Nim Deathmantle MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip

Key Takeaways

  1. Nim Deathmantle provides card advantage, resource acceleration, and operates at instant speed for strategic flexibility.
  2. Potential cons include a discard requirement, a specific and high mana cost for its ability activation.
  3. It’s versatile with significant combo potential, making it relevant in various metagames for resilience.

Text of card

Equipped creature gets +2/+2, has intimidate, and is a black Zombie. Whenever a nontoken creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may pay . If you do, return that card to the battlefield and attach Nim Deathmantle to it. Equip


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nim Deathmantle can be a key engine in generating card advantage by reviving creatures with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects. This recursive ability ensures that you can continue to access these potent triggers, essentially “drawing” additional value from cards already played.

Resource Acceleration: The equip ability provides a significant boost in resource acceleration by protecting your investment in creatures. This means that the mana and cards expended on developing your board aren’t lost when a creature dies, as Nim Deathmantle can bring it back to life, ready for action.

Instant Speed: Operating at instant speed, the activated ability of Nim Deathmantle offers strategic flexibility during gameplay. You can maneuver around your opponent’s moves, revitalizing your creatures during the last possible moments, often when your adversaries least expect it, leading to sudden shifts in the game’s momentum.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When leveraging Nim Deathmantle’s triggered ability, there’s an implicit need to have a creature card heading to the graveyard. This requirement can be a setback during gameplay when your board position is already weakened, and losing another creature can further deplete your resources, making the recovery harder.

Specific Mana Cost: Nim Deathmantle demands two mana of any kind and two black mana to activate its crucial ability. This cost requires a commitment to black mana sources, which could potentially restrict its inclusion in multi-colored decks that may not always guarantee the black mana needed at crucial junctures in the game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Additionally, the four mana to reanimate a creature with Nim Deathmantle is comparatively steep, especially in formats where mana efficiency is paramount. While the ability to return creatures from the graveyard is potent, other cards might offer resurrection effects at a more economical cost, making them potentially more attractive options for deck construction.


Reasons to Include Nim Deathmantle in Your Collection

Versatility: Nim Deathmantle offers great flexibility, being an Equipment card that can slot into any MTG color. Its ability to bring creatures back from the graveyard ensures that it can be applied across various deck themes and strategies, maintaining a creature’s presence on the board.

Combo Potential: This card shines when combined with creatures that have enter-the-battlefield effects or dying triggers. Paring it up with sacrifice outlets can create infinite loops that might just secure the game in your favor, displaying its dynamics in combo-centric decks.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where board control is vital, Nim Deathmantle provides resilience against removal spells and board wipes. This makes it a relevant addition in environments where keeping key creatures on the field can dictate the pace and outcome of the game.


How to beat

Nim Deathmantle is a versatile equipment card that’s capable of bringing creatures back from the graveyard in Magic: The Gathering. To counteract this powerful card, players should consider strategies that either prevent equipment from attaching to creatures or that exile creatures from the graveyard before they can be targeted by Nim Deathmantle’s ability. Spot removals like Disenchant or artifact control cards like Karn, the Great Creator efficiently manage equipment threats.

Exiling graveyard cards is yet another effective tactic against Nim Deathmantle. Using cards like Relic of Progenitus or Leyline of the Void disrupts graveyard strategies, leaving Deathmantle with no targets for its ability. In addition, including counterspells in your deck can also stop your opponent from ever getting the chance to utilize Nim Deathmantle, as you can counter it upon being cast or when its equip ability is activated.

Adapting your deck to include these strategies can greatly increase your chances of neutralizing the threat posed by Nim Deathmantle. The key is to monitor the board state and be ready to act when your opponent attempts to use its effect, to maintain control of the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

With Nim Deathmantle’s grasp over life and death on the battlefield, MTG players witness a fresh horizon of strategy and resourcefulness. As you digest its benefits and drawbacks, alongside its cousins in the artifact realm, consider Nim Deathmantle’s place in your deck construction. It might be the resilient link you need against the tide of board wipes and removal spells. We encourage you to continue studying insights like these and integrating powerful combos into your gameplay for sustained dominance in the MTG arena. For an in-depth understanding and further strategies to harness Nim Deathmantle’s potential, deepen your journey with us.


Cards like Nim Deathmantle

Nim Deathmantle is a unique artifact in the vast arsenal of Magic: The Gathering gear, intricately weaving elements of creature resurrection and stat boosting. Resonating with cards like Sword of Light and Shadow, which also offers a form of creature recursion, Nim Deathmantle provides an edge with its ability to retrieve any creature card from the graveyard directly onto the battlefield. However, unlike Sword of Light and Shadow, it demands a mana payment and requires the creature to be equipped.

Another artifact that shares a thematic kinship is Whip of Erebos, granting not only lifelink but a temporary return of creatures from the graveyard. Whip of Erebos has a more significant impact on the life totals but lacks the permanence of the Deathmantle’s effect. In this context, Unholy Grotto is worth mentioning, a land that brings back selected creature types from the graveyard to the hand. Though more niche and subtle than Nim Deathmantle’s across-the-board resurrection, the Grotto offers consistent utility without a mana cost at the time of retrieval.

The strategic depth offered by Nim Deathmantle in deck-building cannot be overstated. With its blend of reanimation and enhancement, it holds a valuable slot in decks that focus on the synergy of creature abilities and the intricacies of combat strategies.

Sword of Light and Shadow - MTG Card versions
Whip of Erebos - MTG Card versions
Unholy Grotto - MTG Card versions
Sword of Light and Shadow - MTG Card versions
Whip of Erebos - MTG Card versions
Unholy Grotto - MTG Card versions

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Chaos Orb - MTG Card versions
Winter Orb - MTG Card versions
Ankh of Mishra - MTG Card versions
Amulet of Kroog - MTG Card versions
Nacre Talisman - MTG Card versions
Howling Mine - MTG Card versions
Essence Bottle - MTG Card versions
Emerald Medallion - MTG Card versions
Scrying Glass - MTG Card versions
Cursed Totem - MTG Card versions
Tsabo's Web - MTG Card versions
Millikin - MTG Card versions
Swiftfoot Boots - MTG Card versions
Ark of Blight - MTG Card versions
Surestrike Trident - MTG Card versions
Demon's Horn - MTG Card versions
Energy Chamber - MTG Card versions
Water Gun Balloon Game - MTG Card versions
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nim Deathmantle MTG card by a specific set like Scars of Mirrodin and Double Masters 2022, 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 Nim Deathmantle and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Nim Deathmantle Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2010-10-01 and 2022-07-08. Illustrated by Karl Kopinski.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-10-01Scars of MirrodinSOM 1882003NormalBlackKarl Kopinski
22022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 5612015NormalBlackKarl Kopinski
32022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 3092015NormalBlackKarl Kopinski

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nim Deathmantle has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2011-01-01 If multiple nontoken creatures are put into your graveyard from the battlefield at the same time, Nim Deathmantle’s second ability triggers that many times. You put the triggered abilities on the stack in any order, so you’ll determine in which order they resolve. If you pay more than once, each card you paid for will end up on the battlefield under your control, and Nim Deathmantle will end up attached to the last card that returned to the battlefield this way that it could equip.
2011-01-01 If the nontoken creature that caused Nim Deathmantle’s second ability to trigger is somehow removed from your graveyard before that ability resolves, you may still pay as it resolves. Even if you do, however, no card will be returned to the battlefield.
2011-01-01 Nim Deathmantle causes the equipped creature to be a black Zombie even if it didn’t return that creature to the battlefield from the graveyard.
2011-01-01 Nim Deathmantle’s color-changing and type-changing effects override the equipped creature’s previous colors and creature types. After Nim Deathmantle becomes equipped to a creature, that creature will be a black Zombie, not any other colors or creature types.
2011-01-01 Nim Deathmantle’s second ability may return a card it can’t equip to the battlefield. For example, if a nontoken artifact that’s become a creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, Nim Deathmantle’s second ability triggers. If you pay as it resolves, you’ll return that card to the battlefield. However, Nim Deathmantle can’t equip it, so Nim Deathmantle remains attached to whatever it was already equipping (or, if it was unattached, it remains so). The same is true if a nontoken creature with protection from artifacts is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, for example.
2011-01-01 Once Nim Deathmantle becomes unattached from a creature, its color-changing and type-changing effects stop affecting that creature. The creature will no longer be black and will no longer be a Zombie (unless its printed characteristics or some other effects still cause it to be black and/or a Zombie, of course). This is true even if Nim Deathmantle returned that creature to the battlefield from the graveyard.
2011-01-01 Once Nim Deathmantle returns a card from your graveyard to the battlefield, it will remain on the battlefield indefinitely, even if Nim Deathmantle becomes unattached from it.
2011-01-01 You choose whether to pay as Nim Deathmantle’s second ability resolves. Although players may respond to this ability, once it begins to resolve and you decide whether to pay, it’s too late for players to respond.

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