Living Lectern MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Artifact Creature — Construct
Abilities	Role token,Scry
Released	2023-09-08
Set symbol
Set name	Wilds of Eldraine
Set code	WOE
Power	0
Toughness	4
Number	59
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Chris Seaman

Key Takeaways

Enhances card selection and advantage, crucial for maintaining momentum throughout the game.
Instant speed ability usage allows for strategic adaptability and resource optimization.
Mana cost and discard requirement may necessitate careful deck integration.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Living Lectern MTG card by a specific set like Wilds of Eldraine, 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 Living Lectern and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Text of card

, Sacrifice Living Lectern: Draw a card. Create a Sorcerer Role token attached to up to one other target creature you control. Activate only as a sorcery. (If you control another Role on it, put that one into the graveyard. Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has "Whenever this creature attacks, scry 1.")

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Living Lectern provides consistent card selection each turn, ensuring you get to the spells you need at the right moment. This effect keeps your hand replenished and can edge you ahead in the long game.

Resource Acceleration: By allowing you to play an additional land on each of your turns, Living Lectern accelerates your resource development, crucial for outpacing opponents and deploying threats or answers ahead of schedule.

Instant Speed: The ability to use Living Lectern’s effects at instant speed offers flexibility, letting you respond adaptively to the unfolding game. This optimizes your resource usage, keeping options open until they are most impactful.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When activating Living Lectern’s abilities, players face the disadvantage of discarding a card. This can leave players at a resource deficit, especially during the late game when every card in hand is vital for pivoting the board state to your advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Living Lectern demands a precise mana investment to tap into its lore counter capabilities. With a strict cost that includes both blue and green mana, it might not seamlessly integrate into multicolor decks that do not prioritize these colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that leans towards the higher end of the spectrum for its effects, there are alternatives in the MTG universe that might provide more bang for your buck. Players often consider the opportunity cost of using four mana on the Living Lectern instead of deploying more impactful board presences or interaction spells.

Reasons to Include Living Lectern in Your Collection

Versatility: Living Lectern can be a key piece in a wide array of deck builds due to its ability to transform enchantments into creatures. This flexibility allows for creative deckbuilding and adapting to various in-game situations.

Combo Potential: With the right setup, Living Lectern can unleash powerful combos by turning static enchantments into dynamic threats, turning the tide of the game and synergizing with strategies that capitalize on creature count and types.

Meta-Relevance: As the MTG game environment fluctuates, having a card like Living Lectern that adapts to different metas can keep your deck competitive, particularly in environments heavy with enchantments where its ability can be a game-changer.

How to beat

Living Lectern can be an intriguing challenge on the battlefield. Its capacity to convert instant and sorcery cards into creature tokens gives players a unique strategic tool. To handle this versatile artifact, it’s essential to disrupt the card’s ability to exploit the library and graveyard. Strategies such as graveyard hate, using cards like Rest in Peace to remove the potential synergy, or employing artifact destruction like Abrade to target Living Lectern directly are effective methods.

Counterspells can also play a pivotal role in neutralizing Living Lectern before it takes effect. Holding up Mana Leak or Negate when your opponent attempts to cast it keeps the threat off the board entirely. Another angle is to apply pressure with swift, aggressive tactics, potentially overwhelming an opponent before they can capitalize on Living Lectern’s long-term value. Lastly, utilizing hand disruption like Thoughtseize could preemptively extract the card from your opponent’s hand, ensuring it never poses a problem.

While the Lectern’s design is undoubtedly clever, offering creative ways to utilize spells, a well-prepared strategy can ensure that this artifact doesn’t tip the scales in your opponent’s favor.

Cards like Living Lectern

Living Lectern is a novel addition to the assortment of artifact creatures in Magic: The Gathering. It aligns closely with cards like Wall of Omens, which also presents a subtle yet impactful draw mechanic upon entering the battlefield. Nonetheless, Living Lectern boasts a more dynamic role through its ability to manipulate the top card of a player’s library and the option to be turned into a creature for defensive purposes.

Another parallel can be drawn with Throne of the High City. While not a creature, it too delivers the power to set the pace for drawing cards, specifically by adding the monarch mechanic to the game. Living Lectern offers less immediate impact in comparison but compensates with repeatable library setup and pliability in its use. Additionally, Silent Submersible is a creature that, like Living Lectern, transforms its utility based on game conditions, providing card draw upon dealing combat damage to a player.

Deciding between these options hinges on the desired deck strategy and synergy. Living Lectern stands out by offering a persistent influence on library arrangement paired with its late-game potential to become a blocker, situating it as a versatile utility player in Magic: The Gathering circles.

Throne of the High City - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Living Lectern by color, type and mana cost

Cosima, God of the Voyage // The Omenkeel - MTG Card versions

Glassblower's Puzzleknot - MTG Card versions

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Living Lectern has restrictions

Format	Legality
Standard	Legal
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Future	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2023-09-01	A permanent can have multiple Roles attached to it if each one is controlled by a different player.
2023-09-01	Cards in the Wilds of Eldraine main set create six different Role tokens: Cursed, Monster, Royal, Sorcerer, Wicked, and Young Hero. A seventh Role token, Virtuous, is created by Ellivere of the Wild Court, the commander of the “Virtue and Valor” Commander Deck.
2023-09-01	Hexproof and shroud won’t prevent a Role from becoming attached to a permanent if the ability creating that Role attached to that permanent doesn’t target it.
2023-09-01	If a permanent has more than one Role attached to it controlled by the same player, each of those Roles except the one with the most recent timestamp is put into its owner’s graveyard. This is a state-based action.
2023-09-01	If two or more Roles controlled by the same player become attached to a permanent at the same time (perhaps due to an effect such as that of Doubling Season), that player chooses which one to keep and which are put into their owners’ graveyards.
2023-09-01	If you don't choose a target creature, the Sorcerer Role token won't be created.
2023-09-01	In rare cases, a spell or ability might attempt to create a Role token enchanting a permanent that it can’t legally enchant (because of an ability like protection from enchantments). In such cases, the Role token isn’t created.
2023-09-01	Roles are colorless enchantment tokens. Each one has the Aura and Role subtypes and the enchant creature ability.
2023-09-01	Some spells and abilities that create Role tokens require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won’t resolve. The Role token won’t be created.
2023-09-01	You can activate Living Lectern's ability without a target just to draw a card. However, if you do choose a target, and that target is illegal at the time the ability tries to resolve, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won't draw a card.