Melira's Keepers MTG Card
2011-02-04 - Number 83
2020-09-26 - Number MBS-83
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Human Warrior |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 4 |
Key Takeaways
- Melira’s Keepers enhances decks focused on +1/+1 counters, providing notable card advantage and synergy.
- Gains indirect resource acceleration by pressuring opponents to respond to its potential indestructibility.
- Adapts well to instant-speed strategies, allowing players to maintain mana efficiency and surprise elements.
Text of card
Melira's Keepers can't have counters placed on it.
Her warriors are the last defense against the coming storm.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Delving into the perks of Melira’s Keepers in your deck, one immediately recognizes its potential to tilt the scales in terms of card advantage. This card, while may not directly draw you additional cards, fits seamlessly into strategies that capitalize on +1/+1 counters, providing synergy with numerous other cards that can lead to drawing cards or tutoring for key components in your deck. The inherent resilience to certain kinds of removal, thanks to its indestructible trait when combined with Melira, synergistically turns into a formidable force that helps in maintaining your board presence.
Resource Acceleration: Under the right circumstances, Melira’s Keepers can act as a catalyst for resource acceleration. By being a creature that demands an immediate answer due to its synergies with Melira and other cards that benefit from counters, it can burden your opponent’s resources or divert their attention, allowing you to make more impactful plays undisturbed. This indirect method of gaining an advantage in resources can influence the course of the match substantially.
Instant Speed: While Melira’s Keepers itself isn’t an instant, it fits well in a deck structure that appreciates the value of acting at instant speed. In particular, it meshes well with decks that hold up mana for reactive plays, since opponents might hesitate to use their removal on it due to its indestructible potential. This hesitance allows the Melira’s Keepers controller to optimize their mana usage and play instant speed spells effectively during the enemy’s turn, maintaining the element of surprise and adaptability.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Melira’s Keepers requires discarding a card as part of the casting cost, which can be a steep price, especially in decks that don’t capitalize on graveyard strategies or card recursion.
Specific Mana Cost: This creature demands a precise mana arrangement to be cast, which can be restrictive and potentially problematic in multicolored decks that struggle with mana consistency.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that is significant when compared to other creatures of similar or greater power levels, Melira’s Keepers may not be the most mana-efficient option available, reducing its potential playability in faster, more competitive formats.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Melira’s Keepers can be a robust addition to various decks, adapting well to strategies that aim to exploit its undying mechanic. This ability makes it a resilient threat that can survive multiple removal spells or board wipes.
Combo Potential: Teamed up with cards like “Melira, Sylvok Outcast,” this creature becomes an invaluable piece in an intricate combo to generate infinite damage or bolster your life total, giving you a winning edge on the battlefield.
Meta-Relevance: Given its resilience to removal and potential for combo synergies, Melira’s Keepers can swiftly adapt to meta games that are heavy on creature-based strategies. Such versatility can give players an upper hand in those dynamic gameplay environments.
How to beat
Melira’s Keepers is an intriguing card that can pose a threat if left unchecked on the battlefield. It is often used in decks that focus on counter manipulation and resilience against removal spells. However, despite its daunting presence, there are strategies you can employ to effectively counteract this card and maintain control of the game.
To beat Melira’s Keepers, it is important to understand that while the card is immune to being sacrificed, it is not invulnerable. Cards that change creature types can circumvent its protection, allowing you to deal with it as though it were any other creature. Additionally, utilizing board wipes that don’t target specific creatures, such as “Wrath of God” or “Damnation,” can clear it from the field as they don’t involve targeting or sacrificing. Creature abilities that aren’t classified as “sacrifice” or “target” work, too; consider “Massacre Wurm” or “Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite” for this approach.
The key to keeping Melira’s Keepers from overwhelming you is to adapt your strategy around its limitations. Focus on cards and tactics that alter the normal rules of engagement, and Melira’s Keepers will soon be a manageable hurdle in your path to victory.
Cards like Melira's Keepers
Melira’s Keepers is an intriguing creature card in MTG that draws a close comparison with other formidable undying or persist creatures. It stands out with its ability to be immune to persist and undying, which means it doesn’t get -1/-1 counters and cannot be returned to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter after dying. This is a distinctive advantage it holds over creatures like Young Wolf, which has undying and benefits from returning to play post death, yet can be hindered by counters.
Considering Grizzly Bears, both cards have the same casting cost and power/toughness, but Melira’s Keepers adds resilience against negative counter strategies, which Grizzly Bears lacks. Another card worth mentioning is Strangleroot Geist, a creature with undying that mirrors the aggressiveness of Melira’s Keepers but offers the comeback potential that Keepers purposely avoids.
The key takeaway is that Melira’s Keepers carves a niche in the meta by providing a safeguard against particular counter plays, making it a strategic choice for decks that aim to maintain a stable board presence without the repercussions of returning with diminished strength.
Cards similar to Melira's Keepers by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Melira's Keepers MTG card by a specific set like Mirrodin Besieged and The List, 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 Melira's Keepers 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 Melira's Keepers Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2011-02-04 and 2011-02-04. Illustrated by Eric Deschamps.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011-02-04 | Mirrodin Besieged | MBS | 83 | 2003 | normal | black | Eric Deschamps | |
| 2 | The List | PLST | MBS-83 | 2003 | normal | black | Eric Deschamps |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Melira's Keepers has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Melira's Keepers card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2011-06-01 | Damage from a source with infect has no effect on Melira’s Keepers. No -1/-1 counters are placed on it, and no damage is marked on it. The damage is still dealt for purposes of effects that care about damage, such as lifelink. |
| 2011-06-01 | If Melira’s Keepers would enter the battlefield with a counter on it, it simply enters the battlefield without that counter. |
| 2011-06-01 | If a creature with a counter on it becomes a copy of Melira’s Keepers, those counters will remain. |
| 2011-06-01 | Melira’s Keepers can’t have any kind of counters placed on it, not just -1/-1 counters. |
