Karn's Bastion MTG Card
2019-05-03 - Number 248
2019-05-04 - Number 248
2019-05-04 - Number 248s
2019-05-04 - Number 248p
2022-04-29 - Number 410
2023-02-03 - Number 156
2023-04-21 - Number 409
2023-08-04 - Number 1007
2023-11-17 - Number 339
2024-01-12 - Number 464
2002-06-24 - Number 72223
| Card sets | Released in 11 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
| Abilities | Proliferate |
Text of card
: Add . , : Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
"I can't protect everyone here. But those I can, I will." —Karn
Cards like Karn's Bastion
Karn’s Bastion is a pivotal piece in decks that harness the power of proliferate in Magic: The Gathering. It’s often mentioned alongside other proliferate enablers, such as Contagion Engine. While both cards can spread additional counters among your permanents, Karn’s Bastion offers this utility as a land, providing value without costing a spell slot in your deck. This can be a subtle yet significant advantage over nonland cards like the Contagion Engine, which requires a more substantial mana investment for activation.
Compared to Evolution Sage, which proliferates each time a land enters the battlefield under your control, Karn’s Bastion allows more direct and immediate control over when you proliferate. This can be crucial in tightly contested games where timing is everything. In the realm of mana-producing lands that also have abilities, Karn’s Bastion stands out for its potential to alter the course of a game without sacrificing mana development.
Ultimately, in Magic: The Gathering, the tactical flexibility and consistent access provided by Karn’s Bastion make it a competitive option for enhancing strategies that capitalize on counters. Its unique position as a land with such a potent ability ensures its place in many decks focused on synergizing with and maximizing the impact of counters.
Cards similar to Karn's Bastion by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Karn's Bastion. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Colorless Combo | Modern | Dice Factory | Grand Open Qualifier Prague 2024 |
 | Nykthos Leyline | Modern | Nykthos Leyline | Modern Challenge 96 2024-02-24 |
 | Decklist | Free form | 0() | |
 | Golgari Toxic | Pioneer | Golgari Midrange | South America Magic Series - Regional Championship (Final Regional NOV 2023) |
 | Selesnya Scales | Pioneer | Artifact Aggro | MIT Championship - |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Karn’s Bastion provides a static ability that can potentially multiply the benefits you receive from each proliferate trigger. By boosting the number of counters on various permanents such as creatures, planeswalkers, and even charge counters on artifacts, you effectively amplify the value on the board without losing card resources.
Resource Acceleration: Unlike cards that solely generate mana, Karn’s Bastion accelerates your board state through its proliferate ability. Instead of just ramping up mana resources, this land helps you accelerate how quickly your cards reach critical thresholds, such as increasing a planeswalker’s loyalty counters towards a powerful ultimate ability.
Instant Speed: Karn’s Bastion’s proliferate ability can be activated at instant speed, providing the flexibility to enhance your counters right before the end of your opponent’s turn. This allows you to untap with a strengthened position and can lead to more informed decisions based on your opponent’s actions.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Karn’s Bastion necessitates a full hand to leverage its proliferate ability effectively, potentially leading to missed opportunities if you’re short on cards to play.
Specific Mana Cost: The need for colorless mana to activate the proliferation can be restrictive, as it means dedicating a portion of your mana base specifically for this purpose, which may not always align with your deck’s overall mana strategy.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The four mana investment for its proliferate ability is steep compared to other utility lands offering similar effects or alternative uses of mana within a turn, possibly slowing down the tempo of your game plan.
Reasons to Include Karn’s Bastion in Your Collection
Versatility: Karn’s Bastion is a powerhouse in decks that leverage +1/+1 counters or loyalty counters. Its proliferate ability can be used in various strategies including, but not limited to, strengthening creatures, bolstering planeswalkers, and accelerating saga completions. This makes it a useful card across multiple deck archetypes.
Combo Potential: The proliferate ability possesses tremendous synergy with counters-based combos, amplifying their effects. For instance, in an infect deck, proliferating poison counters can accelerate your path to victory, while in a superfriends deck, it can quickly escalate the impact of your planeswalkers.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where counters strategies prevail or when planeswalkers are dominant, Karn’s Bastion can act as a silent power booster. It fits into the game as a nonchalant land with the potential to turn the tide, making it a card that can surprise opponents and shift the momentum in your favor.
How to beat
Karn’s Bastion is a powerhouse land in the realm of proliferate mechanics in Magic: The Gathering, seamlessly fitting into decks built around +1/+1 counters or planeswalker strategies. This utility land’s unique ability to proliferate adds incremental value over time, thereby enhancing the potency of your counters manifold. However, its strength is not unbeatable.
To effectively counter Karn’s Bastion, player strategies should focus on land disruption or aggressive playstyles that can outpace the value generated from proliferation. Cards such as Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can directly target and eliminate Karn’s Bastion, disrupting your opponent’s mana base and their ability to proliferate. Furthermore, applying pressure with a fast-paced deck can force opponents on the defensive, leaving them little opportunity to invest mana into Karn’s Bastion’s ability. Alternatively, instant speed removal spells that outmaneuver the proliferate function can maintain board control and mitigate the Bastion’s impact on the game.
Understanding the timing and resource commitment required for an opponent to utilize Karn’s Bastion effectively is crucial. By disrupting your opponent’s plans and maintaining board control, you can neutralize the advantages provided by this formidable land.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Karn's Bastion MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and War of the Spark, 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 Karn's Bastion and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
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- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Printings
The Karn's Bastion Magic the Gathering card was released in 9 different sets between 2019-05-03 and 2024-01-12. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 72223 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Piotr Dura | ||
| 2 | 2019-05-03 | War of the Spark | WAR | 248 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 3 | 2019-05-04 | War of the Spark Promos | PWAR | 248 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Piotr Dura | |
| 4 | 2019-05-04 | War of the Spark Promos | PWAR | 248s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 5 | 2019-05-04 | War of the Spark Promos | PWAR | 248p | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 6 | 2022-04-29 | New Capenna Commander | NCC | 410 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 7 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander | ONC | 156 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 8 | 2023-04-21 | March of the Machine Commander | MOC | 409 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 9 | 2023-08-04 | Commander Masters | CMM | 1007 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 10 | 2023-11-17 | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander | LCC | 339 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette | |
| 11 | 2024-01-12 | Ravnica Remastered | RVR | 464 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Adam Paquette |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Karn's Bastion has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Karn's Bastion card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-02-04 | An ability that triggers "Whenever you proliferate" triggers even if you chose no permanents or players while doing so. |
| 2023-02-04 | If a permanent ever has both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it at the same time, they're removed in pairs as a state-based action so that the permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it. |
| 2023-02-04 | If a player or permanent has more than one kind of counter on it, and you choose for it to get additional counters, it must get one of each kind of counter it already has. You can't have it get just one kind of counter it already has and not the others. |
| 2023-02-04 | Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it's too late for anyone to respond. |
| 2023-02-04 | To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can choose any player who has a counter, including opponents. You can't choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them. |
| 2023-02-04 | You don't have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since "any number" includes zero, you don't have to choose any permanents at all, and you don't have to choose any players at all. |