Scrying Glass MTG Card

Scrying Glass promotes card advantage through effective card filtering, crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. It accelerates resources by allowing players to sculpt their hand, ensuring strategic consistency. Instant speed functionality grants tactical flexibility, letting players adapt quickly during games.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact
Released	1999-06-07
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Destiny
Set code	UDS
Number	137
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Patrick Ho

Text of card

o3, oc T: Choose a number greater than 0 and a color. Target opponent reveals his or her hand. If that opponent reveals exactly the chosen number of cards of the chosen color, you draw a card.

Cards like Scrying Glass

Scrying Glass offers a unique strategic advantage for players in Magic: The Gathering, enabling the assessment of an opponent’s hand. Its closest relatives in function include Telepathy and Glasses of Urza, which also provide insight into unseen information. While Telepathy reveals all opponents’ hands without the need for activation, leaving nothing to surprise, Scrying Glass requires a manageable two mana investment to activate and can be used tactically.

Glasses of Urza, on the other hand, serves a similar purpose, but at zero mana cost for activation, it allows an instant peek at an opponent’s hand, which can be repeatedly utilized throughout the game. The differences in mana cost and activation requirements between these three cards highlight a variety of strategic applications, each catering to different game phases and player preferences.

Despite these nuances among the cards that focus on revealing hidden information, Scrying Glass holds a particular charm for its balance of cost and control, offering repeatable utility that can significantly impact the flow of the game.

Cards similar to Scrying Glass by color, type and mana cost

Water Gun Balloon Game - MTG Card versions

Shrine of Burning Rage - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Scrying Glass offers a steady flow of card filtering that can effectively convert unusable draws into potentially superior ones. Optimizing your draws in this manner can play a critical role in maintaining a competitive edge over your opponents by ensuring you have access to the cards you need when you need them.

Resource Acceleration: Scrying Glass helps in sculpting your hand for future turns, ultimately accelerating your game plan. By influencing what you’ll be drawing into, you can make sure you hit your land drops consistently or find key spells that propel you forwards in terms of both board presence and strategic advantage, keeping you one step ahead of the competition.

Instant Speed: The remarkable utility of the Scrying Glass comes from its ability to function at instant speed. This feature provides the flexibility to respond to an opponent’s actions before your own turn begins, allowing for tactical decisions that can alter the course of the game in your favor, like arranging the top card of your library in reaction to an opponent’s shuffle effect or preparing for your upcoming draw phase.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Scrying Glass card necessitates that you discard another card to activate its ability. This can set you back, particularly when your hand is already dwindling, making it a tough choice when deciding to use the card’s effect.

Specific Mana Cost: Scrying Glass comes with a mana cost that includes colorless mana, which might not be readily available or optimally used in certain deck builds. This mana specificity can make it challenging to cast, especially early in the game or in decks that run a tight mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a card that provides selective information about your opponent’s next move, the mana investment is significant. There are alternative cards that might offer a similar foresight effect or better card advantage at a lower cost, making Scrying Glass a less appealing option for decks that need to manage resources efficiently.

Reasons to Include Scrying Glass in Your Collection

Versatility: Scrying Glass can seamlessly integrate into a variety of deck archetypes, offering an avenue for consistent card selection that can help shape future draws to fit your strategic needs.

Combo Potential: The ability to peek at the top card of your library at any time opens up synergistic play with cards that manipulate the top of the deck, enhancing setups for powerful plays or combos.

Meta-Relevance: With a metagame that rewards strategic play and foreknowledge, having Scrying Glass can provide a persistent edge by giving you a clearer vision of your upcoming options, making it a valuable asset against a wide array of opposing strategies.

How to beat

The Scrying Glass is a unique card that offers players a rare glimpse into the future of their game in Magic: The Gathering. Its main ability allows you to see the top card of your opponent’s library, providing strategic insight into their potential moves. However, like any card, it can be countered effectively.

To triumph over the Scrying Glass, disrupting the top-deck order is a sound strategy. Cards that shuffle the library such as Fabled Passage or Evolving Wilds can render the Scrying Glass’ ability less effective. Additionally, playing cards that control the top deck directly, like Brainstorm or Sensei’s Divining Top, gives you the upper hand, allowing you to manipulate the draw and neutralize the advantage the Scrying Glass provides.

Another tactic is to employ artifact removal spells. Directly dealing with the Scrying Glass using cards like Abrade or Naturalize can eliminate it from play, abruptly halting your opponent’s ability to plan ahead based on your draws. By understanding the intricacies of the Scrying Glass and preparing appropriate counters, one can nullify its influence and maintain the upper hand in a match of Magic: The Gathering.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scrying Glass MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Destiny, 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 Scrying Glass and other MTG cards:

BUY NOW
BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scrying Glass has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2004-10-04	The only valid colors are white, black, blue, red, and green.
2004-10-04	You choose a target opponent on announcement. You choose a number and color during resolution, then the targeted opponent reveals their hand.