Starlit Mantle MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant, Flash
Released	2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set name	Theros Beyond Death
Set code	THB
Number	67
Frame	2015
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Chris Rahn

Key Takeaways

Provides both enhancement and protection, making it a valuable addition to strengthen creatures and counteract threats.
Requires thoughtful mana management, enabling strategic plays but potentially limiting other turn actions.
Instants like Starlit Mantle are adaptable, offer surprise factors in battle, and contribute to the game’s dynamism.

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash Enchant creature you control When Starlit Mantle enters the battlefield, enchanted creature gains hexproof until end of turn. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.) Enchanted creature gets +1/+1.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Starlit Mantle not only enhances a creature but also can potentially protect it against certain spells or abilities, effectively negating an opponent’s card and preserving your board state.

Resource Acceleration: While Starlit Mantle itself doesn’t generate mana or tokens, the protection it offers can ensure your key creatures survive to untap, allowing for consistent resource utilization and strategic plays in subsequent turns.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Starlit Mantle at instant speed gives players flexibility, enabling them to respond to threats immediately, surprise opponents with an unexpected buff, and make time-sensitive strategic decisions during combat or in response to an opponent’s actions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike other protective spells that might not have any additional costs, using Starlit Mantle requires you to have the card in hand and be prepared to play it, meaning you must always keep mana available instead of using it to build your board presence or hold up other responses.

Specific Mana Cost: Starlit Mantle’s mana cost includes blue, which can be limiting in multicolored decks that might need that mana for other pivotal plays. Ensuring blue mana is available can dictate the structure of your mana base and impact the deck’s overall fluidity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Starlit Mantle’s overall cost isn’t excessive, when considering the need to leave mana open for its use, it can be seen as costly. This is especially true in faster formats or against decks where tempo is critical, and every mana point matters.

Reasons to Include Starlit Mantle in Your Collection

Versatility: Starlit Mantle is not confined to a single deck archetype, making it a useful card in various situations. It offers both protective and power-boosting elements, enriching decks that thrive on keeping key creatures on the board.

Combo Potential: As a card that can be played at instant speed, Starlit Mantle can be weaved into intricate combos or used as a surprise element to save and strengthen creatures during crucial moments of combat or in response to removal.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where targeted removal or direct damage spells are prevalent, the ability of Starlit Mantle to provide both hexproof and a toughness boost can be essential for maintaining board presence and advancing your strategic position.

How to beat

Starlit Mantle shines in MTG as a versatile enchantment spell, capable of safeguarding creatures from harm with both a sudden toughness boost and crucial hexproof protection. Much like a combat trick, it can be the difference between a creature’s survival or defeat in battle. However, players can outmaneuver this card by employing instant-speed removal spells that don’t target creatures, such as board wipes, which sidestep hexproof entirely.

Another strategy is countering Starlit Mantle itself. Holding up mana for counterspells like Negate or Mystical Dispute can effectively neutralize the enchantment before it ever takes effect. Timing is key; once Starlit Mantle has resolved, its hexproof ability could make the creature it’s enchanting immune to targeted removal. Thus, preemptive measures or non-targeted solutions are preferred.

Ultimately, while Starlit Mantle can provide instantaneous protection, a well-timed intervention can strip its luster. Understanding when to play your cards and maintaining a flexible removal suite in your deck are the best defenses against this quick fix, ensuring your opponents’ creatures won’t be shrouded in the safety of the stars for long.

Cards like Starlit Mantle

Starlit Mantle shines in MTG as a versatile protective enchantment. It finds its parallels in cards like Karametra’s Blessing and Ranger’s Guile. Much like Starlit Mantle, Karametra’s Blessing provides essential hexproof status, however, it also gives a bonus of indestructible if the creature is an enchantment or enchanted, catering specifically to enchantment-heavy decks. Ranger’s Guile, meanwhile, offers hexproof at a lesser mana cost, though it lacks the Starlit Mantle’s incremental boost to the creature’s power.

When considering protection with a power-up edge, we look towards cards like Lazotep Plating. It offers hexproof not only to a single target but to the player as well, also leaving behind a creature token for board presence. However, unlike Starlit Mantle, it doesn’t provide the permanent buff to a creature, a tactical advantage in prolonged games.

Assessing Starlit Mantle among its counterparts, it’s clear that its enchantment nature and power boost pairing with hexproof provide a unique blend of offense and defense, making it a standout in certain MTG strategies, particularly where longer-term play and creature focus are prominent.

Karametra's Blessing - MTG Card versions

Karametra's Blessing - Theros Beyond Death (THB)

Lazotep Plating - War of the Spark (WAR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Starlit Mantle MTG card by a specific set like Theros Beyond Death, 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 Starlit Mantle and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Starlit Mantle has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-01-24	If Starlit Mantle leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield triggered ability resolves, the creature it last enchanted before it left gains hexproof until end of turn.