Steam-Powered MTG Card
Text of card
: Augment (, Reveal this card from your hand: Combine it with target host. Augment only as a sorcery.)
Cards like Steam-Powered
Steam-Powered card offers a unique way for players to utilize artifacts and engines of war in Magic: The Gathering. Its parallel, Ghirapur Aether Grid, allows tapping of two artifacts to ping an opponent, harnessing untapped resources for incremental advantage. Although both cards integrate artifacts, Steam-Powered extends its utility beyond pinging, enabling players to interact more dynamically with their machineries on the battlefield.
Another cousin in this family of cards is Galvanic Blast, with its conditional bonus damage predicated on metalcraft. While both Steam-Powered card and Galvanic Blast value the concentration of artifacts, Steam-Powered’s ability is more nuanced, often unlocking extensible effects that can adapt to varying board states. It strays from the straightforward damage route and delves into a realm where the artifacts themselves fuel more complex strategies.
Lastly, comparing it with Reckless Fireweaver reveals a different approach. The Fireweaver triggers off artifact entry, which complements the Steam-Powered’s theme yet focuses on a singular aspect. Unlike Steam-Powered, it doesn’t offer the same breadth of artifact synergy across the game. Across these comparisons, Steam-Powered card emerges as a versatile tool, particularly suited to those building around a comprehensive artifact game plan.
Cards similar to Steam-Powered by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: This steam engine of a card can churn out additional draws, letting you refuel your hand and giving you the upper edge in sustaining or increasing your grip on the game’s flow. Staying ahead in card count often translates to better strategic plays and closer steps to victory.
Resource Acceleration: Much like a locomotive building up steam, this card boosts your mana resources, enabling faster gameplay and allowing you to deploy threats or answers ahead of schedule. Such acceleration can be pivotal in outpacing your opponents and securing your position on the battlefield.
Instant Speed: The capacity to perform at instant speed offers flexibility and strategic depth. It grants the power to adapt to the unfolding game, holding back mana for reactive plays or opting to advance your own board state at the last conceivable moment, often throwing your adversaries’ plans off track.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: A setback for players using steam-powered cards is the discard condition often attached to their abilities. Activating these cards might require you to toss another potentially useful card from your hand, narrowing your options during gameplay and potentially leaving you at a strategic disadvantage if you’re already behind.
Specific Mana Cost: The effectiveness of steam-powered magic is frequently gated by needing specific mana types, especially when you’re attempting to cast them outside of their typical artifact or red-oriented decks. This can make it challenging to include them in a multi-color deck or to play them when you’re not drawing the right lands.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Another point of concern is that steam-powered cards often come with a bulky mana requirement. While the theme and abilities may be appealing, the high cost can slow down your game tempo, especially when you consider the efficiency of other cards that could be played with fewer resources. Careful deck construction and mana curve consideration are essential to mitigate this issue.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: A Steam-Powered card offers flexibility for various strategies, as it adapts well to engine-based decks or those looking for consistent power output.
Combo Potential: With inherent synergies in artifact-centric or gearwork-themed decks, this card’s potential to kickstart or escalate combos is immense.
Meta-Relevance: Given the shifting landscape of competitive play, the inclusion of a Steam-Powered card can give an edge against prevalent slow-paced or value-driven matchups.
How to beat
The Steam-Powered card brings a unique flare to artifact-focused strategies in MTG. Its ability to empower machinery mid-battle with an infusion of power can turn the tides of the match. To dismantle this steam-fueled threat, it’s imperative to have a plan. Artifacts are susceptible to shatter effects, so cards like Abrade or Naturalize are essential in your sideboard. Additionally, countering its activation is another effective strategy. Keeping mana open for an instant-speed response like Negate or Disenchant can prevent the engine from firing up.
Equally, a preemptive strike can be crucial. Applying pressure early on and targeting the mana base that powers such cards also hinders your opponent’s ability to utilize them to full effect. Hand disruption spells, such as Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek, can remove these threats before they ever hit the battlefield. Remember, timing is vital. Observe the board, be patient and strike at the artifact’s most vulnerable point – before it starts generating serious momentum.
In sum, dealing with Steam-Powered takes a combination of strategic artifact removal, countering crucial activations, and a proactive approach to force your opponent’s hand. Navigating these methods will keep the steam at bay and leave your foe’s plans unfulfilled.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Steam-Powered MTG card by a specific set like Unstable, 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 Steam-Powered and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
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Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Steam-Powered 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 | Augment can (and usually does) change the name, card types, subtypes, rules text, and power/toughness. The combined creature will have (at least) two artists and may now have multiple colors. Anything covered up in the augment process doesn’t count, so ignore things to the left of the “metal bar” in the art of host creatures. |
| 2018-01-19 | Augment can’t target creatures that aren’t host creatures. |
| 2018-01-19 | Augment is an activated ability that you activate from your hand. To do so, reveal the card, choose a target host creature, and pay the augment cost. As this ability resolves, if the card with augment is still in your hand, put it onto the battlefield combined with the host creature. |
| 2018-01-19 | Creatures with augment don’t have a mana cost and can’t be cast. |
| 2018-01-19 | The creature card with augment isn’t put onto the battlefield until the ability resolves. This means if the host is destroyed, the creature with augment stays in your hand. You can’t choose a different host, but you can activate augment again if there’s another host available. |
| 2018-01-19 | You can’t activate augment unless there is a host creature on the battlefield. It doesn’t need to be yours. Note though that if you augment another player’s host creature, they control the combined creature. |
| 2018-01-19 | You can’t put more than one augment card on a single host creature. Once a host creature is augmented, the host part gets covered up and it’s no longer a host creature. |