Alpine Moon MTG Card
2018-07-13 - Number 128s
2018-07-13 - Number 128
2020-09-26 - Number M19-128
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
Key Takeaways
- Alpine Moon can generate card advantage by neutralizing opponent’s crucial lands.
- It strategically impacts resource tempo without expediting its own.
- Playing Alpine Moon early can proactively disrupt the opponent’s plans.
Text of card
As Alpine Moon enters the battlefield, choose a nonbasic land card name. Lands your opponents control with the chosen name lose all land types and abilities, and they gain ": Add one mana of any color."
"A rare and fascinating phenomenon." —Tamiyo
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While Alpine Moon itself doesn’t directly draw cards, it effectively neuters the value of powerful land cards in your opponent’s deck. This can equate to card advantage as it potentially nullifies numerous threats that an opponent could rely on, which they’ve invested in drawing and playing.
Resource Acceleration: Alpine Moon doesn’t accelerate resources in the form of producing mana or tokens. However, by targeting key lands that produce more than one mana or have critical abilities, it can slow down an opponent’s resource acceleration, indirectly benefiting your own resource management and tempo.
Instant Speed: Alpine Moon operates at sorcery speed, meaning it can’t be played at instant speed. But its capacity to shut off a land as soon as it hits the board can be just as disruptive, especially if played early enough to preemptively affect your opponent’s strategy and resource development.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Alpine Moon doesn’t require discarding as a cost, it’s worth noting that the card it counters may leave you at a resource disadvantage. If your opponent doesn’t rely heavily on nonbasic lands, you might find Alpine Moon occupying a card slot that could be better served by another card in your hand.
Specific Mana Cost: Alpine Moon necessitates a single red mana which can be restrictive in multicolored decks not heavily focused on red. This could potentially limit its inclusion to certain types of decks, potentially decreasing its versatility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its low cost of one red mana, Alpine Moon is a specialized card. There are scenarios where this mana could be allocated towards more proactive plays or broader answers to threats on the board. This might make Alpine Moon a card that, while situationally powerful, can sometimes be a dead draw.
Reasons to Include Alpine Moon in Your Collection
Versatility: Alpine Moon offers a straightforward yet powerful way to neutralize problematic lands across multiple formats, which can be especially useful in Commander and Modern play styles where utility lands often play a critical role.
Combo Potential: In decks that aim to disrupt opponent strategies, Alpine Moon serves as an ideal piece. It can be used in concert with land destruction or denial tactics to efficiently lock opponents out of important mana resources or abilities.
Meta-Relevance: As meta-games evolve, Alpine Moon gains relevance in environments where land-based strategies—like Tron in Modern or Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle—dominate. Its low mana cost and immediate impact make it a handy tool for players facing land-dependent decks.
How to beat
Alpine Moon is a potent utility card with the power to disrupt land-based strategies in Magic: The Gathering. It shines against decks that heavily rely on powerful nonbasic lands to win. Through its ability to turn off the special abilities of any chosen nonbasic land, it can significantly hamper an opponent’s game plan. Decks that depend on land synergies, like Tron in Modern or those incorporating Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, can find themselves at a disadvantage.
To effectively counteract Alpine Moon, players might consider using instant-speed land destruction or enchantment removal spells like Nature’s Claim or Disenchant as a quick response upon its casting. Additionally, incorporating a diversified base of land cards in one’s deck can minimize the impact of such disruptive tactics. Another strategy includes deploying your critical nonbasic lands after Alpine Moon has been played and selecting a different, less critical land as the card’s target. By adapting your play to the presence of Alpine Moon on the field, you can mitigate its detrimental effects on your deck’s performance and maintain your game strategy intact.
Overall, resilience in deck building and strategic adaptability in gameplay are key to overcoming the challenges posed by this potent sideboard card in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards like Alpine Moon
Alpine Moon is a distinctive spell in the realm of nonbasic land disruption. In comparison with Blood Moon, a card that transforms all nonbasic lands into mountains, Alpine Moon enables pinpoint accuracy, allowing players to target specific lands while keeping its casting cost at a mere single red mana. While Blood Moon has a comprehensive effect on the game board, Alpine Moon’s specialization can be a tactical advantage in a carefully constructed game plan.
Another similar card is Molten Rain, which also deals with nonbasic lands but with a twist of causing damage to the opponent. Although it incurs a higher mana cost, the additional damage provides a more aggressive strategy. Damping Sphere shines in another aspect, it hampers decks that play numerous spells in a turn or depend on lands that produce a vast amount of mana. Unlike Alpine Moon, this card’s influence is broader, affecting the overall tempo of the game.
To sum up, while each of these cards holds its own in managing nonbasic lands, Alpine Moon’s low cost and targeting precision make it a highly regarded option in Magic: The Gathering when facing off against decks that heavily rely on powerful land strategies.
Cards similar to Alpine Moon by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Alpine Moon MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2019 Promos and Core Set 2019, 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 Alpine Moon and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Alpine Moon Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-07-13 and 2018-07-13. Illustrated by Alayna Danner.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018-07-13 | Core Set 2019 Promos | PM19 | 128s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alayna Danner | |
| 2 | 2018-07-13 | Core Set 2019 | M19 | 128 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alayna Danner | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | M19-128 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alayna Danner |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Alpine Moon has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Alpine Moon card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-07-13 | Alpine Moon’s effect doesn’t affect supertypes or other card types. It won’t remove the artifact card type from an artifact land or remove the legendary supertype from a legendary land. |
| 2018-07-13 | If an affected land has an ability that causes it to enter the battlefield tapped, it will lose that ability before it applies. The same is also true of any other abilities that modify how a land enters the battlefield or apply “as” a land enters the battlefield. |
| 2018-07-13 | If an affected land has an ability that triggers “when” it enters the battlefield, it will lose that ability before it triggers. |
