Mantle of Tides MTG Card
2019-10-04 - Number 52
2022-12-02 - Number 318
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Artifact — Equipment |
| Abilities | Equip |
Key Takeaways
- Mantle of Tides offers both instant speed equipping and beneficial combat tweaks, responding to card draws.
- It requires careful play due to its hand size influence and casting cost considerations.
- This MTG card is a strategic inclusion for decks that capitalize on card draw mechanics.
Text of card
Equipped creature gets +1/+2. Whenever you draw your second card each turn, attach Mantle of Tides to target creature you control. Equip (: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: With the Mantle of Tides, you can potentially draw additional cards when you cleverly time the equip process alongside other card draw mechanisms in play. Not only does it bolster your battlefield presence, but it also supplements your hand, making it a dual-threat on the board.
Resource Acceleration: This equipment cardinal can quickly get into action due to its low equip cost. It can be seen as a form of resource acceleration because it allows you to enhance your creatures without significant mana investment, maximizing your mana usage each turn for other strategic plays.
Instant Speed: Being able to equip at instant speed presents an advantage by allowing players to respond to threats or opportunities mid-combat or at the end of an opponent’s turn. This flexibility keeps opponents guessing and can lead to advantageous combat situations or save your creature from an unexpected removal.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Playing Mantle of Tides often necessitates pitching another card from your hand, which can deplete your resources and leave you at a disadvantage, particularly in game phases where maintaining card advantage is crucial.
Specific Mana Cost: This enchantment requires blue mana, making it less flexible for decks that are not dedicated to or heavily featuring blue. It thus might not find a place in multicolored decks where blue is not a primary color.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an initial casting cost plus the additional cost to harness its full potential, Mantle of Tides carries a higher mana investment compared to other equipment in the game that may offer similar or better benefits for less, thereby impacting its overall efficiency.
Reasons to Include Mantle of Tides in Your Collection
Versatility: Mantle of Tides is a flexible card, capable of fitting into various deck archetypes. Its ability to boost a creature’s power and toughness can be valuable in aggressive decks seeking to pressure opponents or in defensive builds looking for additional resilience.
Combo Potential: This equipment shines when paired with mechanics that enable multiple card draws, leveraging such interactions to repeatedly bolster your creatures. This opens doors to various synergistic plays that can catch opponents off guard.
Meta-Relevance: In game environments where numerous small threats can overrun a player, Mantle of Tides provides a low-cost, high-impact way to enhance your board presence. Its responsiveness to card draw makes it relevant in games that pivot on incremental advantages.
How to beat
Mantle of Tides is an artifact equipment card that sets itself apart in Magic the Gathering by boosting the power and toughness of the equipped creature, particularly upon drawing a card. When your opponent uses Mantle of Tides, the key is to disrupt their draw strategy or preemptively deal with the equipped creature. With its dependency on the card draw mechanic for its instant buff, instants that counter spells or targeted removal can ensure that Mantle of Tides becomes a non-issue.
Magic the Gathering is filled with efficient removal spells that can easily handle creatures enhanced with Mantle of Tides. Simple solutions can be found in the form of instant speed removal such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push, which can help to nip the problem in the bud before the creature becomes too large to manage. Alternatively, targeted discard spells that extract important cards from your opponent’s hand can preemptively eliminate the threat by discarding the Mantle of Tides before it’s ever equipped, rendering their strategy less effective.
Strategy and foresight play a significant role in dealing with equipments like Mantle of Tides. By effectively managing your resources and anticipating your opponent’s draws and equips, you can maintain control over the game and ensure that this seemingly simple piece of equipment does not turn the tide against you.
Cards like Mantle of Tides
Mantle of Tides is an intriguing equipment card in MTG that buffs up creatures as you play with the size of your hand. On a functional level, it’s akin to Hero’s Blade, which automatically attaches to legendary creatures and provides a sizeable power and toughness boost. Mantle of Tides, however, depends on the number of cards in a player’s hand to grant a bonus, offering a potentially dynamic advantage during the game.
Comparing it to other equipment, Bone Saw comes to mind due to its low cost but providing a static power and toughness increase. Mantle of Tides is more interactive, allowing for fluctuations in a creature’s stats in tune with the player’s hand size. Another comparable item is the much-lauded Explorer’s Scope. While Scope does not increase the creature’s power, its triggered ability to look at the top card of your deck and potentially put a land into play can shift the tides of the match. Still, Mantle of Tides offers a more direct combat benefit.
Each of these cards serves a unique role in deck building, yet Mantle of Tides stands out for players who prefer a strategic approach that leverages their hand size to fortify their creatures on the battlefield.
Cards similar to Mantle of Tides by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Mantle of Tides MTG card by a specific set like Throne of Eldraine and Jumpstart 2022, 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 Mantle of Tides and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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
See MTG Products
Printings
The Mantle of Tides Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-10-04 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Lie Setiawan.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019-10-04 | Throne of Eldraine | ELD | 52 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | |
| 2 | 2022-12-02 | Jumpstart 2022 | J22 | 318 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Mantle of Tides 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 Mantle of Tides card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2019-10-04 | If a spell or ability causes you to put cards into your hand without specifically using the word “draw,” it's not a card drawn. |
| 2019-10-04 | If an effect instructs you to draw multiple cards, the ability triggers after you draw whichever is the second one for the turn. You choose a target (if any) for the ability after you've drawn and looked at all of the cards and finished resolving the spell or ability that caused you to draw them. |
| 2019-10-04 | If the target creature is an illegal target by the time Mantle of Tides's triggered ability tries to resolve, the ability won't resolve. Mantle of Tides remains attached to what it was attached to or remains unattached if it wasn't attached. |
| 2019-10-04 | The triggered ability can trigger only once each turn. It doesn't matter whether the permanent with that ability was on the battlefield when the first card was drawn. If it's not on the battlefield when the second card is drawn, the ability can't trigger at all that turn. It won't trigger when the third or fourth card is drawn. |
| 2019-10-04 | The triggered ability of Mantle of Tides can target the creature it's already attached to. |
