabo’s Web is a unique card that can serve multiple roles in a deck. It’s especially useful for disrupting opponents’ lands that have abilities, as it prevents them from being activated. It can also easily slip into decks that aim to control the pace of the game.

Combo Potential: This artifact has the inherent ability to draw a card upon entering the battlefield, providing subtle combo potential with strategies focused on card advantage and artifact synergies. It can be a quiet enabler in the right engine.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where utility lands are prominent, Tsabo’s Web gains significant relevance. It’s a preemptive answer to land-centered tactics and can be a strategic component in controlling the board against decks heavily reliant on lands with non-mana abilities.


How to beat

Tsabo’s Web is a unique artifact card in Magic: The Gathering that can lock down your opponents’ lands with its ability to tap them if they are non-basic and don’t have a mana ability. Overcoming this card requires a strategic approach. Firstly, consider playing basic lands to avoid the tap-down effect altogether. If you’re caught in the Web with non-basic lands, try using land untap effects like Krosan Restorer or Seeker of Skybreak to bypass the restriction.

Another method of handling Tsabo’s Web is to employ artifact removal such as Naturalize or Disenchant to directly eliminate the threat from the battlefield. Additionally, cards like Echoing Truth allow you to temporarily bounce Tsabo’s Web back to your opponent’s hand, potentially creating an opening for your lands to untap and your strategy to proceed unhindered.

As you tailor your deck to face Tsabo’s Web, remember to balance your mana base and include answers that deal with troublesome artifacts. This way, you’ll increase your resilience against this and other similar control elements in the game.


Cards like Tsabo's Web

Tsabo’s Web is an intriguing artifact in Magic: The Gathering, sharing functional similarities with cards that hinder opponent land capabilities. One card that comes to mind is Winter Orb. Both make it challenging for opponents to effectively use their lands, with Tsabo’s Web targeting lands with activated abilities that aren’t mana abilities and Winter Orb restricting untapping. The Web, however, has the additional upside of drawing a card upon entry, which adds subtle value and helps maintain card advantage.

Another comparable artifact is Static Orb, which limits players to untapping only two permanents each turn, creating a more sweeping effect than Tsabo’s Web’s targeted approach. Static Orb impacts all permanents, not just lands, but lacks the card draw benefit. Meekstone also restricts untapping, but it focuses on creatures with power 3 or greater. This is a narrower condition than Tsabo’s Web, yet it’s highly effective against decks with larger creatures.

Ultimately, Tsabo’s Web carves out its niche by specifically disrupting utility lands and cantripping, fitting seamlessly into strategies that aim to restrict opponent’s options while still progressing one’s own game plan.

Winter Orb - MTG Card versions
Static Orb - MTG Card versions
Meekstone - MTG Card versions
Winter Orb - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Static Orb - Tempest (TMP)
Meekstone - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Cards similar to Tsabo's Web by color, type and mana cost

Chaos Orb - MTG Card versions
Winter Orb - MTG Card versions
Ankh of Mishra - MTG Card versions
Amulet of Kroog - MTG Card versions
Nacre Talisman - MTG Card versions
Howling Mine - MTG Card versions
Essence Bottle - MTG Card versions
Emerald Medallion - MTG Card versions
Scrying Glass - MTG Card versions
Cursed Totem - MTG Card versions
Millikin - MTG Card versions
Ark of Blight - MTG Card versions
Surestrike Trident - MTG Card versions
Energy Chamber - MTG Card versions
Water Gun Balloon Game - MTG Card versions
Angel's Feather - MTG Card versions
Demon's Horn - MTG Card versions
Elsewhere Flask - MTG Card versions
Dragon's Claw - MTG Card versions
Steel Overseer - MTG Card versions
Chaos Orb - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Winter Orb - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Ankh of Mishra - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Amulet of Kroog - Rinascimento (RIN)
Nacre Talisman - Ice Age (ICE)
Howling Mine - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Essence Bottle - Tempest (TMP)
Emerald Medallion - Commander Anthology (CMA)
Scrying Glass - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Cursed Totem - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Millikin - Odyssey (ODY)
Ark of Blight - Scourge (SCG)
Surestrike Trident - Darksteel (DST)
Energy Chamber - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Water Gun Balloon Game - Unhinged (UNH)
Angel's Feather - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Demon's Horn - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Elsewhere Flask - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Dragon's Claw - Duels of the Planeswalkers (DPA)
Steel Overseer - Magic 2011 (M11)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tsabo's Web MTG card by a specific set like Invasion and World Championship Decks 2001, 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 Tsabo's Web and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Tsabo's Web Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2000-10-02 and 2001-08-08. Illustrated by Carl Critchlow.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12000-10-02InvasionINV 3171997normalblackCarl Critchlow
22001-08-08World Championship Decks 2001WC01 ar3171997normalgoldCarl Critchlow

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tsabo's Web has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-04-15 A mana ability is an ability that (1) isn’t a loyalty ability, (2) doesn’t target, and (3) could put mana into a player’s mana pool when it resolves.
2016-06-08 Activated abilities contain a colon. They’re generally written “
-ost:
-ffect].” Some keywords are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder text.

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