Dead Man's Chest MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant

Key Takeaways

  1. Generates card advantage by accessing multiple cards from your opponent’s deck when conditions are met.
  2. Allows resource acceleration and strategic plays by using opponent’s mana and spells efficiently.
  3. Dead Man’s Chest enhances gameplay with its synergy with instant speed removal spells.

Text of card

Enchant creature an opponent controls When enchanted creature dies, exile cards equal to its power from the top of its owner's library. You may cast nonland cards from among them for as long as they remain exiled, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast those spells.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When it comes to Dead Man’s Chest, one of its key strengths lies in its potential to generate significant card advantage. By enchanting an opponent’s creature and setting up the destruction of that creature, you can potentially access a substantial number of cards from your opponent’s deck, outpacing them in resources and options.

Resource Acceleration: The unique ability of Dead Man’s Chest to exile cards from an opponent’s deck and give you the chance to play them can act as a form of resource acceleration. By using your opponent’s resources against them, you can effectively widen your own pool of available mana and spells, thus accelerating your game plan.

Instant Speed: While Dead Man’s Chest itself isn’t an instant, it synergizes well with removal spells that are. By setting up the enchantment and following it up with an instant speed removal, you can trigger its effect at a time most advantageous to you, often catching your opponent off-guard and maximizing the card’s potential impact during the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To trigger Dead Man’s Chest effectively, it demands a certain setup where your opponent must discard cards, potentially complicating your game plan if they don’t have a suitable target for you to enchant.

Specific Mana Cost: Dead Man’s Chest requires both black and generic mana, restricting its integration exclusively to decks that can produce black mana reliably, potentially limiting its versatility in multi-colored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of two mana and the setup needed to reap its benefits, some players might find Dead Man’s Chest less appealing, as there are other options at similar mana costs that can offer more immediate value or impact on the game.


Reasons to Include Dead Man’s Chest in Your Collection

Versatility: Dead Man’s Chest offers a unique mechanic that can adapt to various strategies. Able to be enacted on any opponent’s creature, it awaits an opportune moment for removal, ultimately providing access to a potentially substantial number of cards from the opponent’s deck.

Combo Potential: This card shines in setups that can reliably destroy creatures. Pairing it with consistent removal spells or effects can turn it into a card advantage engine, allowing for strategic plays that exploit the opponent’s deck content.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta with high-value target creatures or decks boasting indispensable monsters, Dead Man’s Chest can severely disrupt opponents’ tactics. The chances to extract key pieces from their library and use them against them may be an edge worth considering for many game formats.


How to Beat

Dead Man’s Chest is a unique and potentially powerful enchantment that can set up a rewarding plunder for the astute Magic: The Gathering player. Enchanting an opponent’s creature with this card can lead to a bountiful treasure trove of cards when that creature dies. Nonetheless, conquering the chest’s challenge can be as rewarding as the treasure it guards. To thwart its potential, one strategy is timely removal of your own enchanted creature, disrupting the card advantage your opponent seeks.

Another tactic involves minimizing the enchantment’s impact through deck design. Incorporate creatures with low power or creatures that provide benefits when targeted by spells or abilities. Hexproof and indestructible creatures can also be an effective countermeasure, proving elusive or too resilient for your opponent to easily dispatch. Lastly, keep instant-speed removal or bounce spells on hand to react swiftly when Dead Man’s Chest is cast, ensuring the enchanted creature never meets its demise while under its influence.

Considering these strategies, navigating around the treacherous waters Dead Man’s Chest can create becomes simpler. With careful planning and smart plays, ensuring that your opponent gains minimal advantage from this card is entirely possible, keeping you in control of the high seas of MTG.


BurnMana Recommendations

Dive into the intriguing depths of Dead Man’s Chest, a card that offers an unorthodox way to leverage your opponent’s arsenal against them. Enhancing your strategy by utilizing this enchantment can make your MTG play sessions more enriching and formidable. Recognize how it might revolutionize your deck and offer you a formidable edge in resource control. Seek out Synergies, discover how to counteract it, and experiment with its mechanics in your games for a captivating twist on control and advantage. For those looking to navigate the tides of MTG with cunning and guile, incorporating Dead Man’s Chest may just be your hidden treasure. Embark on your journey towards mastering this card with us, and uncover tactics that could lead to your next commendable victory.


Cards like Dead Man's Chest

Within the realm of unique control cards in Magic: The Gathering, Dead Man’s Chest stands out for its potential to turn an opponent’s strength against them. This enchantment is akin to Gonti, Lord of Luxury, which allows you to look at the top four cards of an opponent’s library upon entering the battlefield and exile one. Just like Dead Man’s Chest, Gonti gives you the chance to play that card for as long as it remains exiled, harnessing your opponent’s resources.

Another comparable card is Praetor’s Grasp. Much like Dead Man’s Chest, it involves delving into an opponent’s deck to extract resources. It provides a more immediate benefit by allowing you to search your opponent’s library and exile a card of your choice, which can be a game-changer by disrupting their strategy. However, unlike Dead Man’s Chest, it requires no trigger to take effect once the sorcery is resolved.

Assessing Dead Man’s Chest against its counterparts, it’s clear that its strategic value lies in the potential to exploit powerful creatures your opponents control. It requires a bit of setup and a way to destroy the enchanted creature, but it can yield a significant card advantage when conditions align.

Gonti, Lord of Luxury - MTG Card versions
Praetor's Grasp - MTG Card versions
Gonti, Lord of Luxury - MTG Card versions
Praetor's Grasp - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dead Man's Chest MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan and Forgotten Realms Commander, 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 Dead Man's Chest and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dead Man's Chest Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2021-07-23. Illustrated by Jason A. Engle.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-01-19Rivals of IxalanRIX 662015NormalBlackJason A. Engle
22021-07-23Forgotten Realms CommanderAFC 972015NormalBlackJason A. Engle

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dead Man's Chest has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2018-01-19 Casting an exiled card causes it to leave exile. You can't cast it multiple times.
2018-01-19 If Dead Man's Chest and the enchanted creature are both put into graveyards at the same time, the last ability of Dead Man's Chest still triggers.
2018-01-19 If you gain control of the enchanted creature, Dead Man's Chest will be put into your graveyard.
2018-01-19 In a multiplayer game, if a player leaves the game, all cards that player owns leave as well. If you leave the game, any spells or permanents you control from Dead Man's Chest's ability are exiled.
2018-01-19 The effect of Dead Man's Chest doesn't change when you can cast the exiled cards. For example, if you exile a creature card without flash, you can cast it only during your main phase when the stack is empty.
2018-01-19 To determine how many cards to exile, use the enchanted creature's power as it last existed on the battlefield.
2018-01-19 You are a creature's owner if the card representing it began the game in your deck, or if it's a token that entered the battlefield under your control. If Dead Man's Chest enchants a creature that you own but an opponent controls, you'll exile cards from your library.

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