Grifter's Blade MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip, Flash

Key Takeaways

  1. Grifter’s Blade can be equipped immediately, allowing for unexpected combat advantages and strategic flexibility.
  2. The mana cost and instant equip feature balance versatility with deck building considerations and mana management.
  3. Despite its competitive mana cost, Grifter’s Blade thrives in environments rich in creature-based strategies.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash As Grifter's Blade enters the battlefield, choose a creature you control it could be attached to. If you do, it enters the battlefield attached to that creature. Equipped creature gets +1/+1. Equip


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Grifter’s Blade doesn’t directly influence the card advantage in a traditional way, but it can be attached to a creature immediately upon entering the battlefield thanks to its flash ability. This can help maintain pressure on the opponent without losing momentum, indirectly influencing the overall game flow in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: While Grifter’s Blade does not provide resource acceleration such as additional mana or tokens, it does offer a swift boost in creature capabilities. This allows for more efficient plays, enabling you to save mana for other spells or threats and therefore catch your opponent off guard with a more powerful creature.

Instant Speed: The key feature of Grifter’s Blade in the context of speed is its ‘equip as it comes into play’ ability. This essentially gives the Blade a pseudo-instant speed effect, letting you equip to a creature without the usual equip timing restrictions. By bypassing the normal speed limitations, the Blade can surprise an opponent and potentially alter combat outcomes significantly.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Grifter’s Blade doesn’t require a discard to be played, it’s essential to note that cards with such prerequisites can hinder your strategic options, forcing you to weigh the potential benefits against the immediate cost of reducing your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Grifter’s Blade necessitates a blend of generic and colored mana, which could potentially complicate its inclusion in multi-colored decks that may not always have the right mana available when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: This equipment card comes with a mana cost that some players might find steep considering the type of effect it provides. In the evolving meta, efficiency is key, and there are other equipment or aura cards that may offer similar or greater benefits for less mana, affecting its playability.


Reasons to Include Grifter’s Blade in Your Collection

Versatility: Grifter’s Blade is a flexible equipment card that can be slotted into a variety of decks. Its ability to provide a quick boost in power and toughness makes it useful for aggressive strategies and can pivot a close battle into a win.

Combo Potential: This blade can be particularly effective in decks that exploit equipment synergies. With the right setup, it can become a cornerstone of combo-driven decks that look to assemble pieces for a game-winning interaction, capitalizing on its auto-equip feature when it enters the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: In game environments where creature-based strategies prevail, Grifter’s Blade can provide a cost-efficient way to enhance your creatures’ capabilities. Adaptability to rapidly evolving board states makes it a contender in various meta settings, aligning with deck strategies that require versatile response tools.


How to beat

Grifter’s Blade stands out in Magic: The Gathering as an equipment card that gives creatures a quick boost. Fastening this blade to a creature enhances its power and provides first strike, a valuable trait giving the equipped creature an upper hand in combat. The key to countering Grifter’s Blade lies in timing and card selection. Artifact removal spells, such as Disenchant or Naturalize, are potent tools to rid the battlefield of this weapon before your opponent can shift the tides. Alternatively, instant speed removals like Path to Exile or Go for the Throat can efficiently take care of the equipped creature itself, rendering the blade useless.

Another strategy to beat Grifter’s Blade is denying your adversary the chance to attach it altogether. Counterspells like Negate or counter and bounce strategies with cards like Repeal keep the blade from ever hitting the field. If Grifter’s Blade does make it into play, be ready with instant-speed interaction to avoid letting its buff tip combat in your opponent’s favor. Stay one step ahead and keep your arsenal versatile to ensure victory.


Cards like Grifter's Blade

In the realm of equipment spells in Magic: The Gathering, Grifter’s Blade finds its place among a diverse array of options. The card echoes the function of cards like Bonesplitter, which also provides a straightforward power boost to creatures. Yet, Grifter’s Blade distinguishes itself with its unique ‘Flash’ ability, allowing it to be equipped at instant speed, thus offering a surprise element not commonly found in this card type.

Comparable to this is the Heirloom Blade, which comes with an added bonus of granting a buff to specific tribal synergy upon the equipped creature’s demise. While Heirloom Blade has a longer-lasting impact due to its synergy-driven design, it lacks the immediate, reactive play that Grifter’s Blade supports. Another similar equipment is the trusty Swiftfoot Boots, known for its ability to not only increase power but also provide hexproof and haste, enabling different strategic plays, though at a higher mana cost and without the instant speed advantage.

Assessing the versatility and strategic uses of various equipment spells, Grifter’s Blade secures a niche position for MTG players seeking a balance of power boost and instantaneous utility on the battlefield.

Bonesplitter - MTG Card versions
Heirloom Blade - MTG Card versions
Swiftfoot Boots - MTG Card versions
Bonesplitter - Arena League 2003 (PAL03)
Heirloom Blade - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Swiftfoot Boots - Magic 2012 (M12)

Cards similar to Grifter's Blade by color, type and mana cost

Celestial Prism - MTG Card versions
Sunglasses of Urza - MTG Card versions
Ebony Horse - MTG Card versions
Runed Arch - MTG Card versions
Arena of the Ancients - MTG Card versions
Bösium Strip - MTG Card versions
Clay Pigeon - MTG Card versions
Ashnod's Altar - MTG Card versions
Jalum Tome - MTG Card versions
Static Orb - MTG Card versions
Patchwork Gnomes - MTG Card versions
The Stasis Coffin - MTG Card versions
Captain's Hook - MTG Card versions
Wall of Spears - MTG Card versions
Spellweaver Helix - MTG Card versions
Scale of Chiss-Goria - MTG Card versions
Lightning Coils - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Shackles - MTG Card versions
Semblance Anvil - MTG Card versions
Oblivion Stone - MTG Card versions
Celestial Prism - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Sunglasses of Urza - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Ebony Horse - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Runed Arch - Ice Age (ICE)
Arena of the Ancients - Chronicles (CHR)
Bösium Strip - Weatherlight (WTH)
Clay Pigeon - Unglued (UGL)
Ashnod's Altar - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Jalum Tome - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Static Orb - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Patchwork Gnomes - Odyssey (ODY)
The Stasis Coffin - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Captain's Hook - Rivals of Ixalan Promos (PRIX)
Wall of Spears - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Spellweaver Helix - Mirrodin (MRD)
Scale of Chiss-Goria - Mirrodin (MRD)
Lightning Coils - Mirrodin (MRD)
Vedalken Shackles - Kaladesh Inventions (MPS)
Semblance Anvil - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Oblivion Stone - Commander 2011 (CMD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Grifter's Blade MTG card by a specific set like Salvat 2005 and Salvat 2005, 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 Grifter's Blade and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Grifter's Blade Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2005-08-22 and 2005-10-07. Illustrated by Alan Pollack.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12005-08-22Salvat 2005PSAL L272003normalwhiteAlan Pollack
22005-08-22Salvat 2005PSAL L502003normalwhiteAlan Pollack
32005-10-07Ravnica: City of GuildsRAV 2632003normalblackAlan Pollack

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Grifter's Blade has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2005-10-01 Grifter’s Blade must enter the battlefield attached to a creature you control, if possible.
2005-10-01 If you don’t control a creature Grifter’s Blade could be attached to, it simply enters the battlefield unattached.

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