Ashes of the Fallen MTG Card

Ashes of the Fallen - Saviors of Kamigawa

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact
Released	2005-06-03
Set symbol
Set name	Saviors of Kamigawa
Set code	SOK
Number	152
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Dan Frazier

Key Takeaways

Enables access to varied creature types in the graveyard, enhancing strategic options and card advantage.
Amplifies resource utility and speed, crucial for decks utilizing graveyard mechanics for success.
Increases consistency of tribal themes at instant speed, offering adaptability in response to opponents.

Text of card

As Ashes of the Fallen comes into play, choose a creature type. Each creature card in your graveyard has the chosen creature type in addition to its other types.

The ashes of the dead mingle with the soil, and both become as one.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ashes of the Fallen shines in strategies focused on utilizing the graveyard. It opens up a breadth of possibilities, particularly for decks that revolve around creature type synergies. By assigning your chosen creature type to all creature cards in your graveyard, you suddenly have access to a wider array of options, effectively increasing your resources and choices as the game progresses.

Resource Acceleration: This artifact doesn’t directly ramp your mana, but by amplifying graveyard strategies, it accelerates your resource utility. With the right setup, creatures in the graveyard become more than just potential reanimation targets—they turn into tools for mechanics such as Dredge or Morbid, providing faster access to your deck’s critical effects and combo pieces.

Instant Speed: Ashes of the Fallen itself may not be an instant, but it substantially enhances decks that function at instant speed. It allows for more consistent tribal-themed Instant and Flash plays by ensuring the correct creature types are always present in your graveyard. This versatility ensures your strategy remains broad and adaptive, capable of responding to an opponent’s actions with surprise graveyard-fueled strategies.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ashes of the Fallen demands a strategic setup as it requires you to have a certain card in your graveyard to maximize its potential. This prerequisite can often push you to discard valuable cards prematurely or hamper deck building by forcing the inclusion of self-mill strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: Its utility is tied to a specific mana requirement, costing two colorless mana. This commitment can be restrictive early in the game when mana resources are limited, and players need to prioritize their mana allocation carefully.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a card that solely modifies the creature types in your graveyard, the cost of two mana can be steep, especially considering it does not influence the board when it comes into play. Other artifacts or enchantments at similar mana costs may provide more immediate impact or a broader range of abilities.

Reasons to Include Ashes of the Fallen in Your Collection

Versatility: Ashes of the Fallen is a unique artifact that adapts to various strategies, allowing you to set the creature type for cards in your graveyard. This enables synergies with tribal decks or any strategy that relies on creature type interactions.

Combo Potential: With the ability to customize creature types, this card opens up a wealth of combo possibilities. Whether you’re reanimating creatures or utilizing graveyard mechanics, Ashes of the Fallen adds a layer of depth to your tactical plays.

Meta-Relevance: Given its capacity to mesh well with popular graveyard-based strategies, Ashes of the Fallen holds a place in the current meta. It’s a powerful tool against decks that lack graveyard interaction, making it a smart addition to your collection.

How to beat Ashes of the Fallen

Ashes of the Fallen presents a unique challenge in MTG due to its ability to change creature types in the graveyard. This can bolster strategies that rely on specific creature interactions. To counteract this, it’s crucial to manage graveyard interactions. Implement graveyard hate cards like Tormod’s Crypt or Relic of Progenitus for an immediate and effective solution. These artifacts can purge the graveyard, rendering Ashes of the Fallen obsolete and blunting your opponent’s strategic edge.

Another tactic is to minimize the value Ashes of the Fallen can bring to your opponent. This involves exile effects found in cards such as Path to Exile or Leyline of the Void, which can preclude key creatures from ever hitting the graveyard. This preventative approach hinders the card’s potential impact. In essence, it is about disrupting your opponent’s setup and maintaining a strategic advantage by understanding the power of graveyards in your playspace.

Ultimately, by staying a step ahead with the correct sideboard choices and maintaining an awareness of your opponent’s strategy, Ashes of the Fallen can be rendered a non-issue even if it appears to set the stage for a formidable strategy.

Cards like Ashes of the Fallen

Ashes of the Fallen holds a unique place within Magic: The Gathering’s array of diverse artifacts. This card shares some similarities with Secret of the Dead, as both can offer advantages from creatures entering the graveyard. However, Ashes of the Fallen is distinct in its ability to designate a creature type of your choice, thereby enhancing synergy in creature-type focused decks. Unlike Secret of the Dead, which triggers only on casting spells from the graveyard, Ashes of the Fallen modifies the entire graveyard, setting the stage for potential combo plays with various tribal cards.

Another card worth comparing is Conspiracy, which alters creature types but does so across the entire battlefield and not just in the graveyard. While Conspiracy affects the board instantaneously, Ashes of the Fallen specifically tailors graveyard strategies. Catacomb Sifter, likewise, interacts with creature death but concentrates on scion token production and scrying, diverging from Ashes of the Fallen’s broad creature type manipulation.

In essence, Ashes of the Fallen offers a strategic advantage to decks focused on creature types and graveyard utility. Its ability to selectively alter creature types post-mortem is a tactical asset that makes it stand out from similar cards that impact the battlefield or utilize death triggers.

Cards similar to Ashes of the Fallen by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ashes of the Fallen MTG card by a specific set like Saviors of Kamigawa, 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 Ashes of the Fallen and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ashes of the Fallen has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2005-06-01	If Spirit is the chosen creature type, the soulshift ability will be able to target any creature card in your graveyard of the appropriate mana value. Suppose two creatures, including one with soulshift, are put into your graveyard from the battlefield at the same time. The Spirit creature type is added as the cards enter the graveyard, just before you choose the target for the soulshift ability.