Gate to the Afterlife MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Gate to the Afterlife facilitates card advantage and strategic deck filtering with its loot effect.
  2. Searching for God-Pharaoh’s Gift with this artifact can significantly enhance game momentum.
  3. Disrupting graveyard interaction is key to countering Gate to the Afterlife’s impact.

Text of card

Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, you gain 1 life. Then you may draw a card. If you do, discard a card. , , Sacrifice Gate to the Afterlife: Search your graveyard, hand, and/or library for a card named God-Pharaoh's Gift and put it onto the battlefield. If you search your library this way, shuffle it. Activate this ability only if there are six or more creature cards in your graveyard.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gate to the Afterlife excels at providing card advantage to players. Each time a nontoken creature you control dies, you’re allowed to draw and then discard a card. This mechanic not only replenishes your hand but also helps filter through your deck to find the crucial pieces you need for your game strategy.

Resource Acceleration: Beyond the basic draw and discard, Gate to the Afterlife facilitates resource acceleration by allowing you to search your library for a card named God-Pharaoh’s Gift and put that onto the battlefield, given the right conditions. This card accelerates your board state by bringing a powerful artifact into play that can drastically turn the tides in your favor.

Instant Speed: While Gate to the Afterlife itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it synergizes well with instant-speed interactions. By setting up a graveyard with the right cards, you can activate its ability at the most opportune moment, often catching your opponent off guard and propelling your game plan forward at a pace that’s hard to match.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One potential downside of Gate to the Afterlife is that it incentivizes players to discard cards to trigger its search ability. This can be detrimental in gameplay where hand size is important and discarding could leave you at a disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: While affordable, Gate to the Afterlife requires a combination of generic and white mana. This blend can sometimes be a stumbling block in multicolored decks that may struggle with mana fixing or prioritize other colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a three mana artifact, Gate to the Afterlife’s cost might be deemed high by some players, especially when considering that the key ability also demands a critical mass of creatures in the graveyard to be effective, which requires additional setup.


Reasons to Include Gate to the Afterlife in Your Collection

Versatility: Gate to the Afterlife offers a unique utility in various deck archetypes by providing both a loot effect and a life-gain component. Its ability to filter through your deck can help you find key pieces needed for your strategy while maintaining graveyard synergy.

Combo Potential: This card becomes a critical piece in any strategy that revolves around graveyard mechanics. Its ability to search for God-Pharaoh’s Gift upon meeting certain conditions can turn the tide of a game, enabling powerful plays and synergies with eternalize or embalm effects.

Meta-Relevance: In a gameplay environment that values graveyard strategies or where reanimator decks are prominent, having a copy of Gate to the Afterlife can enhance those themes, making your setup more resilient and adaptive to various game scenarios.


How to beat

Gate to the Afterlife is a unique artifact card that can be both powerful and intricate in its application within a Magic: The Gathering deck. It facilitates card filtering and life gain whenever a creature dies, but it’s the graveyard-triggered ability to search for God-Pharaoh’s Gift that sets it apart. To disrupt this potential advantage, it’s crucial to control the number of creatures hitting the graveyard. Utilize graveyard hate cards like Tormod’s Crypt or Scavenging Ooze to disrupt this cycle. Additionally, consider employing instant-speed artifact removal like Disenchant or Abrade when your opponent is poised to activate Gate to the Afterlife; this will prevent the critical search for God-Pharaoh’s Gift and keep their game plan from ramping up.

Also, monitoring graveyard size to keep it below the needed six creature cards threshold can thwart your opponent’s designs. Countering creatures before they settle on the field with spells like Essence Scatter or employing board wipes such as Wrath of God to clear multiple targets at once are effective strategies. By focusing on keeping the graveyard under control and being vigilant with your removal, you can effectively neutralize the threat posed by Gate to the Afterlife and maintain dominance on the battlefield.


Cards like Gate to the Afterlife

Gate to the Afterlife offers a unique take on loot effects and creature support in Magic: The Gathering. Comparable to it, we find Perpetual Timepiece, a card that also manipulates graveyard content by allowing players to put the top two cards of their library into their graveyard. Despite the similarities, Gate to the Afterlife stands out by granting the ability to draw and discard whenever a creature dies, providing a strategic advantage in creature-heavy decks.

Another alternative is Morbid Curiosity, which gives a burst of card draw upon sacrificing a creature. Whereas Morbid Curiosity is a single-use spell with a potentially higher card yield, Gate to the Afterlife’s iterative loot ability can be beneficial over the course of a game, especially in decks designed to exploit creature deaths.

Examining the versatility and long-term value, Gate to the Afterlife not only fuels graveyard strategies but also paves the way for its powerful counterpart, God-Pharaoh’s Gift. Its unique capability to provide card filtering, combined with a synergistic resurrection theme, renders Gate to the Afterlife as an essential component for graveyard-centric decks in Magic: The Gathering.

Perpetual Timepiece - MTG Card versions
Morbid Curiosity - MTG Card versions
God-Pharaoh's Gift - MTG Card versions
Perpetual Timepiece - Kaladesh (KLD)
Morbid Curiosity - Kaladesh (KLD)
God-Pharaoh's Gift - Hour of Devastation (HOU)

Cards similar to Gate to the Afterlife by color, type and mana cost

Runed Arch - MTG Card versions
Clay Pigeon - MTG Card versions
Ashnod's Altar - MTG Card versions
Jalum Tome - MTG Card versions
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Herald's Horn - MTG Card versions
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Sword of Vengeance - MTG Card versions
Runed Arch - Ice Age (ICE)
Clay Pigeon - Unglued (UGL)
Ashnod's Altar - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Jalum Tome - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Patchwork Gnomes - Odyssey (ODY)
The Stasis Coffin - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Captain's Hook - Rivals of Ixalan Promos (PRIX)
Spellweaver Helix - Mirrodin (MRD)
Scale of Chiss-Goria - Mirrodin (MRD)
Lightning Coils - Mirrodin (MRD)
Loxodon Warhammer - Tenth Edition (10E)
Sword of Feast and Famine - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Training Drone - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Pristine Talisman - New Phyrexia Promos (PNPH)
Alloy Myr - Jumpstart (JMP)
Guardians of Meletis - Magic Origins (ORI)
Vedalken Shackles - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Herald's Horn - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Manalith - Hour of Devastation (HOU)
Sword of Vengeance - Commander 2017 (C17)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gate to the Afterlife MTG card by a specific set like Amonkhet and Amonkhet Remastered, 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 Gate to the Afterlife and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Gate to the Afterlife Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2017-04-28 and 2020-08-13. Illustrated by Christine Choi.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-04-28AmonkhetAKH 2282015normalblackChristine Choi
22020-08-13Amonkhet RemasteredAKR 2712015normalblackChristine Choi
32020-09-26The ListPLST AKH-2282015normalblackChristine Choi

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Gate to the Afterlife has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-04-18 If Gate to the Afterlife is put into a graveyard at the same time a nontoken creature you control dies, its first ability triggers for that creature.
2017-04-18 There is no card named God-Pharaoh’s Gift in this set. During the upcoming Hour of Devastation set, you may prove worthy of receiving it.

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