Mystic Forge MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 12 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Mystic Forge offers increased card accessibility and strategic play for a continuous advantage in matches.
  2. Its instant-speed play capability for artifacts and colorless spells can pivot the game’s pace.
  3. While beneficial, its activation and casting costs may sometimes limit its inclusion in certain decks.

Text of card

You may look at the top card of your library any time. You may cast the top card of your library if it's an artifact card or a colorless nonland card. , Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mystic Forge offers a unique form of card advantage, allowing you to look at the top card of your library any time and play artifact cards or colorless nonland cards from the top of your deck. This effectively increases the number of cards accessible to you, improving your chances of finding the right tools to succeed in the match.

Resource Acceleration: This card can accelerate your game by letting you bypass your draw step for artifacts and colorless spells. It effectively streamlines your plays, ensuring a smoother flow of abilities and threats to the battlefield, which can be a pivotal turn of pace in a game.

Instant Speed: While Mystic Forge itself is not an instant, it allows you to play the top card of your library at any time you could cast an artifact or a colorless spell, including at instant speed if the spell itself has that capability. This allows for surprise plays and maintaining a dynamic presence on the board, often keeping your opponents guessing and on their heels.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Mystic Forge allows you to cast the top card of your library if it’s an artifact or a colorless nonland card, but it can also lead to strategic discard decisions. To manipulate the top of your library, you may need to utilize its tap ability, which requires you to discard a card. This can be a significant drawback when you’re trying to maintain card advantage or when you’re relying on specific cards for your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: Mystic Forge demands a specific mana investment in its activation cost. Although colorless, it requires a generic mana investment to both cast and utilize its library manipulation feature, which could clash with decks that operate on a tight mana curve or rely heavily on colored mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four generic mana, some players might find Mystic Forge on the higher end of the mana spectrum. In environments where speed is crucial, the setup time to start deriving value from Mystic Forge might be too slow, especially when compared with other cards that provide immediate impact or benefit from a lower mana investment.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Mystic Forge stands out as a unique utility artifact that can seamlessly integrate into artifact-centric decks or those looking to exploit the top of their library. Its ability to allow players to cast the top card of their library offers a continuous stream of gas for engines in colorless or Eldrazi decks.

Combo Potential: This card opens up possibilities for synergies with cost-reducing effects and top-deck manipulation. Imagine pairing it with Sensei’s Divining Top for an unrelenting card-draw engine, or exploit its synergy with cards like Ugin, the Ineffable to cast large colorless spells much earlier.

Meta-Relevance: Given the shift of formats to include more artifact synergies and the prevalence of colorless strategies, Mystic Forge maintains its relevance. It provides a consistent advantage in longer games and is a must-have for players wanting to keep pace with the evolving meta.


How to beat

Mystic Forge is an artifact that can significantly enhance a player’s ability to play cards from the top of their library in MTG. To successfully navigate against this powerful artifact, it’s essential to prioritize the removal of Mystic Forge from the battlefield. Considering its four mana cost and the capability to provide a reliable card advantage, disrupting this source quickly is key.

Tackling this artifact could be done using targeted removal spells designed to handle noncreature permanents. Cards like Nature’s Claim, Disenchant, or Abrade offer swift solutions. Another effective strategy is to employ counter spells when your opponent attempts to cast Mystic Forge, maintaining control over the game’s tempo and preventing their key plays. Additionally, manipulating the top card of your opponent’s library with cards like Codex Shredder or Ghoulcaller’s Bell can negate the advantage of Mystic Forge, as players cannot utilize its ability if the top card is unplayable.

In essence, prompt removal, strategic counterplay, and deck manipulation can ensure that Mystic Forge doesn’t become an insurmountable obstacle. These tactics are vital for maintaining control and reducing the potent synergy that Mystic Forge can provide in an MTG match.


BurnMana Recommendations

As you delve deeper into MTG, understanding the nuanced dynamics of powerful cards like Mystic Forge can greatly enhance your gameplay. Embracing the strategic elements of card advantage and the foresight to accelerate your resources can set you apart in competitive play. With Mystic Forge’s potential to amplify artifact and colorless decks, incorporating such a versatile card into your collection could be a definitive step towards optimizing your strategy. Interested in refining your deck and maximizing each draw? Dive into our extensive guides for a comprehensive understanding of deck building and gameplay tactics that could tip the scales in your favor.


Cards like Mystic Forge

Mystic Forge stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a powerful tool for artifact-based decks, allowing you to peep at the top card of your library and cast the top card if it’s an artifact or a colorless nonland card. One could draw parallels to Experimental Frenzy, which provides a somewhat analogous effect for any deck by letting you play cards from the top of your library. However, Mystic Forge’s selective nature offers an unparalleled advantage to decks capitalizing on colorless strategies.

Another akin card in function is Future Sight, which also allows you to cast the top card of your library. Nevertheless, Mystic Forge’s ability to skip unwanted cards by paying life proves to be a strategic boon that Future Sight lacks. In the space of artifact synergies, Artificer’s Intuition provides a different angle, enabling you to sift through your deck for key components, but it doesn’t offer the sustained card advantage that Mystic Forge can potentially generate turn after turn.

Evaluating their place in Magic: The Gathering, Mystic Forge’s specific appeals to certain deck archetypes provide it with a distinct role that can be a game-changer, especially in formats where artifacts dominate.

Experimental Frenzy - MTG Card versions
Future Sight - MTG Card versions
Artificer's Intuition - MTG Card versions
Experimental Frenzy - MTG Card versions
Future Sight - MTG Card versions
Artificer's Intuition - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mystic Forge MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2020 and Warhammer 40,000 Commander, 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 Mystic Forge and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Mystic Forge Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2019-07-12 and 2024-03-08. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-07-12Core Set 2020M20 2332015NormalBlackTitus Lunter
22022-10-07Warhammer 40,000 Commander40K 2462015NormalBlackRafater
32022-10-07Warhammer 40,000 Commander40K 246★2015NormalBlackRafater
42022-11-18The Brothers' War Retro ArtifactsBRR 361997NormalBlackTitus Lunter
52022-11-18The Brothers' War Retro ArtifactsBRR 991997NormalBlackTitus Lunter
62022-11-18The Brothers' War Art SeriesABRO 692015Art seriesBorderlessTitus Lunter
72022-11-18The Brothers' War Retro ArtifactsBRR 99z1997NormalBlackTitus Lunter
82023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 9642015NormalBlackTitus Lunter
92024-03-08FalloutPIP 2362015NormalBlackSamuel Perin
102024-03-08FalloutPIP 4842015NormalBlackSamuel Perin
112024-03-08FalloutPIP 7642015NormalBlackSamuel Perin
122024-03-08FalloutPIP 10122015NormalBlackSamuel Perin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mystic Forge has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageRestricted
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2019-07-12 Because you never "cast" a land card, Mystic Forge doesn't allow you to play an artifact land from the top of your library.
2019-07-12 If the top card of your library changes while you're casting a spell, playing a land, or activating an ability, you can't look at the new top card until you finish doing so. This means that if you cast the top card of your library, you can't look at the next one until you're done paying for that spell.
2019-07-12 If the top card of your library has a morph ability, you can cast it face down from the top of your library, even if it's normally not a colorless card.
2019-07-12 Mystic Forge lets you look at the top card of your library whenever you want (with one restriction—see below), even if you don't have priority. This action doesn't use the stack. Knowing what that card is becomes part of the information you have access to, just like you can look at the cards in your hand.
2019-07-12 You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions of the spells you cast from your library.
2019-07-12 You still pay all costs for a spell you cast from your library, including additional costs. You may also pay alternative costs.

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