Neural Network MTG Card


Neural Network - Unstable
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Contraption
Released2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set nameUnstable
Set codeUST
Number195
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderborderless
Illustred byFranz Vohwinkel
Un-set :-)This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

  1. Neural Network cards enhance strategy with on-demand deck filtering for optimal card selection.
  2. They empower players by accelerating resources and enabling powerful spell casting.
  3. Adaptability with instant-speed play provides a tactical advantage in fast-paced games.

Text of card

Whenever you crank Neural Network, gain control of target creature an opponent controls with power less than or equal to the number of creature cards in its controller's graveyard until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Neural Network card provides a significant edge by letting you sift through your deck for the ideal cards, ensuring you have the right tools at the right moment, bolstering your in-match strategy.

Resource Acceleration: This card can generate additional mana sources or facilitate quicker access to your more powerful spells. This acceleration is crucial for outpacing your opponent and could be the difference in tight matches.

Instant Speed: The versatility of instant-speed play means you can adapt to the board at a moment’s notice. Whether it’s during your opponent’s end step or in response to an unexpected threat, this card keeps you one step ahead.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Neural Network cards typically have a drawback where discarding is part of the casting or ability cost. This means players must weigh their choices carefully since discarding can deplete their hand, potentially leaving them at a disadvantage if they cannot maintain card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: These cards often have a tailored mana cost that includes multiple colors or colorless mana, restricting their playability to specially designed or multicolor decks. This requirement can pose a challenge for deck builders who must balance the mana base effectively to accommodate the card’s needs without affecting the overall deck performance.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The output of Neural Network cards sometimes doesn’t align with their mana investment. Cards with high converted mana costs can be a burden, especially in fast-paced games where early advantages are critical. Players might find it hard to justify the cost compared to other options that provide similar benefits without such a significant investment of resources.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Neural Network cards adapt to a variety of game conditions, making them excellent tools in decks that thrive on flexibility. Their dynamic abilities can often turn the tide in situations that demand a swift and effective response.

Combo Potential: These cards can be the linchpin in powerful combinations, effectively interacting with other cards to unlock potent synergies and create game-winning scenarios. Their unique properties often allow for chain reactions that are both unpredictable and game-ending.

Meta-Relevance: Given their capacity to mold to the current competitive environment, having Neural Network cards in your arsenal ensures you’re prepared for an array of deck archetypes. They help maintain an edge in a fluctuating meta, providing answers to popular strategies and keeping your deck relevant.


How to beat

Overcoming the Neural Network card in the world of Magic: The Gathering requires strategic prowess and understanding the interplay of cards. Known for its ability to create daunting board states by copying powerful creature abilities, this artifact card is a challenge many players face. Beating Neural Network becomes manageable when you incorporate removals or board wipes into your deck as they can effectively disrupt the card before it starts replicating overwhelming advantages.

Additionally, consider cards that limit the opponent’s ability to utilize artifacts or that increase the cost of using artifact abilities. Cards with stifle effects or those that can counteract triggers err on the side of precision, targeting the exact moment Neural Network tries to leverage an ability. Furthermore, a deep understanding of your deck’s dynamics can reveal ways to outmaneuver the Neural Network, perhaps by focusing on a faster aggro strategy that overtakes the slower setup time of this powerful card.

Careful planning paired with the right card selection can turn the tables on a Neural Network, transitioning what may appear as a challenging obstacle into an opportunity to showcase your deck’s resilience and strategic depth.


Cards like Neural Network

The addition of Neural Network to the pool of blue spells in MTG has sparked interest among players who favor control and manipulation tactics. When considering cards with a comparable impact, Mind’s Desire echoes a semblance to Neural Network’s ability to manipulate the top card of the library. While Mind’s Desire shuffles the deck before revealing the top card and allows for playing it without paying its mana cost, Neural Network gives the caster predictive power, much like scrying, but with the unique twist of replicating advantageous spells.

In line with effects related to foresight, we observe the card Index. It allows a player to look at the top five cards of their library and rearrange them in any order, a strategic maneuver that’s more about preparation than immediate gain. Unlike Neural Network, Index doesn’t give the option to play additional spells—its strength lies solely in information. Precognition Field is another card worth comparing; it also manipulates the top of the library and allows playing the top instant and sorcery cards, which shares similar territory with Neural Network, albeit with ongoing access instead of a one-time event.

When evaluating different strata of these predictive and manipulative cards in MTG, Neural Network surely finds its niche, catering to players who appreciate an edge in strategy combined with a chance to turn the tides with a replicated spell.

Mind's Desire - MTG Card versions
Index - MTG Card versions
Precognition Field - MTG Card versions
Mind's Desire - Scourge (SCG)
Index - Apocalypse (APC)
Precognition Field - Dominaria Promos (PDOM)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Neural Network 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 Neural Network and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

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

DateText
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.

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