Mirror Match MTG Card
2015-11-13 - Number 13
2015-11-18 - Number 29
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Instant |
Key Takeaways
- Instant speed allows Mirror Match to be a game-changer during combat phases.
- Copy high-impact creatures to overwhelm your opponent and gain board control.
- The ability to clone creatures can disrupt opponent strategies and open new plays.
Text of card
Cast Mirror Match only during the declare blockers step. For each creature attacking you or a planeswalker you control, put a token that's a copy of that creature onto the battlefield blocking that creature. Exile those tokens at end of combat.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Mirror Match offers a strategic boon by potentially duplicating your best creatures on the battlefield. When you’re in a tight spot, this can turn the tide by doubling your existing threats or creating new ones in an instant, giving you a considerable advantage in numbers and board presence over your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: While not a direct resource accelerator, the potential value generated by copying high-impact creatures can exceed what you’d gain from traditional ramp spells. The clones can quickly become an imposing force, effectively accelerating your route to victory without the need for additional mana investment.
Instant Speed: The true power of Mirror Match lies in its ability to be cast at instant speed during combat. This allows for unexpected combat tricks, turning defensive blocks into offensive surprises, or simply creating an overwhelming army at the end of your opponent’s turn. The flexibility provided by casting this spell on your opponent’s turn not only conserves your resources but also keeps them guessing, offering a significant psychological edge in the match.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Mirror Match card demands that you discard another card, which could put you at a disadvantage, particularly when your hand is already lacking in options, affecting your overall game strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: With a strict requirement for two blue mana in its casting cost, Mirror Match can be challenging to play outside of mono-blue or dual-color decks that include blue, possibly restricting deck-building flexibility and strategy.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing six mana in total, Mirror Match has a relatively steep price for its effect, which could be a serious setback especially when facing decks designed to operate quickly and efficiently, potentially leaving you vulnerable as you save up the necessary mana.
Reasons to Include Mirror Match in Your Collection
Versatility: Mirror Match is an especially flexible card that can be valuable in a wide array of blue-centered decks. It excels in those that emphasize reactive strategies and can serve as both protection and disruption during key turns in a match.
Combo Potential: This card can create unexpected interactions by copying opponents’ creatures during combat, leading to favorable exchanges, or unexpectedly bolstering your battlefield presence. The element of surprise can often shift the tide of the game.
Meta-Relevance: Considering a game environment where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Mirror Match can become a cornerstone for turning combats to your advantage. It holds a place in sideboards or main decks to adapt to creature-heavy matchups and can be particularly impactful in multiplayer formats.
How to Beat Mirror Match
Mirror Match is a unique card in Magic: The Gathering, posing a creative challenge during gameplay. It levels the battlefield by duplicating your opponent’s attacking creatures and turning them against them. To outmaneuver this card, focus on strategies that maximize the efficiency of your creatures and limit the advantages your opponent can gain through duplication.
Consider using cards with enter-the-battlefield effects that won’t benefit your opponent if they’re copied. Deathtouch and Lifelink creatures can also be less appealing for opponents to copy with Mirror Match. Additionally, instant-speed removal spells can disrupt the timing and effectiveness of Mirror Match, giving you a chance to remove key threats before they can be cloned.
Evaluating your deck’s vulnerabilities to Mirror Match will guide you in refining your strategies. It’s essential to adapt your game plan to either exploit the copied creatures for your benefit or reduce the impact of your opponent’s Mirror Match plays. Fine-tuning your deckbuilding and in-game tactics will help you turn the tables on Mirror Match and secure victory.
Cards like Mirror Match
Mirror Match is an intriguing card that offers a unique twist in Magic: The Gathering gameplay, especially during battles where creatures dominate the field. It’s closely related to cards like Aetherize, which also serves as a surprise during the combat phase by clearing attacking creatures. Unlike Aetherize, Mirror Match doesn’t return the creatures to the owner’s hand but instead creates copies that can suddenly turn the tides of battle.
Reflecting upon Clone Legion, which mirrors the entire battlefield, Mirror Match narrows the scope to just the combat phase, making it a more situational but equally impactful card. While Clone Legion requires a hefty nine mana, Mirror Match is more mana-efficient. However, it’s only triggered when an opponent attacks with two or more creatures, giving it a defensive edge.
To sum up, while Mirror Match shares similarities with other creature-copying spells, it uniquely stands out during combat phases, potentially overwhelming opponents with copies of their own attackers, making it a formidable pick for defensive strategies in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Mirror Match by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Mirror Match MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2015 and Legendary Cube Prize Pack, 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 Mirror Match 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 Magic products
Printings
The Mirror Match Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-11-13 and 2015-11-18. Illustrated by Steve Prescott.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015-11-13 | Commander 2015 | C15 | 13 | 2015 | normal | black | Steve Prescott | |
| 2 | 2015-11-18 | Legendary Cube Prize Pack | PZ1 | 29 | 2015 | normal | black | Steve Prescott |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Mirror Match has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Mirror Match card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2015-11-04 | A token created by Mirror Match will be blocking the creature it’s copying even if that creature can’t be blocked or has an ability that would stop the token creature from blocking it (such as menace or protection). This is also true even if the token creature has an ability that would stop it from being declared as a blocker. |
| 2015-11-04 | Although the tokens enter the battlefield blocking, they were never declared as blockers. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature blocks won’t trigger. If there are any costs to have a creature block, those costs won’t apply to the tokens. |
| 2015-11-04 | Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the copied creature will trigger when the token enters the battlefield. Any “as -his permanent] enters the battlefield” or “ -his permanent] enters the battlefield with” abilities of the copied creature will also work. |
| 2015-11-04 | Each token copies exactly what was printed on the original creature and nothing else (unless that permanent is copying something else or is a token; see below). It doesn’t copy whether that creature is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any non-copy effects that have changed its power, toughness, types, color, and so on. |
| 2015-11-04 | If Mirror Match creates more than one token for any given attacking creature (due to an effect such as the one Doubling Season creates), each of those tokens will enter the battlefield blocking the creature it’s a copy of. All of those tokens will be exiled by the delayed triggered ability. |
| 2015-11-04 | If the copied creature has in its mana cost, X is 0. |
| 2015-11-04 | If the copied creature is a token, the token created by Mirror Match copies the original characteristics of that token as stated by the effect that put the token onto the battlefield. |
| 2015-11-04 | If the copied creature is copying something else, then the token enters the battlefield as whatever that creature copied. |
| 2015-11-04 | If the tokens aren’t creatures (perhaps because the attacking creature was an animated land), they’ll enter the battlefield but they won’t be blocking. Attacking creatures that weren’t otherwise blocked will remain unblocked. |
| 2015-11-04 | The delayed triggered ability that exiles the tokens will trigger at end of combat no matter what happens to the original creature. |
