How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. The card provides strategic advantage with multiple draws, thus offering diversified tactical options each turn.
  2. Its ability to cast at instant speed keeps opponents guessing and allows for adaptable battlefield responses.
  3. Considering the card’s resource acceleration, it is a potent enabler for casting powerful spells ahead of time.

Text of card

Return CARDNAME to its owner's hand.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy card offers a strategic upper hand by allowing multiple card draws. This boost ensures you have plenty of options and strategic diversity every turn, keeping your hand replenished and ready to react to the shifting tides of the game.

Resource Acceleration: One of the key benefits is its ability to speed up your resource generation. By enabling the creation of additional mana through alternative means, this card can rapidly accelerate your gameplay, allowing you to unleash powerful spells and creatures ahead of schedule.

Instant Speed: The instantaneous nature of this spell is its ace in the hole. With the ability to cast at instant speed, you maintain the element of surprise, keeping your adversaries on their toes. Not only can you disrupt their strategies, but you can also adapt fluidly to the ever-changing battlefield— all while preserving your resources for the most opportune moment.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy necessitates that you let go of another card from your hand, which can put you at a disadvantage during key moments, especially when your hand is already running on fumes.

Specific Mana Cost: The sorcery is locked into both blue and red mana, making it a specialized tool, apt only for decks that can reliably generate these colors. This specificity can hamper its inclusion in a variety of deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that demands both a decent amount of mana and particular types, you should weigh your options. Ostensibly equivalent spells could be found that achieve similar outcomes but at a lower cost and with less stringent requirements on your mana base.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy is a card that can seamlessly adapt to different playstyles. Its design enables it to be slotted into various deck archetypes that thrive on spell casting and cycling through the deck for answers or combo pieces.

Combo Potential: Known for playing off the synergies between instants and sorceries, Izzet decks capitalize on such spells weaving in good measure. This particular card is no exception, providing additional angles for combo interactions that can lead to unexpected victories.

Meta-Relevance: Given that Izzet decks persist as a formidable presence in the current meta, incorporating How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy can elevate the strategy against prevalent control and tempo decks. Its inclusion ensures that your strategy stays as dynamic and challenging as the ever-shifting MTG landscape demands.


How to beat

How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy is a card that brings a unique dynamic to games of Magic: The Gathering. It primarily acts as a form of disruption, compelling an opponent to either lose a turn committing to its condition or deal with the potential consequences of ignoring it. Beating this card requires foresight and the ability to pivot strategies effectively. Players can bypass the loss of tempo by leveraging instant-speed spells that can be played during an opponent’s turn, ensuring the game progress remains unaffected. Additionally, cards with flash can be incredibly valuable in conserving momentum while still developing the board state.

Another avenue to counter How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy is by employing redundant actions or effects. This could include utilizing cards with repeatable abilities or those that replace their own effects, which can minimize the impact of what might otherwise be a game-delaying decision. Counterplay often involves assessing the value of the action demanded by the card against the broader game state and deciding whether to engage or adjust the approach to maintain an advantageous position.


Cards like How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy

How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy offers an intriguing gameplay experience for fans of spell-slinging and strategy. It draws a parallel with the well-known card game staple Goblin Electromancer, which also facilitates casting numerous spells by making them cost less to play. However, unlike the consistent cost reduction provided by Goblin Electromancer, the complexity brought about by How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy lies in its unique puzzle-like effect which demands a specific sequencing of spells.

Another card with which it shares similarities is Wee Dragonauts, a creature that benefits from casting multiple spells in a turn, thus increasing its flexibility and power incrementally. Though How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy doesn’t directly amplify power like Wee Dragonauts, it offers an alternative form of advantage by challenging the player’s tactical acumen.

In weighing these comparisons, it’s clear that How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy stands out as a card that not only integrates with Izzet playstyles but also adds a layer of thoughtful engagement, encouraging players to plan and execute their spells in a precise order to achieve maximum benefit.

Goblin Electromancer - MTG Card versions
Wee Dragonauts - MTG Card versions
Goblin Electromancer - Duel Decks: Izzet vs. Golgari (DDJ)
Wee Dragonauts - Arena League 2006 (PAL06)

Cards similar to How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy by color, type and mana cost

Illuminate - MTG Card versions
Illuminate - Apocalypse (APC)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy MTG card by a specific set like Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019 and Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021, 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 How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-11-07 and 2021-08-20. Illustrated by Scott Van Essen.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-11-07Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019CMB1 932015normalblackScott Van Essen
22021-08-20Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021CMB2 932015normalblackScott Van Essen

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