City in a Bottle MTG Card

Arabian Nights (ARN)
1993-12-17 - Number 60

City in a Bottle - Vintage Masters (VMA)

Vintage Masters (VMA)
2014-06-16 - Number 265

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact

Key Takeaways

City in a Bottle offers immediate board impact against decks utilizing Arabian Nights cards.
The card’s unique continuous effect poses a persistent challenge to specific strategies.
Strategic deck building and adaptability are key to counteracting City in a Bottle’s influence.

Text of card

All cards from Arabian Nights must be discarded from play, except for City in a Bottle. While City in a Bottle is in play, no further cards from Arabian Nights can be played.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: City in a Bottle may not directly let you draw extra cards; however, it does sway the card balance by negating opponent’s cards that originate from the Arabian Nights expansion. This unique effect can result in a subtler, yet effective card advantage on the board.

Resource Acceleration: While City in a Bottle doesn’t directly accelerate resources, its ability to neutralize specific board states can set the stage for you to develop your resources unimpeded, especially if your opponent relies on cards from the targeted expansion.

Instant Speed: Although City in a Bottle is an artifact and not an instant, its ability is always active once on the battlefield. This gives you a continuous state of preparedness, equivalent to having an instant in hand, as opponents must always consider the bottle’s effect when playing cards from Arabian Nights.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Among the nuances of City in a Bottle is the fact that it doesn’t require players to discard cards, but it can indirectly cause discards. Its presence on the battlefield might compel discarding Arabian Nights cards to avoid negative effects, leading to a potential loss of card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Necessitating both generic and specific mana, City in a Bottle requires one colorless and one Arabian mana to cast. This requirement restricts deck building, as it necessitates a mana base capable of producing the required Arabian mana, potentially complicating a deck’s mana curve and consistency.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At two mana for its unique effect, City in a Bottle may seem lightweight, but its impact is situationally dependent. For its cost, the card may not consistently yield a considerable advantage, especially when not facing decks with Arabian Nights cards, thus making its inclusion in a deck a careful consideration over other more universally beneficial options.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: City in a Bottle is not just a collector’s item but also a unique card that plays a role in certain formats. Its ability to impact the battlefield immediately can be game-changing against decks featuring Arabian Nights cards, providing flexibility in how you approach matches.

Combo Potential: This card can serve as a strategic piece in a deck designed to neutralize specific threats. While not a traditional combo card, its disruptive capabilities can complement control strategies and enable favorable board states.

Meta-Relevance: In vintage formats, where older sets might see play, City in a Bottle can be incredibly potent. Against the right deck, it can completely shut down an opponent’s strategy, making it a relevant sideboard choice for dealing with niche strategies or as a response to an expected meta filled with Arabian Nights cards.

How to Beat City in a Bottle

City in a Bottle is a unique artifact from the Arabian Nights expansion that can challenge players in Magic: The Gathering. This card has the power to radically alter the battlefield by nullifying the effects of other cards from the same set and removing them entirely if they come into play. Navigating around this can be tricky, but understanding its mechanics opens avenues to counter it effectively.

To outmaneuver City in a Bottle, consider swapping affected cards from your deck with equivalent alternatives from other sets. Relying on versatile, set-independent removal spells can also dismantle this obstacle, with options such as Disenchant, Naturalize, or Krosan Grip. Additionally, incorporating robust counterspells like Counterspell or Negate can prevent City in a Bottle from ever impacting the board. Adapting to this kind of disruption requires a flexible strategy that acknowledges the broad spectrum of cards available in Magic: The Gathering’s vast card pool.

Ultimately, overcoming the imposition of City in a Bottle involves pre-game preparation and in-game tactical shifts. With careful deck-building and by staying alert to alternative resources during gameplay, players can turn this potential setback into an opportunity to display mastery and versatility in their approach.

Cards like City in a Bottle

City in a Bottle stands out within Magic: The Gathering as a distinctive card that interacts with cards from the Arabian Nights expansion. It is akin to Golgothian Sylex, which affects the Antiquities set in a similar way, purging the battlefield of those specific cards and preventing any further plays. Unlike Golgothian Sylex, however, City in a Bottle doesn’t offer a one-time effect but continues to apply its unique rule set as long as it remains on the field.

Another card to consider in the same breath is Apocalypse Chime, targeting the Homelands set. It too features the specific set disruption mechanic, but it requires a cost to be paid for the effect. In contrast, City in a Bottle’s continuous effect can provide a persistent advantage without extra costs involved post its casting. While these artifacts share a conceptual space in disrupting strategies built on particular sets, City in a Bottle’s ongoing nature potentially offers more strategic depth and consistency.

Insight into these rare and specific cards builds a comprehensive understanding of MTG’s diverse and complex card interactions and showcases City in a Bottle as a remarkably niche yet potent tool in the right setting.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase City in a Bottle MTG card by a specific set like Arabian Nights and Vintage Masters, 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 City in a Bottle and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The City in a Bottle Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1993-12-17 and 2014-06-16. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1993-12-17	Arabian Nights	ARN		60	1993	Normal	Black	Drew Tucker
2	2014-06-16	Vintage Masters	VMA		265	2015	Normal	Black	Daniel Ljunggren

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where City in a Bottle has restrictions

Format	Legality
Oldschool	Legal
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2004-10-04	Token creatures and counters created by Arabian Nights cards are not removed.
2014-02-01	Any time a player receives priority to cast spells or activate abilities, check to see whether any permanents on the battlefield were originally printed in the Arabian Nights expansion (even if the physical card representing that permanent is a reprint with a different expansion symbol). If there are any such permanents, the ability will trigger and those permanents will be sacrificed.