Alhammarret's Archive MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Artifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Enhanced card draw grants significant advantage by rapidly expanding your hand with additional options.
  2. Doubles life gain, making your position much more resilient and harder to defeat in lengthy duels.
  3. Instant-speed draw spells become more valuable, maximizing card advantage during opponent’s turns.

Text of card

If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead. If you would draw a card except the first one you draw in each of your draw steps, draw two cards instead.

It contains the totality of Alhammarret's notes, theories, and ponderings.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Alhammarret’s Archive in play, every time you draw a card, you draw an additional one. This effect can rapidly fill your hand with options, setting you up to outpace your opponents in terms of available resources.

Resource Acceleration: This card doesn’t just double your draw; it also doubles the life you gain. If you’re gaining life through spells and abilities, you’re effectively accelerating your resource base, making you harder to defeat and giving you more staying power in longer matches.

Instant Speed: While Alhammarret’s Archive itself is not an instant, it enhances the value of instant-speed draw spells in your deck. By allowing you to gain the double-draw benefit during your opponent’s turn, it ensures that you’re always maximizing your card advantage at critical moments in the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Alhammarret’s Archive does not directly demand discarding cards, yet it emphasizes hand refilling. However, if a deck lacks discard outlets or ways to capitalize on a fuller hand, this artifact might not reach its maximum potential, leaving players with a wealth of cards but possibly no immediate benefit.

Specific Mana Cost: Despite its colorless mana cost which allows inclusion in any deck, Alhammarret’s Archive requires a substantial investment of five mana. This necessitates careful planning and sometimes delays playing other impactful cards during crucial game stages.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its five mana cost, players might find the Archive less appealing compared to lower-cost alternatives that provide immediate card draw or life gain. In fast-paced games, such a high cost could potentially set back a player’s tempo, allowing opponents to gain a competitive edge before the card’s benefits can be realized.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Alhammarret’s Archive is a versatile card that adds value across various MTG deck archetypes. It shines in strategies that thrive on card draw and life gain, enhancing their potency significantly.

Combo Potential: This artifact excels when combined with cards that allow you to draw extra cards or gain life. Its ability to double the effect of these actions can quickly tilt the game in your favor, creating powerful synergies in your deck.

Meta-Relevance: Given the right circumstances and decks in play, Alhammarret’s Archive can be a game-changer. In particular, against slower, control-oriented metagames, the additional draw and life gain can provide the sustainability and resources needed to outlast your opponents.


How to beat

Alhammarret’s Archive presents a unique challenge on the battlefield, elevating a player’s capacity to gain life and draw cards, which can dramatically sway the game’s momentum in their favor. To effectively neutralize the advantage conferred by this artifact, consider targeting it directly with artifact destruction spells. Efficient examples include cards like Naturalize or Disenchant, which are staples in most sideboards and capable of removing artifacts or enchantments at a low mana cost.

Moreover, countering Alhammarret’s Archive during the casting phase can be an excellent strategy. Counter spells like Negate are particularly effective here, as they ensure the Archive never hits the field. In addition, managing your opponent’s library and hand with thoughtfully timed discard effects can prevent them from ever drawing or benefiting from the card. Thoughtseize or Duress are exemplary in this role, giving you the chance to remove key pieces from their game plan before they can be deployed.

Facing down Alhammarret’s Archive requires a blend of proactive disruption and precise timing. By interrupting your opponent’s strategies and employing the right removal at the right time, you can mitigate the impact of this powerful MTG card and maintain the upper hand.


BurnMana Recommendations

Maximizing the potential of Alhammarret’s Archive requires clever deck-building and a deep understanding of MTG mechanics. This artifact has the power to turn the tide in your favor, synthesizing with draw and life gain strategies to create a formidable advantage. If you’re intrigued by the prospects of doubling your gains and propelling your deck to new heights, we encourage you to explore the multitude of synergies that this card can unlock. For those ready to harness the full potential of Alhammarret’s Archive and craft winning strategies, delve deeper with us and add a new level of sophistication to your MTG gameplay.


Cards like Alhammarret's Archive

Alhammarret’s Archive has a unique place among the game-changing artifacts in Magic the Gathering. When looking at cards with similar effects, one might think of Vedalken Orrery, which provides flexibility by allowing you to cast spells as though they have flash. However, where Alhammarret’s Archive shines is in its ability to amplify your card draw and life gain. This is a trait that Vedalken Orrery lacks, emphasizing the Archive’s tailored appeal to decks that thrive on these mechanics.

Another relative in this niche might be Well of Lost Dreams. This artifact also rewards your life gain by turning it into potential card draw. Yet, despite its utility, Well of Lost Dreams requires an additional mana investment each time you wish to draw, whereas Alhammarret’s Archive enhances each life gain and card draw event without further cost, making it an immensely powerful tool for decks that consistently leverage these strategies.

Bearing in mind their individual advantages, it’s evident that Alhammarret’s Archive stands out for its passive benefits that can potentially double the value of draw and life gain turns, making it an extraordinary addition for players who capitalize on such synergies. Its unparalleled functionality in specific deck archetypes ensures its notable position in the pantheon of Magic the Gathering artifacts.

Vedalken Orrery - MTG Card versions
Well of Lost Dreams - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Orrery - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Well of Lost Dreams - Darksteel (DST)

Cards similar to Alhammarret's Archive by color, type and mana cost

Ring of Renewal - MTG Card versions
Clockwork Avian - MTG Card versions
Gauntlets of Chaos - MTG Card versions
Soldevi Steam Beast - MTG Card versions
Sand Golem - MTG Card versions
Pandora's Box - MTG Card versions
Belbe's Portal - MTG Card versions
Crumbling Sanctuary - MTG Card versions
Mind's Eye - MTG Card versions
Horizon Stone - MTG Card versions
The Deck of Many Things - MTG Card versions
Clockwork Vorrac - MTG Card versions
Timesifter - MTG Card versions
Leveler - MTG Card versions
Myr Matrix - MTG Card versions
Dross Golem - MTG Card versions
Razormane Masticore - MTG Card versions
Thran Golem - MTG Card versions
Coat of Arms - MTG Card versions
Clockwork Hydra - MTG Card versions
Ring of Renewal - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Clockwork Avian - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Gauntlets of Chaos - Chronicles (CHR)
Soldevi Steam Beast - Alliances (ALL)
Sand Golem - Mirage (MIR)
Pandora's Box - Astral Cards (PAST)
Belbe's Portal - Nemesis (NEM)
Crumbling Sanctuary - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Mind's Eye - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Horizon Stone - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
The Deck of Many Things - Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Promos (PAFR)
Clockwork Vorrac - Mirrodin (MRD)
Timesifter - Mirrodin (MRD)
Leveler - Mystery Booster Retail Edition Foils (FMB1)
Myr Matrix - Darksteel (DST)
Dross Golem - Darksteel (DST)
Razormane Masticore - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Thran Golem - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Coat of Arms - The List (PLST)
Clockwork Hydra - Time Spiral (TSP)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Alhammarret's Archive MTG card by a specific set like Magic Origins and Mystery Booster, 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 Alhammarret's Archive and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Alhammarret's Archive Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2015-07-17 and 2021-04-23. Illustrated by Richard Wright.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-07-17Magic OriginsORI 2212015normalblackRichard Wright
22019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 15432015normalblackRichard Wright
32020-09-26The ListPLST ORI-2212015normalblackRichard Wright
42021-04-23Commander 2021C21 2332015normalblackRichard Wright

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Alhammarret's Archive has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-06-22 Because Alhammarret’s Archive is legendary, it’s unlikely that one player will control two. However, if that happens, life gained by that player will be multiplied by four. Three Archives will multiply that life gain by eight, and so on.
2015-06-22 If an effect would set your life total to a specific number that’s higher than your current life total, that effect would cause you to gain life equal to the difference. Alhammarret’s Archive will then double the amount of life that effect would cause you to gain. For example, if you have 3 life and an effect says that your life total “becomes 10,” your life total will actually become 17.
2015-06-22 If two or more replacement effects would apply to a card-drawing event, the player drawing the card chooses the order in which to apply them.
2015-06-22 In a Two-Headed Giant game, only the controller of Alhammarret’s Archive is affected by it. If that player’s teammate gains life, Alhammarret’s Archive will have no effect, even when that life gain is applied to the team’s shared life total.
2015-06-22 Similarly, the effects of the last abilities of multiple Archives are cumulative. If you control two, you’ll draw four times the number of cards, and so on.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks