Solarion MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	7
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact Creature — Construct
Abilities	Sunburst
Released	2004-06-04
Set symbol
Set name	Fifth Dawn
Set code	5DN
Power	0
Toughness	0
Number	153
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jim Murray

Key Takeaways

Solarion quickly snowballs into a significant threat, pressuring opponents to respond or succumb to its power.
Its exponential growth in charge counters enables game-changing combos, accelerating players toward victory.
Strategic depth is added by Solarion, influencing enemy plays and offering a constant developmental advantage.

Text of card

Sunburst (This comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana used to pay its cost.) : Double the number of +1/+1 counters on Solarion.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Solarion, as a powerful artifact, has the innate ability to become a massive threat on the board rapidly. By accumulating charge counters, it offers the player a unique advantage, essentially stockpiling potential for a big play. This indirectly forces opponents to deal with it or face its burgeoning power, effectively giving the controlling player a form of passive card advantage as it requires answers.

Resource Acceleration: With Solarion, resource acceleration comes in the form of exponential growth. Each turn, its charge counters double. This means that, with the right synergies and support cards in your deck, you can leverage Solarion’s ever-increasing size for potentially game-ending combos, accelerating your route to victory.

Instant Speed: The influence of Solarion extends beyond its direct interactions. As a looming threat that grows at the beginning of your upkeep, it can dictate opponents’ strategies and induce mistakes or premature moves. It’s the strategic depth that Solarion adds by just existing on the field that indirectly offers the benefits usually associated with instant speed dynamics, keeping opponents at bay while you develop your board.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Holding onto Solarion in hand can be tricky if your deck strategy requires maintaining card advantage. Using it effectively often hinges on having the right setup, and if that involves discarding other valuable pieces, it could set you back compared to opponents who are optimizing their hand management.

Specific Mana Cost: Solarion comes with a demanding colorless mana cost, locking it into decks that can reliably produce a substantial amount of generic mana. This constraint can make it difficult to fit Solarion into a more color-focused strategy, thereby limiting its versatility across various decks and formats.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an initial casting cost that is quite steep, Solarion may not be the most mana-efficient choice. Players may find that when the time comes to summon Solarion, they may have already committed resources elsewhere, or they might benefit more from playing multiple lower-cost cards that offer immediate impact on the game state.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Solarion is a flexible card capable of fitting into numerous deck archetypes. Its scalability with counters makes it a robust addition, particularly in decks that manipulate or double such markers for increased effect.

Combo Potential: Due to its nature of doubling the counters whenever it’s tapped, Solarion has substantial synergy with various untap mechanics. This enables a range of infinite combo possibilities that can lead to overwhelming board states or even instant wins under the right circumstances.

Meta-Relevance: As the game evolves, a card with inherent adaptability like Solarion remains relevant. In metas where proliferate strategies or counter-centric decks are prevalent, incorporating Solarion can provide you with a decisive edge in matches through its exponential growth potential.

How to beat

Solarion presents a unique challenge in MTG, shining as a formidable artifact creature that thrives on doubling its power and toughness. This capacity for exponential growth can quickly overwhelm an unprepared opponent. To effectively counter Solarion, the key lies in preventing its ability from activating. Creature removal spells like Path to Exile or Doom Blade can dispatch it before it becomes a threat. Alternatively, countering it upon casting with a spell such as Counterspell ensures Solarion never hits the battlefield.

Enchantment-based strategies also offer a solution by nullifying its abilities with cards like Pacifism or encasing it in ice with Deep Freeze. This way, even if Solarion lands on the field, its potential for growth is stunted, and it becomes a non-issue. Managing the proliferate and +1/+1 counter synergies in your opponent’s deck is also crucial, as these are the fuel to Solarion’s fire. Keep a watchful eye on the board state, and prioritize limiting these interactions when possible.

In essence, while Solarion can escalate into a massive problem, with timely intervention and strategic play, you can ensure it remains just a glint in your opponent’s eye rather than the blazing sun that seals your defeat.

Cards like Solarion

Solarion commands the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering with its unique power-scaling attribute. It finds some parallels in cards like Triskelion, which also has the ability to accrue and utilize +1/+1 counters. However, Triskelion allows for the removal of counters to directly deal damage, providing immediate board impact. In contrast, Solarion requires a doubling effect or proliferate mechanic to truly shine, which can make it a game changer in the right deck.

Moving through cards with similar themes, we stumble upon the adaptable Walking Ballista. While it shares the counter removal for direct damage, it also boasts the flexibility of being cast for any amount of mana, making it effective at any stage of the game. Unlike Solarion, Walking Ballista can influence the board right away, but lacks the exponential growth potential inherent in Solarion under optimal conditions.

Ultimately, while Solarion may sit quietly among creatures with +1/+1 counter mechanics in Magic: The Gathering, its potential in a synergistic build is vast, dwarfing others when the stars—or rather counters—align.

Cards similar to Solarion by color, type and mana cost

Mishra's War Machine - MTG Card versions

Death-Mask Duplicant - MTG Card versions

Pilgrim of the Fires - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Solarion MTG card by a specific set like Fifth Dawn, 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 Solarion and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Solarion has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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