Poet's Quill MTG Card
2021-04-23 - Number 305
2021-04-23 - Number 82
2021-04-24 - Number 82s
2021-04-24 - Number 82p
2002-06-24 - Number 90064
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Artifact — Equipment |
| Abilities | Equip,Learn |
Key Takeaways
- Poet’s Quill provides card advantage and strategic tutoring for just the right sideboard card.
- The quill’s instant speed equip offers surprise plays, enhancing flexibility and strategy.
- While valuable, it requires careful play to mitigate its mana cost and board dependence.
Text of card
When Poet's Quill enters the battlefield, learn. (You may reveal a Lesson card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand, or discard a card to draw a card.) Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has lifelink. Equip
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Poet’s Quill can be a reliable source of card advantage by allowing it to fetch a specific lesson from your sideboard when it enters the battlefield. This tutoring effect ensures you get just the right card for the situation at hand, potentially turning the tide of the game.
Resource Acceleration: While Poet’s Quill itself doesn’t directly provide mana or tokens, its Learn ability effectively accelerates your resources by enabling you to grab lessons that can affect the board state or provide additional resources, without spending extra mana from your hand.
Instant Speed: The ability to equip Poet’s Quill at instant speed offers flexibility in your strategy. This can lull an opponent into a false sense of security on their turn, allowing you to make a well-timed move to equip the Quill to a creature in preparation for your next turn. The element of surprise can often be just as valuable as the card advantage it delivers.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Poet’s Quill requires you to have a creature in play to which you can attach it, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage if your board is clear.
Specific Mana Cost: This artifact requires both black and generic mana to cast, making it a less flexible option for multicolored decks that don’t emphasize the black mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its combined casting and equip costs, Poet’s Quill can represent a significant mana investment, which may slow down your overall game tempo when compared to other lower-cost equipment or card advantage options.
Reasons to Include Poet’s Quill in Your Collection
Versatility: Poet’s Quill is a valuable tool for a wide array of MTG decks. Its ability to fetch a lesson from outside the game while also providing lifelink adds multiple layers of adaptability, equally enhancing both aggressive and defensive strategies.
Combo Potential: The card’s learn mechanic opens up numerous combo possibilities, allowing players to access sideboard options that could seamlessly align with ongoing synergies or offer a strategic pivot mid-game to outmaneuver opponents.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where longer games prevail, the incremental advantage gained through life gain and the strategic tutelage of Poet’s Quill proves essential, keeping it relevant and influential within various competitive formats.
How to beat
Poet’s Quill is a versatile tool for Magic: The Gathering deck builders, offering both life gain and card advantage through its Learn ability. This artifact allows players to venture deeper into their sideboard, subtly shifting the battlefield dynamics. While it may not boast the brute power of other heavy hitters, its strategic value can be substantial, especially when used to continuously access the sideboard for answers or fuel.
Challenging Poet’s Quill requires a nuanced approach. Artifact removal spells are a reliable way to deal with it, as they eliminate the quill’s potential impact before it starts writing your defeat. Direct destruction like Disenchant or efficient, catch-all answers such as Abrade can dismantle the Quill’s influence on the game quickly and effectively. Taking proactive measures by limiting their graveyard options cripples the card’s effectiveness, ensuring the tempo remains in your favor. Alternatively, pressuring your opponent’s life total aggressively can also render the gradual life gain from Poet’s Quill inconsequential in the pace of the game.
To sum up, overcoming the subtle yet strategic power of Poet’s Quill is about being proactive, packing the right answers, and keeping the pressure high against your opponent. This transforms Poet’s Quill from a potential threat to just another artifact waiting to be neutralized.
Cards like Poet's Quill
Poet’s Quill is a unique tool for players looking for life gain and card advantage in MTG. Drawing comparisons, it’s akin to Shadowspear, another equipment card that grants life link, though Shadowspear has an additional ability to remove hexproof and indestructible from opponent’s creatures. The life gain aspect is where Poet’s Quill really shines, with the capacity to enhance the player’s life total while also providing a bonus ability in searching your library for a card with learn to replace itself in hand.
Bloodforged Battle-Axe is another card that can be mentioned in the same breath. Although it lacks the life gain trade-off, it’s formidable in boosting creature’s power and the distinctive capacity to replicate itself, leading to exponential growth if left unchecked. Meanwhile, Umezawa’s Jitte, a revered piece of MTG history, offers a wide array of modular abilities that accommodate different strategies, but without the direct card advantage Poet’s Quill provides through its learn mechanic.
Each equipment has its place depending on the deck strategy, but Poet’s Quill stands out for decks aiming at sustain and incremental card advantage, making it an attractive choice in the context of life gain and learning for value-minded players.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Poet's Quill MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Poet's Quill and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See Magic products
Printings
The Poet's Quill Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-04-23 and 2021-04-24. Illustrated by Anna Fehr.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 90064 | 2015 | normal | black | Anna Fehr | ||
| 2 | 2021-04-23 | Strixhaven: School of Mages | STX | 305 | 2015 | normal | black | Anna Fehr | |
| 3 | 2021-04-23 | Strixhaven: School of Mages | STX | 82 | 2015 | normal | black | Anna Fehr | |
| 4 | 2021-04-24 | Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos | PSTX | 82s | 2015 | normal | black | Anna Fehr | |
| 5 | 2021-04-24 | Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos | PSTX | 82p | 2015 | normal | black | Anna Fehr |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Poet's Quill 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 Poet's Quill card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-04-16 | If a card is brought into the game from outside the game, it will stay in the game until it ends or until its owner leaves the game, whichever comes first. |
| 2021-04-16 | If instructed to learn, you may do nothing. Discarding a card and putting a Lesson card into your hand are both optional. |
| 2021-04-16 | If you bring a card into the game from outside the game in a Constructed tournament (or a Constructed game played under tournament conditions), you may select only a card from your sideboard. In casual Constructed games, the card comes from your collection. |
| 2021-04-16 | If you bring a card into the game from outside the game in a Sealed Deck or Booster Draft event, you may select only a card that is in the card pool that you built your deck from. |
