Temple of Atropos MTG Card
Rarity | Common |
Type | Plane — Time |
Released | 2023-10-13 |
Set symbol | |
Set name | Doctor Who |
Set code | WHO |
Number | 602 |
Frame | 2015 |
Layout | Planar |
Border | Black |
Illustred by | Daniel Correia |
Text of card
At the beginning of your postcombat main phase, there is an additional beginning phase after this phase. (The beginning phase includes the untap, upkeep, and draw steps.) When chaos ensues, reverse the game's turn order. Then planeswalk. (For example, if play had proceeded clockwise around the table, it now goes counterclockwise.)
Cards like Temple of Atropos
The Temple of Atropos stands as a unique landmark in the world of Magic: The Gathering. This card enriches the landscape of utility lands, drawing connections to other cards such as Mystifying Maze. While both provide a degree of control over combat outcomes, Temple of Atropos distinguishes itself by bypassing the combat phase entirely through its ability to eliminate a token creature.
Akin to the Temple’s functionality, we see Maze of Ith, another land with the prowess to nullify an attack by removing a creature from combat. In contrast, instead of destroying the creature, the Maze merely untaps it, leaving its presence on the battlefield. The Temple’s ability to outright destroy token creatures can definitively shift the tide of a game. Moreover, the scry mechanic of the Temple offers strategic deck manipulation, a feature Maze of Ith lacks.
When evaluating the role of tactical lands within the game, Temple of Atropos does more than just stand its ground. It offers players a powerful tool—preemptive token creature control combined with the foresight of scry—thereby affirming its role as a formidable card in MTG, with a distinctive edge over similar cards.
Cards similar to Temple of Atropos by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Temple of Atropos can be an exceptional asset for any deck that aims to stay ahead in the card-drawing race. By enabling the player to scry, it sets up the next draw, ensuring that you get more value out of the cards you draw. It’s a subtle, but powerful way to maintain a card quality advantage over your opponent throughout the match.
Resource Acceleration: This card fits seamlessly into strategies that focus on ramping up resources quickly. The land comes into play untapped if you meet its condition, which can be a significant boost in tempo, allowing for more impactful plays earlier in the game. It’s the perfect addition to decks that need to outpace their opponents and deploy threats faster.
Instant Speed: While Temple of Atropos itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it facilitates plays that do. By ensuring your land drops make an immediate impact on the board state, you free up other mana to utilize instant speed spells in your arsenal, effectively keeping your options open and ready to respond to any threats or opportunities as they arise.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Temple of Atropos requires a card to be discarded to activate its effects. This can be seen as a negative, especially when your hand is running low and every card counts. Discarding valuable hand assets may not always align with your strategy, potentially placing you at a disadvantage if you’re unable to leverage the discard for additional benefits.
Specific Mana Cost: The activation of this card’s abilities is tied to a specific mana requirement. If your deck isn’t built to easily generate the necessary mana types, including Temple of Atropos could disrupt your mana curve and slow down your overall gameplay, hindering your ability to play other cards when you need them.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that is on the higher side, Temple of Atropos might not be the most mana-efficient play for your turn. When considering the opportunity cost, it’s important to weigh if the potential benefits justify the investment, especially in formats where speed and efficiency can dictate the outcome of a game.
Reasons to Include Temple of Atropos in Your Collection
Versatility: Temple of Atropos offers a flexible land option that is a fit for any deck running black. Its ability to scry while playing untapped if certain conditions are met adds a layer of strategic depth to gameplay.
Combo Potential: As a utility land, it can be a crucial part of setting up your deck’s top draws, enabling combos by ensuring the right cards come at the right time. It works well with cards that care about the top of the library or that benefit from scrying.
Meta-Relevance: In a format where every turn counts, the extra information and card quality control provided by Temple of Atropos can give players an edge, especially in decks that seek to outlast opponents with precise plays and card advantages.
How to beat Temple of Atropos
The Temple of Atropos is a unique piece in Magic: The Gathering that can control the pace of a match with its ability to look at the top cards of a player’s library and potentially exile one. Players aiming to overcome this card must be tactical, often employing strategies that either rush the board before it can be activated or using card abilities that counteract its peek and exile mechanism.
An effective method involves deploying cards with the ability to shuffle your library, therefore minimizing the impact of Temple of Atropos’s top library manipulation. Others may lean towards artifact destruction spells to remove it directly from play. Additionally, incorporating hexproof or shroud onto your key library cards can prevent them from being targeted by such abilities. It’s crucial to have these strategies in place, as once Temple of Atropos is active, it can steadily diminish your game plan.
Adapting your deck to address key threats like Temple of Atropos underscores the importance of strategic deck building and responsive play in Magic: The Gathering. With the right approach, this potentially game-altering card can be rendered less daunting.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Temple of Atropos MTG card by a specific set like Doctor Who, 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 Temple of Atropos 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 Temple of Atropos card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
Date | Text |
---|---|
2023-10-13 | After the additional beginning phase, the game proceeds to the ending phase (unless something has added even more phases; see below). |
2023-10-13 | Even if you don't attack with any creatures during combat, you'll still get a postcombat main phase and Temple of Atropos's ability will still trigger. |
2023-10-13 | If multiple phases are added to the same point in your turn, the most recently created phase happens first. For example, say the current plane is Temple of Atropos and its ability triggers during your postcombat main phase. Later during that same main phase, another effect gives you an additional combat phase after this main phase. The additional combat will happen first, followed by the additional beginning phase. |
2023-10-13 | If the game's turn order is reversed again, it will return to the default order used at the beginning of the game. |
2023-10-13 | If the turn order is reversed during a two-player game, or during a multiplayer game that only has two players left, it has no noticeable effect on the game. |
2023-10-13 | If the turn order is reversed during an extra turn, the next non-extra turn will be taken by the next player in turn order from the last player who took a non-extra turn. The order of any pending extra turns isn't affected. |
2023-10-13 | If you somehow have more than two main phases in a turn, each main phase other than the first one is a postcombat main phase, and Temple of Atropos's ability triggers at the beginning of each of them. |
2023-10-13 | Reversing the turn order has no effect on the order of steps and phases in each turn. Those steps and phases still happen normally (along with the additional beginning phase). |
2023-10-13 | The additional beginning phase all happens during the current turn. Any effects that last "until your next turn" or similar won't expire just because you'll go through an additional beginning phase. |
2023-10-13 | The additional beginning phase will be a lot like your normal beginning phase. During the untap step, permanents will phase in or out as appropriate and you'll untap your tapped permanents. Anything that triggers "at the beginning of your upkeep" or similar will trigger during the upkeep step, and you'll eventually draw a card for your draw step. |
2023-10-13 | The effect of the chaos ability reverses the turn order for players established at the beginning of the game. While the order is reversed, anything that cares about this order (such as determining in what order choices are made) will use the new order. |