Enduring Ideal MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	7
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Epic
Released	2005-06-03
Set symbol
Set name	Saviors of Kamigawa
Set code	SOK
Number	9
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Daren Bader

Key Takeaways

Enduring Ideal provides a constant stream of enchantments without drawing, maintaining resource advantage.
Its Epic ability restricts further spell casting, demanding smart deck construction and strategy.
Though powerful, it’s vulnerable to counterspells, requiring a solid mana base and timing.

Text of card

Search your library for an enchantment card and put it into play. Then shuffle your library. Epic (For the rest of the game, you can't play spells. At the beginning of each of your upkeeps, copy this spell except for its epic ability.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Enduring Ideal’s epic ability ensures you can consistently dig out the most impactful enchantments from your deck each turn without drawing cards, maintaining a steady stream of resources that are key to victory.

Resource Acceleration: While Enduring Ideal itself doesn’t accelerate resources directly, it allows you to bypass mana costs for powerful enchantments, effectively giving you access to your deck’s high-cost spells earlier than normal and saving your mana for other game-changing actions.

Instant Speed: Although Enduring Ideal is a sorcery, its enduring impact on the game feels like it’s always your turn. Once cast, the subsequent search for enchantments at the beginning of each of your upkeeps can subtly disrupt and dictate the pace of play, setting a course for a win before your opponent can recover.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Though Enduring Ideal doesn’t require a player to discard per se, it does come with a significant deckbuilding mandate. Players must consider their deck’s construction carefully to ensure that the fetched enchantments can be a consistent advantage, especially because Epic prevents further spells from being cast.

Specific Mana Cost: Enduring Ideal demands a substantial investment of white mana, with a triple white in its mana cost. This can make it challenging to include in multicolored decks and places heavy reliance on a solid mana base to cast effectively.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At seven mana, the initial investment in Enduring Ideal is steep. This can be particularly difficult as it’s often a target for counterspells or discard effects before it ever resolves, thereby setting the player back significantly in tempo and resources. Additionally, in faster paced games or matchups, its high cost may render it too slow to ensure victory.

Reasons to Include Enduring Ideal in Your Collection

Versatility: Enduring Ideal can adapt to various deck builds, particularly enchantment-focused ones. It allows players to fetch any enchantment card from their deck, fitting seamlessly into strategies centered around enchantments synergy.

Combo Potential: The Epic mechanic forbids casting spells for the remainder of the game, but Enduring Ideal can be truly powerful in setups that exploit this, especially with duplicate effects or shroud-like abilities that protect key enchantments.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where game-defining enchantments can dictate the pace of a match, Enduring Ideal’s ability to consistently access those pieces can be pivotal, making it a strong choice for decks that can hold the fort while the Epic mechanic takes over the game.

How to beat

Enduring Ideal is a unique sorcery within Magic: The Gathering that allows players to search their library for an enchantment card and put it onto the battlefield at the beginning of each of their upkeeps. Confronting such a card can be daunting, as it can quickly escalate the game in favor of the user by bringing in powerful enchantments turn after turn.

To counteract this card, players must focus on versatile disruption tools. Utilizing instant-speed spells that can counter sorcery, such as Negate or Dispel, can prevent Enduring Ideal from ever resolving. Moreover, since Enduring Ideal relies on enchantments, having a strategy to deal with those is crucial. This could be through enchantment removal like Disenchant or with universal removal such as Oblivion Ring which can handle any permanent.

Also, as Enduring Ideal uses the Epic mechanic, which prevents the user from casting other spells, creating pressure through board presence and direct damage becomes an effective strategy. This approach limits the Enduring Ideal player’s ability to react, gradually overriding the advantage granted by the Epic ability with consistent aggression or creature-based tactics.

Cards like Enduring Ideal

Enduring Ideal is a unique spell in Magic: The Gathering, known for its Epic ability that forgoes your future draws to copy the spell every turn. It parallels other cards like Demonic Pact, which also has a game-altering effect that can define the course of a match. Where Enduring Ideal focuses on fetching enchantments from the deck turn after turn, Demonic Pact offers a choice of immediate but perilous benefits.

Another comparison can be drawn with Approach of the Second Sun, a card that similarly dictates a long-term strategy towards winning the game. While Approach requires a second casting to claim victory, Enduring Ideal steadily assembles a board presence that can lead to an unassailable position. Then there is Hive Mind, a card that creates copies of instant and sorcery spells for each player. Though fundamentally different, it shares the theme of replicated spell effects, akin to the repetitive nature of Enduring Ideal’s Epic trigger.

Assessing the strategic depth these cards offer, Enduring Ideal stands out for its enduring impact on gameplay, shaping the battlefield with each successive turn and often leading to victorious lock-out scenarios for practiced strategists in Magic: The Gathering.

Approach of the Second Sun - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Enduring Ideal 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 Enduring Ideal and other MTG cards: