Jamming Device MTG Card

Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact — Contraption
Released	2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set name	Unstable
Set code	UST
Number	192
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Borderless
Illustred by	Franz Vohwinkel
Un-set :-)	This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

Jamming Device offers card advantage and instant-speed play to disrupt opponents during crucial moments.
While providing control, it requires a specific mana mix and self-discard, which can be a drawback.
It stands out for its versatility, combo potential, and its meta relevance in creature-heavy games.

Text of card

Whenever you crank Jamming Device, creatures target player controls get -1/-1 until end of turn.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With the Jamming Device, players can disrupt their opponent’s hand while potentially drawing into more powerful spells or the necessary answers to maintain control of the match.

Resource Acceleration: This card offers a unique form of resource acceleration by slowing down your opposition. It forces them to play at your pace, effectively giving you a time advantage to develop your board and strategy.

Instant Speed: The instant speed nature of Jamming Device ensures that you can optimally time its activation to hinder your opponent’s most crucial plays, maintaining the element of surprise and tactical superiority in the heat of battle.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Jamming Device commands you to part with a valuable card from your hand, which can be a substantial setback when your options are already dwindling.

Specific Mana Cost: This artifact necessitates a precise blend of colorless and blue mana, potentially restricting its integration into a wide array of magic decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana valuation on the steeper end, Jamming Device might falter in efficiency when measured against similar artifacts that could expedite your game plan for less.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Jamming Device is a card that offers broad applicability across various deck types. Its ability to target and disrupt opponent’s strategies makes it a useful tool in any player’s arsenal.

Combo Potential: This card operates well within decks that capitalize on artifact synergy or abilities that alter or neutralize the powers of creatures on the battlefield. Its interaction with other cards can open the door to powerful combinations.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where opponents heavily rely on creature abilities, Jamming Device gains significant relevance. It can be a game-changer in matchups, providing a tactical advantage by hindering key components of an opponent’s game plan.

How to beat

Jamming Device is a novel card in the MTG universe, creating a layer of strategy for players to navigate. The card’s ability to disrupt opponent’s artifacts and creatures can pose a challenge during gameplay. By altering the rules of engagement, Jamming Device forces players to adapt their usual tactics. To outmaneuver this card, it is vital to focus on versatility and removal options. Having a balanced deck that can handle multiple threats without relying heavily on artifacts is key. It’s also beneficial to incorporate instant-speed removal or ability counterspells to neutralize the effects of Jamming Device as it’s on the stack. This ensures that you can maintain control of the board and diminish the impact of your opponent’s disruptors. Additionally, if Jamming Device becomes attached to one of your permanents, having the means to sacrifice or bounce your own cards to deny your opponent the satisfaction of a successful disruption could greatly tilt the scales back in your favor.

Cards like Jamming Device

The Jamming Device card brings an intriguing dynamic to the disruptive artifact lineup in Magic: The Gathering. It echoes the functionalities of cards like Pithing Needle and Sorcerous Spyglass which both aim to shut down the abilities of cards your opponents control. Whereas Pithing Needle enters the battlefield and selects any card name without providing extra information, Jamming Device allows you to also look at an opponent’s hand, albeit with a more restrictive naming condition.

Likewise, Phyrexian Revoker shares the ability to name and nullify the activated abilities of a source, but unlike Jamming Device, it can affect mana abilities, offering a broader scope of control. Yet, it trades off the card insight that Jamming Device provides. Revoker also brings a creature body to the table, making it vulnerable to removal that wouldn’t typically affect artifacts.

Considering the strategic depth offered by these types of cards, Jamming Device finds its niche among Magic: The Gathering’s array of options for players looking to pre-emptively tackle threats by hindering an opponent’s plans, while also gaining valuable information about their intentions with its ability to scout hands. This positions Jamming Device as a card of choice for players desiring both disruption and intel.

Cards similar to Jamming Device by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Jamming Device MTG card by a specific set like Unstable, 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 Jamming Device and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2018-01-19	Any Contraption that’s on the battlefield and wasn’t assembled immediately heads to the scrapyard. However, if it’s a not an actual Contraption card (like Copy Artifact isn’t), it goes to your graveyard as normal. Non-Contraption cards can’t be in the scrapyard.
2018-01-19	At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control any Contraptions, move the CRANK! counter to the next sprocket. You may then crank any number of Contraptions on that sprocket, causing their abilities to trigger. Cranking a Contraption is always optional.
2018-01-19	Contraptions are artifacts. Anything that interacts with artifacts will interact with Contraptions.
2018-01-19	Contraptions aren’t put into your main deck. They go into a separate deck called the Contraption deck.
2018-01-19	If a Contraption would leave the battlefield and go to any zone other than exile, it instead goes to the scrapyard, the Contraption deck’s version of the graveyard. Things that affect the graveyard do not affect the scrapyard. You can exile Contraptions just fine.
2018-01-19	If you crank multiple Contraptions, their abilities can be put onto the stack in any order. The ability put onto the stack will resolve first.
2018-01-19	If you or a permanent you control are instructed to assemble a Contraption, reveal the top card of your Contraption deck. Put it onto the battlefield on one of the three sprockets.
2018-01-19	If you or a permanent you control assembles a Contraption and your Contraption deck is empty, nothing happens. You don’t lose the game.
2018-01-19	In Constructed formats, a Contraption deck must have at least fifteen different Contraption cards and no more than one of each.
2018-01-19	In Limited formats, a Contraption deck may include any number of Contraption cards in your card pool. You don’t have to include every Contraption card you draft or open in sealed deck. In those formats, your Contraption deck may include duplicates.
2018-01-19	In silver-bordered games using Contraptions, you have three sprockets, illustrated on the back of Contraption cards. At the start of the game, put a CRANK! counter on sprocket 3.
2018-01-19	While Contraptions you control are on the battlefield, the Contraption deck is not, even if you are using it to signify the three sprockets.