Idol of Endurance MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Idol of Endurance enhances deck resilience, allowing creature recasts and aiding in mana conservation.
  2. Specific mana requirements and high activation cost may impede diverse strategies and resource allocation.
  3. Valuable in creature-heavy decks, Idol of Endurance has meta relevance, particularly against aggressive decks.

Text of card

When Idol of Endurance enters the battlefield, exile all creature cards with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard until Idol of Endurance leaves the battlefield. , : Until end of turn, you may cast a creature spell from among the cards exiled with Idol of Endurance without paying its mana cost.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Idol of Endurance offers a unique form of card advantage by allowing you to exile all creature cards with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard and then lets you cast them, ensuring you get extended use out of your creatures.

Resource Acceleration: By essentially acting as a reservoir for low-cost creatures, Idol of Endurance can save on mana spending in later stages of the game, since you’re casting from exile and not your hand, accelerating your resource usage.

Instant Speed: While Idol of Endurance itself is not an instant, it allows you to cast the exiled creatures at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to surprise opponents with blockers or end-of-turn plays, making your strategy more dynamic and unpredictable.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Idol of Endurance doesn’t have a discard requirement itself, but it demands a strategic hand management, as it only interacts with creatures in the graveyard. This could lead to holding back on playing creatures or needlessly discarding them to execute its effect efficiently, which may negatively impact your gameplay.

Specific Mana Cost: With a specific mana cost that includes two white mana, the Idol of Endurance is exclusive to decks that can reliably produce white mana. This can be restrictive and may not fit into more diverse or multicolored deck strategies without sufficient mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing three mana initially and requiring an additional three mana to activate, the total cost to make full use of the Idol’s abilities can be quite steep. In the early to mid-game, this high mana investment could potentially delay other important plays or interrupt your mana curve. Additionally, within the same mana range, there are competitive alternatives for reanimation that could offer more immediate impact on the board state.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Idol of Endurance fits seamlessly into a variety of white decks, particularly those that rely on creature strategies. Its ability to exile all creature cards with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard and then let you cast them offers a broad application in different gameplay scenarios.

Combo Potential: This artifact provides excellent synergy with cards that benefit from either casting creatures or creatures entering the battlefield. It can also work well with death-trigger strategies, offering a second life for valuable creatures in your graveyard.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta filled with aggressive decks, having the capability to recast numerous low-cost creatures can be immensely advantageous. Idol of Endurance allows you to maintain board presence and can act as a resourceful tool for recovery after board wipes or removals.


How to Beat

The Idol of Endurance can be a unique challenge to overcome in MTG games, being an artifact that offers a significant advantage by reanimating creatures with a mana value of three or less. To effectively navigate around this card, it is essential to manage your opponent’s graveyard. Cards like Scavenging Ooze or Bojuka Bog can exile key creatures from the graveyard, ensuring that they don’t return to haunt the battlefield. Artifact removal spells such as Disenchant or Naturalize are also crucial, allowing you to directly answer the Idol before it becomes too problematic.

Additionally, instant-speed interaction like Abrupt Decay can dismantle the Idol while avoiding any counterplay during your opponent’s turn. It’s worth noting that exiling the Idol itself with cards like Anguished Unmaking can be equally effective. When playing against Idol of Endurance, remember that managing the board and maintaining answers to both the artifact and potential creature threats is the key to victory.

Considering the strategies and keeping your deck equipped with diverse response tools will ensure that Idol of Endurance does not outlast your capacity to maintain control over the game state.


Cards like Idol of Endurance

Idol of Endurance stands out in Magic: The Gathering as an artifact with unique advantages for creature-based strategies. It enters the field with the ability to exile a multitude of creatures from your graveyard and then lets you summon them again with a marginal cost. A closely related card is the artifact Phyrexian Reclamation, offering a similar graveyard retrieval benefit, albeit at the cost of both life and mana, for one creature at a time.

Another analogous card is Bag of Holding, which emphasizes exiling cards, but this time from the hand rather than the graveyard. While Bag of Holding doesn’t cater specifically to creatures, it provides a broader range of card types to be later recouped. Then consider the card Lurrus of the Dream-Den, enabling the casting of permanent cards with low mana value from the graveyard. Although restricted to lower-cost cards, Lurrus doesn’t exile them, which gives it a recurrent benefit.

While each of these cards offers different nuances for recovering cards from exile or the graveyard, Idol of Endurance is notable for its wide-reaching creature revival potential, particularly impactful in decks that capitalize on death triggers or enter-the-battlefield effects.

Phyrexian Reclamation - MTG Card versions
Bag of Holding - MTG Card versions
Lurrus of the Dream-Den - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Reclamation - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Bag of Holding - Core Set 2020 Promos (PM20)
Lurrus of the Dream-Den - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)

Cards similar to Idol of Endurance by color, type and mana cost

Urza's Sylex - MTG Card versions
Thopter Shop - MTG Card versions
Cloudsteel Kirin - MTG Card versions
The Book of Exalted Deeds - MTG Card versions
Halo Fountain - MTG Card versions
Maul of the Skyclaves - MTG Card versions
Archaeomancer's Map - MTG Card versions
Pearl Shard - MTG Card versions
Soldier Replica - MTG Card versions
Thunder Totem - MTG Card versions
Marble Chalice - MTG Card versions
Scepter of Dominance - MTG Card versions
Auriok Replica - MTG Card versions
Blinding Souleater - MTG Card versions
Godsend - MTG Card versions
Peacewalker Colossus - MTG Card versions
Knight of the Widget - MTG Card versions
Riveting Rigger - MTG Card versions
Mace of the Valiant - MTG Card versions
Cloister Gargoyle - MTG Card versions
Urza's Sylex - The Brothers' War (BRO)
Thopter Shop - The Brothers' War Commander (BRC)
Cloudsteel Kirin - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO)
The Book of Exalted Deeds - Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (AFR)
Halo Fountain - Streets of New Capenna (SNC)
Maul of the Skyclaves - March of the Machine Commander (MOC)
Archaeomancer's Map - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Pearl Shard - Mirrodin (MRD)
Soldier Replica - Mirrodin (MRD)
Thunder Totem - Time Spiral (TSP)
Marble Chalice - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Scepter of Dominance - Conflux (CON)
Auriok Replica - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Blinding Souleater - The List (PLST)
Godsend - Journey into Nyx (JOU)
Peacewalker Colossus - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
Knight of the Widget - Unstable (UST)
Riveting Rigger - Unstable (UST)
Mace of the Valiant - Commander Masters (CMM)
Cloister Gargoyle - Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (AFR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Idol of Endurance MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Core Set 2021, 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 Idol of Endurance and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Idol of Endurance Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2020-07-03 and 2020-07-03. Illustrated by Kim Sokol.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 819322015normalblackKim Sokol
22020-07-03Core Set 2021M21 232015normalblackKim Sokol
32020-07-03Core Set 2021M21 3422015normalblackKim Sokol

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Idol of Endurance has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-06-23 If a card in a player's graveyard has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2020-06-23 If a spell has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.
2020-06-23 If you cast a spell with Idol of Endurance's last ability, it becomes a new object. If it returns to exile, it's no longer exiled with Idol of Endurance, and won't be returned to your graveyard once Idol of Endurance leaves the battlefield.
2020-06-23 If you cast a spell “without paying its mana cost,” you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, those must be paid to cast the spell.
2020-06-23 The exiled cards return to your graveyard immediately after Idol of Endurance leaves the battlefield. Any cards that had left exile before then (most likely because they were cast with Idol of Endurance's second ability) remain in their current zone.
2020-06-23 The last ability of Idol of Endurance doesn't change when you may cast those creature spells. Normally this means during your main phase while the stack is empty, but you can cast a creature spell with flash at other times.

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