North Star MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact
Released	1994-06-01
Set symbol
Set name	Legends
Set code	LEG
Number	288
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Kaja Foglio

Key Takeaways

North Star excels in card advantage and resource acceleration, pivotal for strategic depth in gameplay.
The card requires mana diversity and a willingness to discard, presenting a trade-off for its benefits.
Despite its cost, North Star’s mana flexibility and combo potential make it a meta-resilient addition.

Text of card

o4oc T: You may cast one spell this turn by paying its casting cost with any type of mana. For example, o Go G becomes o4. However, the card still retains its original color. This ability is played as an interrupt.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: North Star facilitates drawing additional cards, giving you the upper hand as you broaden your options and outpace your opponents strategically.

Resource Acceleration: This card can unlock new levels of play by accelerating your resources, making mana more accessible and enabling you to cast more crucial spells sooner in the game.

Instant Speed: The power of acting at instant speed cannot be overstated—North Star can be deployed precisely when it’s most advantageous, offering the element of surprise and complex strategic plays during the course of a match.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: North Star’s activation forces players to part with another card from their hand, potentially diminishing their options and overall hand advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: To utilize North Star, a diverse mana base is necessary, as it asks for one mana of any color to tap. This specific requirement can sometimes complicate its inclusion in mono-colored or less flexible decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When compared to other artifacts, North Star’s four-colorless mana cost for the ability to use any mana as though it were mana of any color to cast a spell, might be considered high, especially in formats where mana acceleration is key.

Reasons to Include North Star in Your Collection

Versatility: North Star offers a unique flexibility by allowing players to pay mana as though it were mana of any color. This capability can be essential for decks that run multiple colors or have high casting cost spells outside their base colors.

Combo Potential: With North Star, you can unleash powerful combinations by bypassing color restrictions. This can be particularly potent when paired with cards that have activated abilities requiring mana of different colors or for surprise plays where opponents are not expecting a cross-color combo.

Meta-Relevance: Despite fluctuations in the competitive scene, cards that offer mana flexibility tend to remain relevant. North Star can adjust to varying meta conditions, allowing for a diverse range of strategies and responses to dominant deck types.

How to beat

The North Star card can often seem like an immutable constant in a player’s arsenal, offering a unique flexibility by waiving color restrictions on mana for spells. This is reminiscent of cards like Celestial Dawn or Mycosynth Lattice, which also manipulate the colors of mana or spells, respectively. However, the North Star’s pivotal advantage is its ability to provide freedom of color for any spell, which is a significant tactical boon.

To effectively counter the North Star, one must consider removal options that can bypass its permanency on the battlefield. Cards like Disenchant or Naturalize are straightforward solutions, targeting the artifact directly. This direct approach is often the most effective, as it nullifies North Star’s ability at a relatively low cost and disruption to your own play. Additionally, preserving counterspells specifically for crucial artifacts like the North Star can stifle an opponent’s strategy early on, preventing them from ever gaining the advantage that North Star provides.

Ultimately, while the North Star shines bright with possibility, understanding and anticipating its presence in a game allows a savvy player to preemptively prepare their deck with adequate answers. Flexibility in deck-building and adaptive play are the keys to ensuring that the North Star doesn’t eclipse your path to victory.

Cards like North Star

Navigating the stars of Magic: The Gathering sets, North Star shines in a unique constellation of mana fixing artifacts. It is akin to cards like Celestial Prism, both offering a rainbow of mana possibilities to a player’s deck. Where North Star demands a steep four mana of any color to activate its ability to convert one mana of any color, Celestial Prism provides a more economical option, albeit only converting to two mana of any single color for the activation cost.

Chromatic Lantern also parallels North Star with its mana conversion capabilities. However, Lantern not only adds one mana of any color but also grants this ability to all lands you control, surpassing North Star in terms of overall mana flexibility and economy. While Chromatic Lantern sits at a lower casting cost and does not require activation cost, North Star appeals with its immediate effect without waiting for summoning sickness to wane.

Within the realm of MTG, North Star can be a guiding light for decks craving color accessibility, yet it competes with more efficient fixtures in the mana-fixing domain. It stands as a testament to how MTG’s tapestry of cards weave together to offer a spectrum of strategic options for every player’s toolkit.

Cards similar to North Star by color, type and mana cost

Krark-Clan Ironworks - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase North Star MTG card by a specific set like Legends, 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 North Star and other MTG cards: