Piracy Charm MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers card advantage by providing options to disrupt opponents or cycle cards for better draws.
  2. Can accelerate game pace by forcing discards, potentially throwing off opponents’ strategies.
  3. Instant speed allows for tactical plays, adjusting to the game’s flow for a strategic edge.

Text of card

Choose one Target creature gains islandwalk until end of turn; or target creature gets +2/-1 until end of turn; or target player discards a card.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Piracy Charm offers multifaceted utility, enabling players to either disrupt an opponent’s hand or cycle one of their own lesser cards in anticipation of a better draw. This flexibility often translates into maintaining hand superiority.

Resource Acceleration: While Piracy Charm itself doesn’t directly provide additional mana or Treasure tokens, it can pave the way for quicker plays by forcing an opponent to discard, potentially unhinging their strategy and allowing the user to take the tempo lead in the match.

Instant Speed: The charm operates at instant speed, giving players the freedom to wait for the most opportune moment to act. Whether it’s casting it at the end of an opponent’s turn, in the middle of combat, or in response to an action, instant speed ensures tactical adaptability on the fly.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the modes of Piracy Charm requires a player to discard a card. In situations where hand size is critical, activating this mode can be counterproductive, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage with fewer options available.

Specific Mana Cost: Piracy Charm’s mana cost is specifically blue, which means it can’t be slotted into just any deck. This limitation means that it fits best in decks heavily focused on blue mana, restricting its versatility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While only costing a single blue mana might seem inexpensive, the value gained from the effects of Piracy Charm can be somewhat marginal compared to other cards at similar mana costs. In competitive play, where the efficiency of each card is paramount, this can make Piracy Charm a less appealing option.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Piracy Charm is a multifaceted tool that can slide into various deck types. Its utility in offering a choice between making a creature unblockable, giving an opponent’s creature -1/-1, or making a player discard a card, means it can adapt to several situations on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: This charm can synergize with strategies that capitalize on graveyard interactions or player hand disruption. It’s a low-cost way to set up or enable bigger plays, making it a cunning addition for intricate combo constructions.

Meta-Relevance: The ability to tailor its effect according to the current board state makes Piracy Charm a potentially powerful sideboard card. Whether you’re up against creature-heavy decks or need to disrupt hand-based control tactics, its relevance can shift with the evolving meta, ensuring that it remains a tactical inclusion in your arsenal.


How to beat

Piracy Charm is a versatile and potent instant in MTG, offering several options to disrupt your opponent’s strategy. Although it can grant Islandwalk, force a discard, or buff a creature, there are reliable strategies to mitigate its impact. Adaptability is key when confronting the threat of Piracy Charm.

Counterplay can come in the form of counter spells that can negate Piracy Charm’s effects before they become a nuisance. Holding up mana for said counters when you suspect your opponent might cast Piracy Charm ensures you can maintain control. Additionally, minimizing the number of important cards in hand can lessen the blow of its discard effect. Prioritize casting your spells rather than holding onto them, especially when under pressure from a blue deck notorious for such instant-speed tricks.

Furthermore, ensuring you have a diverse board state lessens the effectiveness of Piracy Charm’s temporary power boost. With creatures of various sizes, your opponent’s choice to buff their creature offers only marginal advantage. By planning your plays carefully and considering the possibility of such instants, overcoming the challenge of Piracy Charm becomes a manageable part of the game.


Cards like Piracy Charm

Piracy Charm is an intriguing utility card in Magic: The Gathering that offers versatility in gameplay. A member of the ‘charm’ family, it shares similarities with other modal spells like Esper Charm which provide players with multiple options. Piracy Charm allows the player to choose between giving a creature Islandwalk, making a player discard a card, or giving a creature +2/-1 till end of turn, packing various strategies into one card.

Comparable in flexibility is Rakdos Charm, which, while in a different color identity, offers a similar range of choices that affect different aspects of the game, including graveyard interaction and artifact destruction. Each ‘charm’ brings a unique set of modal options, allowing for tailored strategic decisions. But what sets Piracy Charm apart is its ability to potentially remove a small creature or disrupt an opponent’s hand at instant speed, aligning well with blue’s control playstyle.

Evaluating the utility of these modal spells, Piracy Charm stands out especially in blue-centric strategies that prioritize tactical control and surprise maneuvers, making it a formidable card in the MTG arsenal with its on-the-fly adaptability.

Esper Charm - MTG Card versions
Rakdos Charm - MTG Card versions
Esper Charm - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Rakdos Charm - Return to Ravnica (RTR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Piracy Charm MTG card by a specific set like Planar Chaos and Time Spiral 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 Piracy Charm and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Piracy Charm Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2007-02-02 and 2021-03-19. Illustrated by John Avon.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12007-02-02Planar ChaosPLC 582003normalblackJohn Avon
22021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 782015normalblackJohn Avon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Piracy Charm has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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