Talon Gates MTG Card

Enables strategic foresight into future turns, potentially leading to a formidable card advantage. Propels ahead with resource acceleration by setting up impactful future spells economically. Flexible instant speed play aligns with control archetypes, optimizing mana efficiency.

Talon Gates - Planechase Anthology Planes

Rarity	Common
Type	Plane — Dominaria
Released	2018-12-25
Set symbol
Set name	Planechase Anthology Planes
Set code	OPCA
Number	77
Frame	2015
Layout	Planar
Border	Black
Illustred by	Chippy

Text of card

Any time you could cast a sorcery, you may exile a nonland card from your hand with X time counters on it, where X is its converted mana cost. If the exiled card doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend. (At the beginning of its owner's upkeep, he or she removes a time counter. When the last is removed, the player casts it without paying its mana cost. If it's a creature, it has haste.) Whenever you roll {Chaos}, remove two time counters from each suspended card you own.

Cards like Talon Gates

Talon Gates joins the fold of phased-out permanents in MTG, offering players a unique approach to delaying the board state. In essence, it bears a resemblance to the card Tangle Wire, which induces a temporal lock on the field by tapping down permanents. Both create a hiatus in the opponent’s plans, albeit through different mechanisms; Talon Gates by phasing out and Tangle Wire through taps.

Another analogous card is Teferi’s Protection, a spell known for temporarily phasing out the player’s belongings. While Talon Gates affects only a specific group of cards, Teferi’s Protection extends that safeguard to all the player’s assets, making it a wider net of protection. Suspense also intertwines with these mechanics, a card that delays a single creature casting and brings it back with haste, quite a different tempo to Talon Gates’ slower, more sweeping effect.

Comparing these cards, Talon Gates offers a strategic advantage in its ability to selectively disrupt multiple targets, positioning itself as a tactical tool in the right deck. It’s a nuanced approach to phasing mechanics and can be especially disruptive in matches that rely heavily on board presence.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Talon Gates enables strategic planning and deck manipulation by allowing a retrospective peek into upcoming turns. This foresight can be tantamount to card advantage as it empowers players with the knowledge to make well-informed decisions, preparing for imminent threats or opportunities. By suspending key cards, players can essentially draw into powerful effects without the immediate cost.

Resource Acceleration: With the unique ability to suspend several cards, Talon Gates effectively evades the usual mana limitations by setting up future plays without current turn expenditure. This form of resource acceleration ensures that you can deploy high-impact spells earlier than usual. This innovative approach to resource management can tilt the scales in your favor, enabling a robust defense or aggressive strategy ahead of time.

Instant Speed: As a card that can be played at instant speed, Talon Gates offers flexibility and unpredictability in gameplay. This allows for reactive strategies and ensures that mana doesn’t go to waste during an opponent’s turn. It harmonizes well with a control archetype where keeping mana open for counterspells and other instant-speed interactions is pivotal to maintaining board supremacy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Talon Gates demands you give up a valuable card from your hand just to bring it onto the battlefield. This can put you at a disadvantage, especially in matches where every card in hand counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Costing one blue, one red, and one of any color, Talon Gates might not seamlessly fit into every deck’s mana base. This specific requirement can restrict its play to decks that can reliably produce both colors, potentially excluding it from many mono-colored strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of three, which does not immediately impact the board, Talon Gates can put players behind in terms of tempo compared to other choices that might provide instant value or lower-cost solutions to board state challenges.

Reasons to Include Talon Gates in Your Collection

Versatility: Talon Gates offers a broad spectrum of utility across various deck types, ideal for players who appreciate flexibility. Its ability to suspend cards plays well with strategies that capitalize on alternative timing and play conditions.

Combo Potential: This card unlocks creative combo avenues due to its unique suspend mechanic. It excels in decks that are designed to manipulate time counters or those that benefit from casting spells without paying their mana cost at a later stage in the game.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta characterized by fast-paced matches, Talon Gates can be a game-changer by setting up powerful plays in advance. It’s an asset for those looking to outpace opponents with unexpected turns and big plays that disrupt conventional game flow.

How to beat

Talon Gates is an intriguing card in the realm of MTG that can manipulate the flow of the game by suspending creatures, effectively putting them in a time-locked state. When facing this unique mechanic, one efficient strategy is to employ instant-speed removal or counter spells to interrupt your opponent’s plans before they can suspend their creature. This proactive approach can leave them without a pivotal piece of their strategy, disrupting their tempo and board development.

Another effective tactic is to utilize cards that directly counter the suspend mechanic, such as those that can exile cards from exile, considering that suspended cards reside in the exile zone temporarily. This takes advantage of the delayed nature of Talon Gates, allowing you to permanently remove the threat. Additionally, cards that limit the activations of abilities can also hinder your opponent’s efforts to utilize Talon Gates to its full potential. By preventing your opponent from activating the suspend ability, you maintain control of the game’s pace.

Last but not least, developing a quick, aggressive strategy can outpace the slow buildup that Talon Gates requires. Rushing with a fast-paced deck puts pressure on your opponent, leaving them little time to set up and execute their plan with Talon Gates. Thus, having a keen understanding of your deck’s speed and capabilities, along with the right removals and counters, can be the key to triumph over the temporal challenges posed by Talon Gates.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Talon Gates MTG card by a specific set like Planechase Anthology Planes, 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 Talon Gates and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2012-06-01	Even after the game leaves Talon Gates, each of the suspended cards will continue to have suspend; the owners of those cards will continue to remove a time counter from each during their upkeeps.
2012-06-01	Exiling a nonland card from your hand this way is a special action. It doesn’t use the stack and doesn’t count as casting a spell or activating an ability. Players can’t respond to this action, although they can respond when you cast the spell after the last time counter is removed.
2012-06-01	The first ability may be used any number of times.