Twiddlestick Charger MTG Card

Rarity	Common
Type	Artifact — Contraption
Released	2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set name	Unstable
Set code	UST
Number	210
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Borderless
Illustred by	Ralph Horsley
Un-set :-)	This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

The charger offers card advantage and can alter the game by untapping permanents at instant speed.
Its color-specific mana cost and discard requirement add layers of strategy and planning.
Countering this card hinges on timely removal or disruption of its tapping capabilities.

Text of card

Whenever you crank Twiddlestick Charger, tap or untap target creature.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Twiddlestick Charger offers a strategic advantage by potentially untapping a permanent, thus setting up the conditions to draw additional cards or reuse an activated ability that may lead to increased card flow during gameplay.

Resource Acceleration: When Twiddlestick Charger is paired with permanents that produce mana or other valuables, it can serve as a method for resource acceleration, allowing players to access more mana or repeated effects within a single turn.

Instant Speed: Possessing instant speed gives the Twiddlestick Charger flexibility and surprise factor, enabling the player to adapt to an opponent’s moves and make pivotal game decisions at the most opportune moments, be it during combat or in reaction to an opponent’s strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Twiddlestick Charger requires discarding another card to utilize its full effect. This can sometimes turn into a setback, especially for players who might be clinging to a hand with crucial cards they don’t wish to lose. Balancing the card’s benefits against what might be discarded is a key consideration that adds an additional layer of strategy and potential risk-taking.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Twiddlestick Charger is color-specific, demanding both blue and red mana. This requirement can sometimes hinder deck flexibility, primarily impacting players who run multi-colored decks or rely heavily on a single color. It demands careful mana base planning to ensure consistent playability throughout the game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Having to invest four mana might make Twiddlestick Charger a steeper play compared to other options available. While its abilities are undoubtedly potent, the mana investment puts it at a higher threshold, which could lead to disadvantageous tempo in the earlier phases of the match where immediate board presence or cheaper interactions are more critical.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Twiddlestick Charger shines in decks that capitalize on spellslinging or voltron strategies, making it a suitable fit for diverse game plans. It can act both as a piece to power up your commander or used creatively to untap key permanents.

Combo Potential: With the ability to untap another target permanent, Twiddlestick Charger can be an integral part of combo lines, potentially unlocking infinite loops or enabling multi-spell turns that can rapidly swing the game in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta game that leans on critical artifacts or creatures, the ability to manipulate untap steps provides a tactical edge. Its interaction can disrupt opponent strategies or exponentially enhance your board state, highlighting its significant role in current competitive formats.

How to beat

Twiddlestick Charger is a unique artifact from the world of Magic: The Gathering, and to effectively counter it, awareness of certain strategies is key. As an equipment card, it can give a huge power boost to creatures for a pivotal swing. Yet, like any MTG card, it has vulnerabilities that can be exploited.

One approach is to utilize instant speed removal spells that can break the synergy before the opponent has the chance to capitalize on an equipped creature. Direct artifact destruction spells or those that force a player to sacrifice an artifact can be extremely efficient. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant are great examples as they remove the threat directly, leaving the opponent without their precious equipment.

Furthermore, countering the Charger’s activation is another effective method. Look for spells that can disrupt the tapping mechanism, such as instant stifle effects, or ones that can counter abilities. This hampers the Charger’s primary function, rendering it useless in that turn. By carefully timing disruption and keeping a vigilant eye on the battlefield, you can overcome the challenge posed by Twiddlestick Charger and keep the momentum in your favor.

Cards like Twiddlestick Charger

Twiddlestick Charger is an intriguing piece in the puzzle of mana acceleration artifacts within Magic: The Gathering. It shares common ground with well-known artifacts like Manalith, providing a mana of any color to your pool. Yet, Twiddlestick Charger adds a distinctive blend with its capacity to untap another target artifact, potentially unlocking additional mana or abilities.

Likewise, Prophetic Prism draws a comparison with its mana filtration ability and providing card draw upon entering the battlefield. While it doesn’t offer the untapping versatility of Twiddlestick Charger, the card advantage it presents is valuable. Similarly, Vessel of Endless Rest offers mana fixing, but also delivers utility by putting a card from a graveyard on the bottom of its owner’s library upon arrival on the battlefield.

Considering these analogues, Twiddlestick Charger holds its place as a multifunctional artifact capable of seamlessly integrating into decks that benefit from artifact synergies and recurrent untapping strategies. This makes it a tool not only for mana flexibility but for a wider range of tactical advantages.

Vessel of Endless Rest - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Twiddlestick Charger by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Twiddlestick Charger 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 Twiddlestick Charger and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Twiddlestick Charger 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.