Heart of Bogardan MTG Card


Heart of Bogardan - Weatherlight
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment
Abilities Cumulative upkeep
Released1997-06-09
Set symbol
Set nameWeatherlight
Set codeWTH
Number106
Frame1997
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byTerese Nielsen

Key Takeaways

  1. Heart of Bogardan excels in resource acceleration and strategic long-term board control.
  2. The card’s specific mana and discard requirements can impede its inclusion in some decks.
  3. Versatility and combo potential make it a valuable addition for certain MTG strategies.

Text of card

Cumulative upkeep If Heart of Bogardan's cumulative upkeep cost is not paid, Heart of Bogardan deals damage equal to its last paid cumulative upkeep to target player and each creature he or she controls.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Heart of Bogardan provides a recurring method to damage opponents and eventually clear the board, potentially evening the playing field if you’re behind or solidifying your advantage if you’re ahead.

Resource Acceleration: Through its cumulative upkeep cost, this card incentivizes a long-term investment in your resources, offering a powerful eruption effect on the battlefield after several turns of careful planning and resource management.

Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Heart of Bogardan synergizes well with instant-speed spells by providing a predictable schedule of damage. You can adjust your play on the fly, preparing other instant-speed interactions without compromising your strategy around Heart of Bogardan’s effect schedule.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Heart of Bogardan necessitates a discard from your hand to initiate its cumulative upkeep cost. This can put players at a considerable disadvantage, especially in longer games where maintaining card advantage is crucial. Having to part with valuable cards can often turn the tide against you.

Specific Mana Cost: The specificity of the mana cost for Heart of Bogardan cannot be overlooked. Requiring both red and colorless mana, this card places certain demands on deck building. Decks that are not centered around red may struggle to meet this requirement, rendering it less flexible than more color-neutral options.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a starting mana cost that’s on the higher end for its initial effect, Heart of Bogardan can be a costly investment. Given the pace of modern MTG gameplay, investing in a card that may not impact the board immediately can set a player back, especially when facing strategies that rapidly develop their board state or disrupt opponent’s resources efficiently.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Heart of Bogardan offers flexibility that can adapt to various game situations. Because it serves as both removal and a potential damage source, it’s a fit for control decks seeking to manage the board or aggressive builds looking to apply pressure.

Combo Potential: This card accumulates age counters, allowing players to leverage time-based strategies. It could potentially combine well with mechanics that remove counters or with proliferate strategies to hasten its final, devastating effect.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta-game that favors long-drawn battles, the Heart of Bogardan can become increasingly dangerous as the game progresses. It can act as a recurring threat that opponents must factor into their play, altering the typical pace of gameplay.


How to Beat

Heart of Bogardan is a potent artifact that revolves around cumulative upkeep and can wreak destruction on the board when it’s sent to the graveyard from play. To neutralize this threat, it’s paramount to avoid the trap of its escalating upkeep cost. Instead, focus on strategies that neutralize it without triggering its destructive exit.

Consider utilizing cards with exile effects that can safely remove Heart of Bogardan from the game—cards like Path to Exile or Oblivion Ring, which allow controlled removal without the downside of a board wipe. Additionally, countering it when first cast can prevent future headaches, making cards like Counterspell or Negate valuable options in your deck.

Another approach is to embrace artifact-centric strategies using cards like Karn Liberated or artifacts that prohibit other artifacts from executing their abilities—a clever way to suppress the Heart’s power without having to pay the cumulative cost or risking its burial-triggered damage. Efficient artifact management will enable you to maintain battlefield control and mitigate the impact of Heart of Bogardan.


Cards like Heart of Bogardan

The Heart of Bogardan is a distinctive enchantment card in Magic the Gathering with an intriguing cumulative upkeep cost and destruction ability. It’s often paralleled to cards like Pyrohemia and Pestilence that share the potential to wipe the board by dealing damage to each creature and player. However, Heart of Bogardan stands out for its final burst, delivering substantial damage to opponents when it leaves play due to its cumulative upkeep.

In contrast, Pyrohemia allows for more controlled damage distribution since the player can choose when to activate it without a cumulative upkeep cost, but it lacks the final damage flourish the Heart of Bogardan boasts. Pestilence, for its part, is similar in its symmetrical damage but is limited to being active only if creatures are on the board, unlike Heart of Bogardan which can sit and accrue damage over time regardless of creature presence.

To summarize, while there are enchantments that manipulate the field in a similar pyroclastic fashion, Heart of Bogardan offers a unique combination of slow burn strategy and explosive potential, making it a card worth considering for any player enamored with red’s penchant for dramatic impact.

Pyrohemia - MTG Card versions
Pestilence - MTG Card versions
Pyrohemia - Planar Chaos (PLC)
Pestilence - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Cards similar to Heart of Bogardan by color, type and mana cost

Manabarbs - MTG Card versions
Orcish Oriflamme - MTG Card versions
An-Zerrin Ruins - MTG Card versions
Lightning Cloud - MTG Card versions
Aether Flash - MTG Card versions
Furnace of Rath - MTG Card versions
No Quarter - MTG Card versions
Shiv's Embrace - MTG Card versions
Antagonism - MTG Card versions
Pyromancy - MTG Card versions
Close Quarters - MTG Card versions
Collapsing Borders - MTG Card versions
Stand or Fall - MTG Card versions
Impulsive Maneuvers - MTG Card versions
Stensia Uprising - MTG Card versions
Magmatic Core - MTG Card versions
Pyrohemia - MTG Card versions
Uncontrollable Anger - MTG Card versions
Elemental Mastery - MTG Card versions
Splinter Twin - MTG Card versions
Manabarbs - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Orcish Oriflamme - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
An-Zerrin Ruins - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Lightning Cloud - Visions (VIS)
Aether Flash - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Furnace of Rath - Planechase (HOP)
No Quarter - Tempest (TMP)
Shiv's Embrace - Magic 2011 (M11)
Antagonism - Urza's Saga (USG)
Pyromancy - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Close Quarters - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Collapsing Borders - Invasion (INV)
Stand or Fall - Invasion (INV)
Impulsive Maneuvers - Odyssey (ODY)
Stensia Uprising - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Magmatic Core - Coldsnap (CSP)
Pyrohemia - Commander Anthology (CMA)
Uncontrollable Anger - Tenth Edition (10E)
Elemental Mastery - Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)
Splinter Twin - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Heart of Bogardan MTG card by a specific set like Weatherlight, 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 Heart of Bogardan and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Heart of Bogardan has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2008-04-01 In other words, if you sacrifice Heart of Bogardan rather than pay its cumulative upkeep, X is equal to the amount of mana last spent to pay its cumulative upkeep.

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