Magnus the Red MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Demon Primarch
Abilities Flying,Unearthly Power
Power 4
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Magnus the Red offers strong card advantage, increasing hand superiority crucial for maintaining a lead in MTG.
  2. With resource acceleration at play, Magnus the Red can quickly bolster your mana pool for strategic high-cost plays.
  3. Despite its potential, Magnus requires careful play due to its high casting cost and specific red mana dependency.

Text of card

Flying Unearthly Power — Instant and sorcery spells you cast cost less to cast for each creature token you control. Blade of Magnus — Whenever Magnus the Red deals combat damage to a player, create a 3/3 red Spawn creature token.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Magnus the Red MTG card provides a significant card advantage as it allows for higher draw power. This ability can help players maintain or build a superior hand, setting them ahead in the gaming landscape.

Resource Acceleration: Magnus’s unique abilities help accelerate resources in your MTG game. Using its power, you can effectively generate a significant uplift in your mana pool, thereby enabling faster execution of high-cost actions and increasing the pace of your strategy.

Instant Speed: Although Magnus the Red does not necessarily operate at instant speed, its effect when it enters the battlefield is swift and impactful. This leaves opponents with limited time to respond, keeping you ahead in terms of pacing during gameplay.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Magnus the Red obliges you to discard a card from your hand to cast it. This can put you in a tight spot if you happen to be running low on resources in your hand, hindering the flow of your game strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Magnus the Red leans heavily towards red mana. This could limit his usefulness and adaptability as it denotes a specific deck typology to play this card effectively.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a requirement of five mana (4 colorless and 1 red) to cast, Magnus the Red comes with a hefty price. This could potentially slow down your game tempo as there exists a variety of cards in the deck that might present more cost-effective abilities and powers.


Reasons to Include Magnus the Red in Your Collection

Versatility: Magnus the Red’s primordial approach, spearheading both offense and support, makes him a staple in a myriad of deck types. His ability to augment creatures’ strength and health proves beneficial, especially for decks built around overwhelming opponents with sheer force.

Combo Potential: Known for his synergy with several cards, Magnus the Red’s abilities lay the groundwork for impactful combinations. His power to buff other creatures can significantly enhance strategies that capitalize on creature strength and dominance.

Meta-Relevance: With the prevalent use of control and mid-range strategies in the current meta, the prowess of Magnus the Red, both as a standalone player and a team enhancer, can tilt the game’s balance in your favor.


How to beat

Magnus the Red is a dominant Warhammer character that has secured a distribution in MTG via Universes Beyond. With a unique ability of converting any damage into the drawing of cards, combating him can be a challenge. The key to beating Magnus the Red is understanding his strength and formulating a strategy accordingly.

As a 5/5 creature, Magnus the Red requires targeted removal or a powerful blocker to eliminate. Cards with the ability to destroy target creature, such as Murder or Dire Tactics, can be beneficial. They can directly counter his impact and remove him from the battlefield.

Another counter strategy is aggressive mana ramping or negating the opponent’s mana sources, limiting their ability to pay for Magnus’ abilities. However, a cautionary approach should be adopted as Magnus’ damage-to-card draw ability can reload an opponent’s hand, potentially turning the tides.

In short, while Magnus the Red is a powerful card, an effective strategy and the right deck choices can help outmaneuver this formidable MTG addition. Understanding his strengths and planning accordingly is key to gaining victory over this daunting and competent adversary.


BurnMana Recommendations

Unearthing the tactics to optimize your MTG gameplay with Magnus the Red can shift the balance of power in your favor. His ability to generate card advantage and accelerate resources, while commanding a swift battlefield presence, can deeply influence your strategy. However, it’s crucial to weigh the impact of his discard requirement and higher casting cost on your overall game plan. Should Magnus find a place in your arsenal, his versatility and combo potential align perfectly with aggressive decks that thrive on creature strength. Eager to expand your collection and dominate the battlefield? Dive deeper with us into MTG strategies that harness the might of Magnus the Red.


Cards like Magnus the Red

Magnus the Red offers an intriguing dynamic to the complex play of Magic: The Gathering, drawing comparisons to other commanding figures in the game. A figure to compare is Ahriman, who, like Magnus, is a potent spellcaster. Nevertheless, Magnus leads with his power of transformation, varying when equated with Ahriman’s prescience abilities.

Pertaining Along these lines, we introduce Kharn the Betrayer. In comparison with Magnus, while both are effective in combat, Kharn’s alignment with chaos forces is in polar contrast to Magnus who aligns with the Tzeentch. Uniquely, whereas Kharn focuses on physical attack, Magnus champions psychic onslaught.

Furthermore, we encounter Lorgar, a warlord with divine gifts similar to Magnus’s arcana mastery. But, Lorgar’s religious zeal is a striking contrast to Magnus’s pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Nevertheless, like Magnus, engaging Lorgar on the battlefield promises a cataclysmic showdown.

Ultimately, comparing the traits and unique attributes of each alternative, Magnus the Red holds a distinctive position amongst the most powerful warlords in Magic: The Gathering due to his blend of raw power, intellectual prowess, and mystical capabilities.

Cards similar to Magnus the Red by color, type and mana cost

Minotaur Illusionist - MTG Card versions
Kraum, Ludevic's Opus - MTG Card versions
Hypersonic Dragon - MTG Card versions
Uvilda, Dean of Perfection // Nassari, Dean of Expression - MTG Card versions
Ogre Savant - MTG Card versions
Izzet Chronarch - MTG Card versions
Stormcloud Djinn - MTG Card versions
Dominus of Fealty - MTG Card versions
Mercurial Chemister - MTG Card versions
Maverick Thopterist - MTG Card versions
Spellbound Dragon - MTG Card versions
Thundering Djinn - MTG Card versions
Zara, Renegade Recruiter - MTG Card versions
Oggyar Battle-Seer - MTG Card versions
Storm Skreelix - MTG Card versions
Lozhan, Dragons' Legacy - MTG Card versions
Firkraag, Cunning Instigator - MTG Card versions
Alora, Cheerful Swashbuckler - MTG Card versions
Najal, the Storm Runner - MTG Card versions
Winged Hive Tyrant - MTG Card versions
Minotaur Illusionist - MTG Card versions
Kraum, Ludevic's Opus - MTG Card versions
Hypersonic Dragon - MTG Card versions
Uvilda, Dean of Perfection // Nassari, Dean of Expression - MTG Card versions
Ogre Savant - MTG Card versions
Izzet Chronarch - MTG Card versions
Stormcloud Djinn - MTG Card versions
Dominus of Fealty - MTG Card versions
Mercurial Chemister - MTG Card versions
Maverick Thopterist - MTG Card versions
Spellbound Dragon - MTG Card versions
Thundering Djinn - MTG Card versions
Zara, Renegade Recruiter - MTG Card versions
Oggyar Battle-Seer - MTG Card versions
Storm Skreelix - MTG Card versions
Lozhan, Dragons' Legacy - MTG Card versions
Firkraag, Cunning Instigator - MTG Card versions
Alora, Cheerful Swashbuckler - MTG Card versions
Najal, the Storm Runner - MTG Card versions
Winged Hive Tyrant - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Magnus the Red MTG card by a specific set like Warhammer 40,000 Commander and Warhammer 40,000 Commander, 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 Magnus the Red and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Magnus the Red Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2022-10-07 and 2022-10-07. Illustrated by Wonchun Choi.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12022-10-07Warhammer 40,000 Commander40K 131★2015NormalBlackWonchun Choi
22022-10-07Warhammer 40,000 Commander40K 1312015NormalBlackWonchun Choi

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Magnus the Red has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2022-10-07 Activating a permanent card's unearth ability isn’t the same as casting it as a spell. The unearth ability is put on the stack, but the card is not. Spells and abilities that interact with activated abilities (such as Stifle) will interact with unearth, but spells and abilities that interact with spells (such as Cancel) will not.
2022-10-07 At the beginning of the end step, a permanent returned to the battlefield with unearth is exiled. This is a delayed triggered ability, and it can be countered by effects that counter triggered abilities. If the ability is countered, the permanent will stay on the battlefield and the delayed trigger won’t trigger again. However, the replacement effect will still exile it if it eventually leaves the battlefield.
2022-10-07 If a permanent returned to the battlefield by an unearth ability would leave it for any reason, it’s exiled instead—unless the spell or ability that's causing it to leave the battlefield is actually trying to exile it. In that case, the spell or ability succeeds at exiling the permanent. If the spell or ability later returns the card to the battlefield, it will return as a new object with no relation to its previous existence. The unearth effect will no longer apply to it.
2022-10-07 If you activate a card’s unearth ability but that card is removed from your graveyard before the ability resolves, that unearth ability will resolve and do nothing.
2022-10-07 The total cost to cast a spell is locked in before you pay that cost. For example, if you control three creature tokens, including one you can sacrifice to add to your mana pool, the total cost to cast an instant with mana cost is . Then you can sacrifice the creature when you activate mana abilities just before paying the cost.
2022-10-07 Unearth grants haste to the permanent that’s returned to the battlefield. However, neither of the “exile” abilities is granted to that permanent. If that creature loses all its abilities, it will still be exiled at the beginning of the end step, and if it would leave the battlefield, it is still exiled instead.