Leave No Trace MTG Card

Leave No Trace - Ravnica: City of Guilds

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Radiance
Released	2005-10-07
Set symbol
Set name	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Set code	RAV
Number	23
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Pat Lee

Key Takeaways

Instant speed and targeted mass removal provide strategic advantage in games against enchantment-heavy decks.
Offers a sweeping effect on enchantments, setting it apart from single-target spells like Disenchant.
Despite specific mana requirements, its sideboard versatility makes it an asset in diverse matchups.

Text of card

Radiance Destroy target enchantment and each other enchantment that shares a color with it.

The magic of the Boros patrols the streets even when their soldiers do not.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Leave No Trace, players can neutralize numerous threats, potentially impacting multiple cards that share an enchantment type. This disruption not only tackles one card but might strip opponents of several key pieces, yielding a significant swing in card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While this card doesn’t directly accelerate resources in the conventional sense of producing mana or tokens, its low casting cost facilitates a swift and efficient response, preserving your mana pool for other strategic plays within the same turn.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Leave No Trace at instant speed grants players the tactical flexibility to disrupt opponents’ plans on the fly. Instead of preemptively playing an enchantment removal during your own turn, you can bide your time, assess the evolving board state, and target the most impactful enchantment during the opponent’s turn or in response to an activation.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Leave No Trace demands that you discard another card from your hand to play it. This can be a tactical setback when your hand is already empty or near empty, restricting your play options and potentially leaving you at a significant disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Leave No Trace includes white mana. This requirement can be limiting as it necessitates a specific mana source, potentially excluding it from multicolor decks that can’t reliably produce white mana or making it a less flexible choice in decks that are not predominantly white.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that could be considered steep for its effect, Leave No Trace might not always be the most mana-efficient choice. Players often compare the card to others available in the card pool, finding that there might be alternatives that achieve similar effects for less mana or offer additional benefits.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Leave No Trace offers wide applicability, perfect for disrupting enchantment-based strategies and it easily slots into sideboards, ready to counter a variety of decks that rely heavily on enchantment synergies.

Combo Potential: This card’s instantaneous removal can dismantle opponent combos reliant on enchantments, leaving them vulnerable and disrupting their game plan at a crucial moment.

Meta-Relevance: It gains particular significance in metas where enchantments play a key role; having Leave No Trace in your arsenal ensures you’re well-prepared to face such decks and situations.

How to beat

Leave No Trace is an intriguing card in Magic: The Gathering, offering a distinctive solution for enchantment removal. Its comparison with other enchantment removal spells like Disenchant reveals that Leave No Trace can affect multiple targets. This ability offers more value in scenarios where enchantments cluster on the battlefield. It’s particularly efficient against decks like aura decks that tend to bind multiple enchantments on their creatures or decks that rely on enchantment synergy.

To overcome Leave No Trace, consider diversifying your threats rather than relying solely on enchantments. Implementing cards that can swiftly replenish your hand or field, such as Echoing Return or Recover, ensures that removing your enchantments does not strip away your momentum. Additionally, be mindful of the mana your opponent has untapped and their potential to cast this removal spell. Operating at instant speed, Leave No Trace can disrupt your plays during your turn, so plan your enchantment plays cautiously to bypass its strategic potency.

In summary, when you gauge the impact of Leave No Trace in your Magic: The Gathering games, its strength lies in its capacity to efficiently clear multiple enchantments. Counterplay revolves around varying your in-game strategies and maintaining a dynamic setup that can quickly recover from potential mass removal scenarios.

Cards like Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace occupies a unique spot in the pantheon of removal spells in Magic: The Gathering. Like the card Disenchant, Leave No Trace primarily targets artifacts and enchantments, offering players a way to deal with these potential threats. The distinction lies in Leave No Trace’s radius of effect, being able to remove all copies of the targeted enchantment, not just a single instance. This can be devastating against decks that rely on enchantment synergies or multiple copies of the same card.

Another spell worth mentioning is Return to Nature. It shares the flexibility of targeting artifacts or enchantments but also provides an additional utility by allowing graveyard interaction. However, where Leave No Trace excels is in its sweeping ability, a trait Return to Nature lacks. On the other hand, we have Tranquility, which is broader, removing all enchantments from the battlefield. While powerful, it does not discriminate, potentially harming the caster’s setup as well.

Ultimately, Leave No Trace showcases superior tactical advantage in metagames where enchantment-heavy strategies are prevalent. It’s a card that promises not just to disrupt but to dismantle key components of your opponent’s game plan efficiently.

Cards similar to Leave No Trace by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Leave No Trace MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica: City of Guilds, 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 Leave No Trace and other MTG cards: