Moonring Island MTG Card
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Land — Island |
| Released | 2008-05-02 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Shadowmoor |
| Set code | SHM |
| Number | 276 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Brandon Kitkouski |
Text of card
(: Add to your mana pool.) Moonring Island comes into play tapped. , : Look at the top card of target player's library. Play this ability only if you control two or more blue permanents.
Cards like Moonring Island
Moonring Island stands as a unique land card in Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to other land cards providing colorless mana, such as the well-known Reliquary Tower. However, Moonring Island offers a strategic edge with its ability to look at the top card of any player’s library at the cost of it being untapped and a blue mana. This selective insight isn’t shared by Reliquary Tower which focuses on granting no maximum hand size.
Mystic Sanctuary is another card to compare, as it taps for blue mana like Moonring Island, but it also allows players to put an instant or sorcery card from their graveyard on top of their library—adding a recursive dimension to your strategy. Unlike Moonring Island, Mystic Sanctuary requires more stringent conditions like having three or more other Islands to become fully operative. There’s also Halimar Depths, entering the battlefield tapped, but offering a mini-brainstorm by letting you look at the top three cards of your library and rearrange them to plan future draws.
Each card caters to different aspects of control and foresight in the game, yet Moonring Island’s capacity to directly invigilate any top card presents a subtle yet potent form of board awareness and resource management in MTG.
Cards similar to Moonring Island by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Moonring Island contributes to card advantage by enabling its controller to peek at the top card of their deck whenever they want, effectively sifting through their library to draw the best cards at the right moments. This strategic insight can be pivotal, ensuring you are always a step ahead in the game.
Resource Acceleration: While the island isn’t a direct source of resource acceleration, its capacity to reliably produce blue mana with no drawback is key in casting influential spells swiftly and efficiently. This consistency in mana production keeps you on curve and ready to respond to an evolving board state.
Instant Speed: The ability to peek at the top card of your deck at instant speed cannot be overstated. It works seamlessly with the flow of the game, allowing you to use this ability at the end of your opponent’s turn or in response to actions that alter the top of your library, providing timely decision-making support without sacrificing momentum.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Moonring Island’s ability comes with a condition that necessitates discarding a card. This might strain your hand, especially when you’re trying to maintain card advantage over your opponent.
Specific Mana Cost: This card taps for blue mana, and its activated ability also requires blue mana, making it less flexible and more suitable for blue-centric or two-color decks that heavily feature blue.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Moonring Island’s setup cost, alongside its ability activation, requires significant mana investment. Standard deck-builders might opt for land cards that provide immediate utility without such a weighty mana overhead.
Reasons to Include Moonring Island in Your Collection
Versatility: Moonring Island offers a unique land choice for decks that capitalize on deck manipulation. With the ability to peek at the top card of your library anytime you could cast a sorcery, it enhances strategies for cards that care about the top card of the deck, such as those found in “Miracle” builds.
Combo Potential: In combination with cards that let you play with the top card of your library revealed or rearrange the top cards, Moonring Island can set up powerful plays. This enables surprise moves and better decision-making, especially in formats like Commander where information is king.
Meta-Relevance: As the meta shifts towards control-centric decks, having insider knowledge on your next draw can prove critical. Moonring Island slips smoothly into blue-based control or combo decks, maintaining tempo and providing a strategic edge over opponents in a game where every card drawn counts.
How to beat Moonring Island
Moonring Island is an intriguing land card that can influence the flow of a Magic: The Gathering match by offering control players a consistent way to peek at an opponent’s next move. It allows players to look at the top card of an opponent’s library at the cost of obtaining an island and having no untapped lands during their upkeep.
Overcoming the strategic advantage that Moonring Island provides involves a few different tactics. Players might aim to enhance land destruction strategies, utilizing cards like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin to disrupt the mana base and render Moonring Island useless. Alternatively, incorporating cards that shuffle the opponent’s library, such as Primal Command or fetch lands, can negate the foresight Moonring Island grants by modifying the top card of the library.
Countering this card also includes augmenting one’s playstyle. A more aggressive approach, forcing the opponent to keep lands untapped for defensive purposes, caninvalidate the Island’s ability. Lastly, employing instant-speed spells and abilities that can be activated during the upkeep nullify the handicap of having to tap out, maintaining momentum while sidestepping Moonring Island’s conditional foresight.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Moonring Island MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor, 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 Moonring Island and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Moonring Island has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |