Ordeal of Heliod MTG Card

Provides strategic life gain potential when quest counters on the creature are fulfilled. Enables resource redirection and board state advancement with successful enchantment effects. Can catch opponents off guard and enhance creature survivability during combat.

Theros (THS)
2013-09-27 - Number 25

Masters 25 (A25)
2018-03-16 - Number 27

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant

Text of card

Enchant creature Whenever enchanted creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it. Then if it has three or more +1/+1 counters on it, sacrifice Ordeal of Heliod. When you sacrifice Ordeal of Heliod, you gain 10 life.

Cards like Ordeal of Heliod

Ordeal of Heliod is an intriguing enchantment in the vast repertoire of Magic: The Gathering. This White enchantment shares its thematic kinship with cards like Faith’s Fetters. Both enchantments offer secondary benefits upon meeting certain conditions. However, Ordeal of Heliod stands out due to its heroic trigger mechanic, which not only boosts the creature but eventually grants you a life-gaining reward once the creature has proven itself in combat.

Likewise, Sunbond is another enchantment that has synergy with life gain, yet differs as it focuses on placing +1/+1 counters every time you gain life, converting the benefit into growing power on the battlefield. Sunbond, unlike Ordeal of Heliod, doesn’t have a built-in mechanism for triggering life gain. Then there’s Griffin Guide, which similarly boosts a creature’s power and even offers flying, but lacks any life gain effects. However, it does provide creature resilience by creating a token when your enchanted creature dies.

In evaluation, Ordeal of Heliod fits well within its niche, offering both an immediate strength enhancement and a significant life boost, establishing it as a valuable choice for players utilizing heroic strategies or life gain tactics in their decks.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ordeal of Heliod delivers card advantage by potentially netting you a significant life boost after successfully achieving its quest counters, which in turn can provide a strategic edge, especially in formats where life totals are a key resource.

Resource Acceleration: Successfully fulfilling the Ordeal’s conditions not only bolsters your life points but frees up resources that may have otherwise been spent stabilizing your life total. This allows you to redirect your mana and other resources toward advancing your board state or disrupting your opponent’s.

Instant Speed: While Ordeal of Heliod itself is not an instant, the payoff upon completion can effectively work as an instant speed boon during your attack, boosting survivability out of nowhere, and catching opponents off-guard during the combat phase.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ordeal of Heliod requires you to invest in a single creature over multiple turns, which can leave you vulnerable if that creature is removed before the benefits are realized.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s devotion to white mana can be restrictive and often mandates a heavy commitment to white or two-color decks, limiting its flexibility in multicolored deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Requiring three mana and waiting for three turns to fulfill the Ordeal counters can be inefficient when compared to other lifegain spells or enchantments that provide immediate value or effects.

Reasons to Include Ordeal of Heliod in Your Collection

Versatility: Ordeal of Heliod can seamlessly find its place in a variety of deck archetypes, particularly those that focus on creature growth and life gain. Its enchant creature nature opens possibilities for bolstering small creatures into significant threats.

Combo Potential: This card thrives in synergy with strategies that place +1/+1 counters on creatures or require gaining life. When the enchanted creature swings for the third time, not only is it strengthened, but you also gain a notable 10 life, which can pivot the game state in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: The ability to gain a substantial amount of life makes Ordeal of Heliod a relevant sideboard card, especially in metas where aggro decks are prevalent. It helps in sustaining against early pressure and provides a path to stabilizing the board.

How to beat

Ordeal of Heliod is a unique enchantment in the realm of Magic: The Gathering that can bolster a creature’s power and eventually grant a substantial life gain. This aura, part of the Theros block, grows stronger with each attack, presenting a ticking time bomb for opponents. To dismantle this, focus on removals or counterspells before the heroic trigger can go off, ensuring the creature doesn’t get the chance to become too powerful or provide its controller with the coveted ten life bonus.

When facing Ordeal of Heliod, options like Naturalize or Disenchant allow you to target the enchantment directly, stripping your opponent of their investment. Whereas creatures like Qasali Pridemage, with their ability to destroy enchantments as a secondary function, can be useful additions to your deck. Countering spells that rely on the accumulation of counters or specific triggers, like Ordeal of Heliod, can efficiently negate their effects before they reach fruition and help maintain the balance of the game in your favor.

Ultimately, maintaining control over the battlefield and managing threats promptly can ensure Ordeal of Heliod’s potential is never fully realized, helping you secure victory over opponents who might have otherwise turned the tides with its life-boosting payoff.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ordeal of Heliod MTG card by a specific set like Theros and Masters 25, 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 Ordeal of Heliod and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ordeal of Heliod Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-09-27 and 2018-03-16. Illustrated by Lucas Graciano.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2013-09-27	Theros	THS		25	2003	Normal	Black	Lucas Graciano
2	2018-03-16	Masters 25	A25		27	2015	Normal	Black	Lucas Graciano

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ordeal of Heliod has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-15	If you sacrifice the Ordeal in some other way, its last ability will trigger.
2013-09-15	The +1/+1 counter is put on the creature before blockers are declared and before combat damage is dealt.
2013-09-15	The check of whether the enchanted creature has three or more +1/+1 counters on it happens as part of the resolution of the attack triggered ability. If the third +1/+1 counter is put on the enchanted creature any other way, you won't sacrifice the Ordeal until the next time the creature attacks.