Crumble MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 9 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Crumble offers card advantage by disrupting opponents’ strategies with artifact removal at instant speed.
  2. Its specific mana cost and higher casting cost can limit its inclusion in diverse deck builds.
  3. Despite drawbacks, Crumble’s versatility and meta relevance make it a valuable addition to collections.

Text of card

Destroy target artifact; artifact creatures may not regenerate. Artifact's controller gains life points equal to target artifact's casting cost.

The spirits of Argoth grant new life to those who repent the folly of enslaving their labors to devices.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crumble grants an unintended form of card advantage by removing key artifacts from the game, potentially setting your opponent back and disrupting their strategy while offering you a peek into their deck composition.

Resource Acceleration: While Crumble itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, it can indirectly aid in resource acceleration by ensuring the battlefield is clear of artifacts that may otherwise accelerate your opponent’s resources or generate additional value for them over time.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Crumble at instant speed affords you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions during their turn, making it an excellent tool for interrupting combos or the deployment of critical artifacts before they can be utilized.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One downside of Crumble is its need for you to discard another card as part of its casting cost. This can be particularly detrimental in late-game scenarios where your hand may already be depleted, putting you at a further disadvantage by reducing your options.

Specific Mana Cost: Crumble demands a precise mana composition for its activation—one green mana. This requirement may not always align with multicolored decks or those that operate on a tight mana curve, potentially delaying its play or making it a dead card in hand.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When evaluating the efficiency of artifact removal spells, Crumble’s mana cost is on the higher side. Many alternative options may remove artifacts at a lower cost, providing a quicker response or allowing for more actions within a single turn, which can be crucial in fast-paced games.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Crumble finds a home in decks focusing on resource denial or artifact control, helping to remove key pieces from the opponent’s board. Its ability to target any artifact makes it a flexible sideboard card in eternal formats.

Combo Potential: By destructively targeting your own artifacts when beneficial, Crumble can sometimes act as a catalyst in decks that capitalize on graveyard synergy or recursion strategies.

Meta-Relevance: Given the prevalence of powerful artifacts in various metagames, Crumble serves as an efficient and cost-effective answer, making it a strategic choice for players looking to disrupt artifact-centric decks.


How to beat

Crumble, a card from Magic: The Gathering’s earlier sets, presents an interesting challenge for players. It’s an effective tool for dismantling artifacts, offering not just destruction but also the incidental life gain for your opponent calculated upon the artifact’s value. The key to overrunning this nuanced spell lies in strategy and deck composition.

Beating Crumble involves a mix of timing and valuation. Utilize artifacts that have either already served their purpose or have a low cost, minimizing the life gained by your opponent. Additionally, consider using artifacts with abilities that trigger upon hitting the graveyard, turning a potential setback into an advantage. Another effective tactic is to curate a deck with a diverse range of threats, diluting the impact of Crumble by making it harder for your opponent to choose a significant target. Lastly, maintaining a responsive hand with counter spells or using bait artifacts to draw out Crumble before deploying your key pieces can ensure your central strategy remains unimpeded.

Mastering these approaches enhances your resilience against Crumble, enabling you to maintain the upper hand in your Magic: The Gathering matches, despite facing this classic removal card.


Cards like Crumble

Crumble is an intriguing entry into Magic: The Gathering’s roster of artifact removal spells. It stands alongside cards like Naturalize, which allows players to destroy an artifact or enchantment at a low cost. However, Crumble offers a unique edge with its additional effect of making the artifact’s controller gain life equal to the artifact’s casting cost.

Contrasting Crumble with Shatter, another classic artifact removal, Shatter seems more straightforward in its approach, despite being in the same mana cost range. The distinctive life-gain aspect of Crumble offers a different tactical advantage, potentially making it a more nuanced choice for players in certain scenarios. Oxidize is also worth a mention, with its single green mana cost and the added benefit of removing the artifact without allowing regeneration, yet it doesn’t offer the life-gain trade-off that makes Crumble so specialized.

A close examination reveals that while there are several options for artifact disruption in Magic: The Gathering, Crumble carves out its niche with the lifeline it throws to opponents, an element that can play into deeper strategic plays based on your deck’s overarching strategy.

Naturalize - MTG Card versions
Shatter - MTG Card versions
Oxidize - MTG Card versions
Naturalize - Onslaught (ONS)
Shatter - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Oxidize - Darksteel (DST)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crumble MTG card by a specific set like Antiquities and Foreign Black Border, 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 Crumble and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Crumble Magic the Gathering card was released in 9 different sets between 1994-03-04 and 2011-01-10. Illustrated by Jesper Myrfors.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11994-03-04AntiquitiesATQ 321993normalblackJesper Myrfors
21994-04-01Foreign Black BorderFBB 1911993normalblackJesper Myrfors
31994-04-01Revised Edition3ED 1911993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
41994-06-21Summer Magic / EdgarSUM 1911993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
51995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 2391993normalblackJesper Myrfors
61995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 2391993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
71997-03-24Fifth Edition5ED 2871997normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
81997-08-13World Championship Decks 1997WC97 sg287sb1997normalgoldJesper Myrfors
92011-01-10Masters Edition IVME4 1471997normalblackJesper Myrfors

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Crumble has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2004-10-04 If the target artifact becomes illegal before resolution, the player does not gain any life.

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