Nephalia MTG Card

Rarity	Common
Type	Plane — Innistrad
Abilities	Mill
Released	2018-12-25
Set symbol
Set name	Planechase Anthology Planes
Set code	OPCA
Number	56
Frame	2015
Layout	Planar
Border	Black
Illustred by	Daniel Ljunggren

Key Takeaways

Nephalia adds depth to gameplay, offering card advantage through draw and reanimation options.
It ramps up resource generation, paving the way for casting significant spells ahead of opponents.
Instant-speed capabilities of Nephalia cards allow reactive plays, giving strategic surprise elements.

Text of card

At the beginning of your end step, put the top seven cards of your library into your graveyard. Then return a card at random from your graveyard to your hand. Whenever you roll {Chaos}, return target card from your graveyard to your hand.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nephalia cards often provide players with the ability to draw cards or reanimate key creatures from the graveyard, granting a solid advantage over opponents by increasing hand options and potential plays.

Resource Acceleration: Some Nephalia cards specialize in ramping up your mana production or providing additional resources, essential for casting more influential spells earlier in the game or outpacing the competition.

Instant Speed: The instant-speed interaction offered by certain Nephalia cards can be game-changing, allowing players to react to threats or create surprise advantages during an opponent’s turn without compromising their own strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Nephalia card necessitates the player to discard, potentially depleting hand advantage which is crucial in many strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise blend of mana, including blue, which might not align with decks that don’t heavily utilize that color, restricting its versatility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment needed to play Nephalia is notable, and could be seen as steep compared to other options that fulfill a similar role with less of a mana commitment.

Reasons to Include Nephalia in Your Collection

Versatility: Nephalia cards, with their broad utility, seamlessly integrate into various deck archetypes, including those focusing on graveyard mechanics or spellslinger strategies. They offer diverse functionalities that can bolster both offense and defense depending on the build.

Combo Potential: Many Nephalia cards possess synergies that can create powerful combinations with other cards, amplifying the strength of strategies centered around milling opponents or utilizing the graveyard as an extended hand.

Meta-Relevance: Given a game environment that heavily features strategies such as reanimation or control, Nephalia’s ability to manipulate graveyards and provide strategic advantage makes these cards a formidable choice for staying competitive and relevant in various meta situations.

How to beat

The Nephalia card in Magic: The Gathering presents a challenging obstacle with its unique abilities that often play on graveyards and the undead. To counter this elusive card, adapting your strategy is crucial. Utilizing graveyard removal tactics can effectively neutralize the advantages Nephalia offers. Cards like Rest in Peace or Scavenging Ooze strip the power from graveyard-based strategies, diminishing Nephalia’s impact on the game.

Similarly, playing with exile effects ensures that creatures don’t simply return from the graveyard for Nephalia to exploit. Spells like Path to Exile or cards offering exile mechanics prevent Nephalia from leveraging its usual strengths. Flexibility in deck building and a good understanding of timing are essential when facing off against Nephalia. Adjustments to sideboards and maintaining awareness of meta shifts can help players anticipate and prepare for the challenges posed by Nephalia and similar cards.

Ultimately, it’s about staying one step ahead. Being proactive in managing your opponent’s graveyard and keeping a versatile response in your hand could be the key to success. By focusing on these strategies, players can mitigate the effects of Nephalia and maintain a solid footing in their quest for victory in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards like Nephalia

The Nephalia card is a standout in the MTG league, drawing easy comparison to other location-themed cards. A prime example would be Reliquary Tower, which also offers no maximum hand size effect. Yet, Nephalia offers additional utility for graveyard strategies, allowing a player to delve deeper into their deck by drawing and discarding cards.

Similar utility can be seen in cards like Geier Reach Sanitarium. This card lets each player draw and discard, promoting both hand sculpting and subtle disruption. However, whereas Geier Reach provides symmetry for all players, Nephalia targets the card’s controller, giving them a unique advantage.

Another related card is Desolate Lighthouse. This card supplies a loot effect, letting a player draw and then discard, akin to Nephalia’s ability. The critical difference lies in the mana cost to activate this effect, with Desolate Lighthouse requiring a different resource investment, which can be more demanding than Nephalia’s cost-efficient ability.

Comparing these similar MTG cards, Nephalia holds its ground with a balance of cost, control, and synergistic potential, making it a competitive option for players seeking to fine-tune their deck’s performance with strategic hand and graveyard manipulations.

Geier Reach Sanitarium - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nephalia MTG card by a specific set like Planechase Anthology Planes, 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 Nephalia and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2012-06-01	Nephalia’s first ability doesn’t target any card, and players don’t get priority to cast spells or activate abilities in between putting cards into your graveyard and choosing a card to return.