Mage Duel MTG Card


Mage Duel - Strixhaven: School of Mages
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Fight
Released2021-04-23
Set symbol
Set nameStrixhaven: School of Mages
Set codeSTX
Number137
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byRandy Vargas

Key Takeaways

  1. Mage Duel provides card advantage by neutralizing threats without losing a creature.
  2. Spells like Mage Duel excel in decks centered on spellcasting and combos.
  3. Effective Mage Duel counters include counterspells and creature protection.

Text of card

This spell costs less to cast if you've cast another instant or sorcery spell this turn. Target creature you control gets +1/+2 until end of turn. Then it fights target creature you don't control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)

"Remember the rules. No spells to the face!"


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mage Duel is designed to potentially neutralize an opponent’s creature while allowing you to retain a creature that can continue to exert influence on the board. This swing in presence can translate directly into card advantage as it diminishes your opponent’s resources while maintaining or enhancing your own.

Resource Acceleration: Playing Mage Duel in a deck that leverages the power of spell mastery can accelerate your resources significantly. By meeting the spell mastery conditions, you effectively reduce the cost of Mage Duel, allowing you to deploy more spells or creatures in the same turn, ramping up your board presence and potential for victory.

Instant Speed: The instant speed of Mage Duel offers strategic flexibility during gameplay. You can better maneuver around your adversary’s moves, choosing the optimal moment to cast Mage Duel, such as in the midst of combat or in response to an opponent’s action when they least expect it, ensuring you maintain the upper hand in the duel.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: For players looking to include Mage Duel in their arsenal, it’s crucial to consider that casting this spell comes with the added weight of tossing another card from your hand. This action can sometimes be too steep a price, particularly when your hand is already stretched thin by a fast-paced game, leaving you with fewer options for future moves.

Specific Mana Cost: Furthermore, being a spell that relies specifically on green mana, Mage Duel may not seamlessly fit into every deck structure. Those who cultivate decks with a diverse palette of mana sources might find the green mana requirement somewhat restrictive, potentially hindering the spell’s inclusion in their strategic lineup.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Lastly, when evaluating the potential of Mage Duel, its magic-infused clash comes at a cost deemed high by some. Comparable spells in the realm of MTG offer similar or greater impact without the burden of such a mana investment, tempting players to seek alternatives with a more economical mana footprint.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Mage Duel excels in a variety of decks, adapting particularly well to those built around spellcasting and magecraft mechanics. This adaptability makes it a valuable card in a range of strategic playstyles.

Combo Potential: With its ability to potentially reduce its casting cost and empower one of your creatures, Mage Duel can be a central piece in combinations that swing the game’s momentum in your favor or clear the way for a devastating strike.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where creatures often dictate the flow of the battlefield, Mage Duel provides an edge by acting as a removal and a combat trick, making it particularly relevant in creature-heavy metas.


How to Beat Mage Duel

Mage Duel is a notable spell card that can turn the tides in a player’s favor, particularly in the realm of creature-based combat strategies. It leverages the power of your own creatures, offering a boost and potentially decimating your opponent’s board presence. However, there are strategies one can employ to mitigate its impact and maintain control of the game.

Counterspells are the most straightforward method to negate Mage Duel’s effect. Cards like Negate or Counterspell can be used to directly target and cancel the cast altogether. Removal spells also play a key role; casting an instant removal spell in response, such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile, can eliminate the targeted creature and invalidate Mage Duel before it resolves.

Additionally, stalling tactics can be advantageous. Ensuring that you have more creatures than your opponent can dilute Mage Duel’s effectiveness, making it less probable that a single combat trick will significantly alter the board state. Moreover, running cards that offer protection, like hexproof or indestructible attributes, can help shield your creatures from being at the mercy of such spells.

Ultimately, understanding your opponent’s deck and anticipating key spells like Mage Duel is crucial. Proper timing, wise resource management, and a well-constructed deck with a balanced suite of countermeasures can ensure that you remain unscathed by such targeted spells.


Cards like Mage Duel

Mage Duel is an intriguing combat trick for Magic: The Gathering deck strategies that prioritize spell synergy and creature battles. It exhibits certain similarities to cards like Titanic Growth, which provide a creature with a robust power and toughness boost. Mage Duel, however, offers a twist by potentially reducing its casting cost if you’ve cast another spell this turn, enabling a powerful play for less.

Other spells like Rabid Bite enable a creature to deal its power in damage directly to another creature, offering creature removal without being a traditional combat trick. Mage Duel takes it further by also granting a temporary buff to your creature while engaging in combat. Meanwhile, Larger Than Life is an alternative granting not only a power and toughness increase but also the keyword trample, though it lacks Mage Duel’s cost-reduction condition or the removal potential during combat.

Each card holds its own in creature-centric strategies, but Mage Duel shines with its combination of cost efficiency, creature enhancement, and potential creature removal during combat, making it a card to consider in any green deck looking to thrive in the heat of battle.

Titanic Growth - MTG Card versions
Rabid Bite - MTG Card versions
Larger Than Life - MTG Card versions
Titanic Growth - Magic 2012 (M12)
Rabid Bite - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
Larger Than Life - Kaladesh (KLD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mage Duel MTG card by a specific set like Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Mage Duel and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mage Duel has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-04-16 If the creature you control is an illegal target as Mage Duel tries to resolve, that creature won’t get +1/+2. If that creature is a legal target, but the one you don’t control isn’t, your creature will still get +1/+2. In both cases, no fight will happen and no creature will deal or be dealt damage.
2021-04-16 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions (such as that of Mage Duel). Mage Duel’s mana value is always 3, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.
2021-04-16 You can’t cast Mage Duel unless you choose both a creature you control and a creature you don’t control as targets.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks