Damping Matrix MTG Card
2003-10-02 - Number 161
2017-03-17 - Number 218
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Artifact |
Key Takeaways
- The Damping Matrix offers indirect card advantage by neutralizing opponents’ game-changing activated abilities.
- It ensures a level playing field, especially in tempo-sensitive games, by suppressing mana and creature abilities.
- While it can restrict your own strategy, its presence continuously enforces control over the game’s state.
Text of card
Activated abilities of artifacts and creatures can't be played unless they're mana abilities.
The priests tried cursing it. The mages tried dispelling it. In the end, they all obeyed it.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Although the Damping Matrix itself does not draw cards, it effectively negates activated abilities of your opponent’s cards. This limits their access to potentially game-altering effects, essentially providing you with an indirect card advantage by reducing their resource utility.
Resource Acceleration: While Damping Matrix does not directly accelerate your resources, it helps maintain yours by preventing your opponent from leveraging mana abilities of artifacts or creatures to outpace you. This leveling of the playing field can be crucial in matches where tempo and resource curves are key.
Instant Speed: The Damping Matrix operates at the speed of the game itself—it’s always ‘on’ once it hits the board. Unlike instant speed spells, it doesn’t wait for the right moment to be used. Once in play, it immediately starts suppressing the activated abilities of artifacts and creatures, continuously imposing a state of control over the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Damping Matrix does not directly require you to discard a card, it constrains your ability to use activated abilities of artifacts and creatures. This can feel like a discard if those abilities are central to your strategy, effectively reducing your on-hand resources.
Specific Mana Cost: Damping Matrix commands a specific mana investment of three generic mana. This isn’t colour restrictive, but it does demand a slot in your mana curve that might not align with all deck types, especially those that rely on a swift setup.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three, Damping Matrix is not the cheapest option for an artifact that restricts abilities. Other cards might offer similar effects or more desirable utility at a lower mana investment, making it a sometimes less efficient choice in decks where economy of play is crucial.
Reasons to Include Damping Matrix in Your Collection
Versatility: Damping Matrix is a powerful artifact that can be slotted into various decks. It’s a tool that appeals to players who appreciate a mechanism to shut down activated abilities of other artifacts, creatures, and lands, making it a versatile inclusion in metagames filled with utility-dependent decks.
Combo Potential: This card can be a linchpin in strategies designed to inhibit opponents’ combos. With the ability to neutralize a wide range of activated abilities, it can hinder opponents from executing their strategy while you advance your own board state unimpeded.
Meta-Relevance: Given the fluctuating nature of the game’s metagame, Damping Matrix has the potential to be a highly relevant sideboard card. Especially in metas dominated by activated abilities, it can serve as an essential countermeasure, keeping decks that rely heavily on these effects in check.
How to beat
Damping Matrix is a unique artifact that presents a challenging obstacle for players in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to restrict the activation of abilities of both creatures and artifacts can put a damper on many strategies. Removing activated abilities from the equation means that assault-focused decks relying on those triggers might stumble when facing a Damping Matrix in play.
To efficiently handle this card, you’ll need to look at artifact destruction options or ways to sidestep its effects. One route is through spells that can deal with enchantments and artifacts uniformly. Naturalize and Disenchant, for instance, are straightforward solutions that efficiently remove the Matrix from the battlefield, unshackling your creatures and artifacts. Alternatively, focusing on passive abilities, rather than activated ones, remains an effective strategy that bypasses Damping Matrix’s restrictive nature.
Ultimately, Damping Matrix carries the potential to shift the tempo and tactics of a game, requiring players to adapt either by removing the threat outright or by crafting a deck that minimizes the impact of activation-denying mechanics. Navigating around or through this card is crucial in maintaining your strategy’s potency and keeping your game plan on track.
Cards like Damping Matrix
Damping Matrix is a unique artifact in the world of Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to lock down activated abilities of all creatures and artifacts. This effect can be likened to the capabilities of cards like Cursed Totem, which specifically restricts creature abilities, ensuring that neither player can activate them. Although Cursed Totem has a narrower focus compared to Damping Matrix’s broader influence, it also comes at a lower casting cost, making it a preferred choice for some strategies.
Another similar card is Linvala, Keeper of Silence. As a creature, Linvala serves the dual purpose of providing a board presence while also suppressing the activated abilities of your opponent’s creatures. This can be significantly advantageous in creature-heavy metas. However, Damping Matrix extends its restraint to artifacts as well, though it lacks the combat capabilities Linvala offers.
While Damping Matrix does not directly remove threats from the board like Null Rod, which also prevents artifacts from being activated, its broader range of suppression across all artifact and creature activated abilities makes it a versatile tool in MTG. Its inclusion in decks is strategic, particularly for those seeking to hinder key mechanisms of an opponent’s game plan.
Cards similar to Damping Matrix by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Damping Matrix MTG card by a specific set like Mirrodin and Modern Masters 2017, 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 Damping Matrix 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 MTG Products
Printings
The Damping Matrix Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2003-10-02 and 2017-03-17. Illustrated by Mike Dringenberg.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2003-10-02 | Mirrodin | MRD | 161 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Mike Dringenberg | |
| 2 | 2017-03-17 | Modern Masters 2017 | MM3 | 218 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Mike Dringenberg |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Damping Matrix has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Damping Matrix card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-03-14 | A mana ability is an ability that produces mana, not an ability that costs mana. |
| 2017-03-14 | Activated abilities contain a colon. They’re generally written “ -ost: -ffect].” Some keyword abilities, such as equip, are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder text. |
| 2017-03-14 | Damping Matrix’s ability affects only artifacts and creatures on the battlefield. Activated abilities that work in other zones (such as bloodrush or unearth) can still be activated. Triggered abilities (starting with “when,” “whenever,” or “at”) are unaffected. |
