Artifact Ward MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	1994-03-04
Set symbol
Set name	Antiquities
Set code	ATQ
Number	3
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Douglas Shuler

Key Takeaways

Artifact Ward is a defensive card, granting crucial protection to artifacts and impacting game strategies.
Its instant speed and versatility make it adaptable across various deck types and metas.
Potential downsides include specific mana costs and high cost relative to utility.

Text of card

Target creature cannot be blocked by artifact creatures, and any damage taken from an artifact source is reduced to 0. Target creature is unaffected by any artifact effects that target it.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Artifact Ward allows players to maintain a strategic advantage by protecting valuable artifacts from targeted spells or effects. This safeguarding of resources ensures that you not only retain card presence on the battlefield but also uphold your position in the game.

Resource Acceleration: Utilizing Artifact Ward can indirectly enhance resource acceleration. By defending crucial mana-producing or utility artifacts, you ensure their uninterrupted operation, thereby streamlining your progress towards powerful spells and combat dominance.

Instant Speed: The agile nature of Artifact Ward, castable at instant speed, offers a dynamic defense mechanism. This flexibility allows players to adapt swiftly to threats, keeping opponents guessing and preserving strategic assets until the moment they’re jeopardized.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: A potential downside to Artifact Ward is having to possibly discard a card upon resolution. This can lead to a deficit in hand advantage, especially if you’re caught in a tight spot where every card counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Tailoring your mana base to accommodate Artifact Ward can be tricky, given its particular mana requirements. This can be restrictive and not always in sync with your deck’s mana curve, potentially causing delays in your game plan.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When you consider the utility of Artifact Ward against its mana cost, it may seem steep. Especially in a format where speed is of the essence, the high cost might set you back against opponents utilizing more mana-efficient alternatives.

Reasons to Include Artifact Ward in Your Collection

Versatility: Artifact Ward is a card that can be slotted into various deck archetypes. Whether you’re fortifying a control deck against artifact-heavy opponents or giving aggro builds some added resilience, its utility makes it a solid inclusion.

Combo Potential: Integrating seamlessly into decks with a focus on artifacts, Artifact Ward can be a linchpin for combos that protect key pieces from targeted removal. Its ability to potentially safeguard high-value artifacts increases its combo-enabling stature.

Meta-Relevance: In an MTG landscape where artifacts play a significant role, having Artifact Ward in your arsenal ensures you’re prepared. Especially effective in metas dominated by artifact strategies, it helps maintain a competitive edge by mitigating some common threats.

How to Beat

The Artifact Ward card in Magic: The Gathering presents a unique challenge, often throwing a wrench in the well-laid plans of opponents who rely heavily on artifact strategies. It grants protection to a creature or player from artifacts, potentially turning off a suite of common removal spells, like Shatter or Meteor Golem, and stifling combos relying on artifact synergy.

To effectively deal with Artifact Ward, you can lean toward color-based removal spells or board wipes that don’t specify targeting artifacts, such as Oblivion Ring or Day of Judgment. Enchantment removal spells like Naturalize or Return to Nature also work wonders by directly removing Artifact Ward from the battlefield. Other tactics include using counterspells when the Artifact Ward is being cast or relying on non-artifact sources for abilities and creature removal, hence bypassing the card’s protection altogether.

Adapting your strategy and diversifying your deck to include answers for protection abilities is key. Artifact Ward can easily be a minor obstacle rather than a major threat with proper planning and a balanced deck built to handle all sorts of protection.

Cards like Artifact Ward

Artifact Ward is a niche yet potent card in Magic: The Gathering that offers targeted protection for your artifacts. It’s akin to cards like Leonin Abunas, which also provides a blanket of safety to your artifacts by making them hexproof. However, Artifact Ward is unique in its enchantment form, allowing you to shield a single artifact while potentially benefitting from enchantment synergies.

In comparison, Padeem, Consul of Innovation, serves a similar purpose by granting your artifacts hexproof, underscoring their safeguard, and offers an additional upside of card advantage if you control the artifact with the highest cost. While Padeem covers all artifacts, Artifact Ward’s lower mana cost makes it a more accessible early game option for pinpoint defense.

Considering other contenders like Indomitable Archangel with its metalcraft ability, providing shroud to all artifacts if you control three or more, Artifact Ward stands out for its simplicity and directness. While the Archangel can impact the board significantly, Artifact Ward’s specific protection can be instrumental in shielding a key artifact from targeted removal without needing to meet additional conditions.

Padeem, Consul of Innovation - MTG Card versions

Indomitable Archangel - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Artifact Ward MTG card by a specific set like Antiquities, 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 Artifact Ward and other MTG cards: