Mobilized District MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
RarityRare
TypeLand

Key Takeaways

  1. Mobilized District saves hand cards by transforming into a creature, offering strategic battlefield presence.
  2. Instant speed activation adapts to changing game states, providing flexible offensive or defensive play.
  3. Works best with legendary creatures or planeswalkers, offering ‘free’ creature activation in certain decks.
Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

: Add . : Mobilized District becomes a 3/3 Citizen creature with vigilance until end of turn. It's still a land. This ability costs less to activate for each legendary creature and planeswalker you control.

Sometimes the strongest weapon you can hold in your hand is another hand.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Although Mobilized District doesn’t innately provide card advantage, it allows you to keep hand cards by offering a creature with its land-creature transformation. This conserves resources in your hand for more critical plays while providing an additional body on the field to defend or apply pressure.

Resource Acceleration: Mobilized District shines in its ability to become a creature without tapping mana if you control four or more planeswalkers. This effectively gives you ‘free’ activation, potentially speeding up your gameplay by saving mana for other spells and abilities.

Instant Speed: The transformation of Mobilized District can be activated at instant speed, providing dynamic defensive or offensive options during your opponent’s turn. This versatility allows you to adapt quickly to the game’s evolving state and can be particularly potent during the combat phase or in response to an opponent’s actions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike some versatile land cards, Mobilized District demands that you have a legendary creature or planeswalker to tap it without paying its mana cost. This can be restrictive because if you don’t have such a card on the battlefield, you’re forced to pay the full cost to activate its ability.

Specific Mana Cost: Mobilized District requires a particularly colorless mana to activate its ability, which means that it may not seamlessly fit into a mana base that’s heavy in colored requirements. Some decks may struggle to have the needed colorless mana available, rendering the card less effective or even a dead draw at critical times.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The activation cost to turn Mobilized District into a creature can be quite steep, especially in the early to mid-game. This can make the card less appealing when compared to other utility lands that either do not need such a hefty mana investment or those that offer additional benefits for a similar cost.


Reasons to Include Mobilized District in Your Collection

Versatility: Mobilized District is a unique land card that can become a creature, contributing to your defenses or offenses without sacrificing a land drop. Its adaptability to serve as both mana source and a blocker or attacker makes it a strategic addition to a variety of decks.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with strategies revolving around land animation. It has the potential to be part of combos with cards that count the number of creatures you control, or even with those that benefit from activating abilities without tapping.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that prioritizes versatility and resilience, Mobilized District provides a land that can dodge sorcery-speed removal and can be a surprise element against your opponent. It fits into decks that can capitalize on a land that can serve multiple roles throughout the game.


How to beat

Mobilized District is a versatile land card that can become a formidable creature on the battlefield. Its strength lies in its ability to transform without consuming a card slot in your deck, which is a traditional creature would. To effectively counter this card, you should consider land destruction cards or those that prevent lands from becoming creatures. Cards like Ghost Quarter can directly destroy Mobilized District, impeding your opponent’s plans. Direct removal spells that don’t specify non-land creatures, such as Rapid Hybridization or Terminate, are inefficient against the District as it’s not a creature on your turn.

In decks that don’t run direct land destruction, maintaining pressure is vital. By keeping your opponent’s planeswalker count low, you raise the activation cost of Mobilized District, potentially making it too costly to utilize effectively. Hand disruption is also a useful tactic in preventing an early build-up of planeswalkers. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek can strip key cards from your opponent’s hand, slowing them down and keeping the District inactive. Ultimately, understanding your opponent’s strategy and disrupting their ability to activate Mobilized District is the key to overcoming this resilient land.


Cards like Mobilized District

Mobilized District holds a unique spot in the land card lineup within MTG. It finds solidarity with cards like Mutavault, which also transforms into a creature. Mobilized District’s strength lies in its ability to become a vigilant creature, allowing it to attack without tapping. This is a powerful asset, as it remains available to defend or be used for mana. Mutavault requires no mana investment to activate, though its creature lacks vigilance.

Another card worth mentioning in the same breath is Mishra’s Factory. This card can also become a creature, much like Mobilized District, but it has an added ability to boost itself or other Assembly-Worker creatures. While Mishra’s Factory can be a significant blocker during your opponent’s turn, it doesn’t share the vigilance trait that allows Mobilized District to stay untapped and versatile post-attack.

To conclude, while comparing these lands that morph into creatures, Mobilized District provides strategic defense and offensive options without compromising mana availability. Its balance between cost and utility gives it a distinctive edge, making it a compelling choice for decks that wish to maintain pressure while keeping defensive capabilities intact.

Mutavault - MTG Card versions
Mishra's Factory - MTG Card versions
Mutavault - Champs and States (PCMP)
Mishra's Factory - Antiquities (ATQ)

Cards similar to Mobilized District by color, type and mana cost

Cathedral of Serra - MTG Card versions
Mishra's Factory - MTG Card versions
Griffin Canyon - MTG Card versions
Ice Floe - MTG Card versions
Ghost Town - MTG Card versions
Urza's Mine - MTG Card versions
City of Brass - MTG Card versions
Bloodstained Mire - MTG Card versions
Zoetic Cavern - MTG Card versions
Grixis Panorama - MTG Card versions
Rupture Spire - MTG Card versions
Terramorphic Expanse - MTG Card versions
Tectonic Edge - MTG Card versions
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - MTG Card versions
Buried Ruin - MTG Card versions
Wasteland - MTG Card versions
Eldrazi Temple - MTG Card versions
Maze of Ith - MTG Card versions
Homeward Path - MTG Card versions
Arid Mesa - MTG Card versions
Cathedral of Serra - Legends (LEG)
Mishra's Factory - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Griffin Canyon - Visions (VIS)
Ice Floe - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Ghost Town - Tempest (TMP)
Urza's Mine - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
City of Brass - World Championship Decks 2002 (WC02)
Bloodstained Mire - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Zoetic Cavern - Future Sight (FUT)
Grixis Panorama - Commander 2013 (C13)
Rupture Spire - Magic Online Theme Decks (TD0)
Terramorphic Expanse - Commander 2018 (C18)
Tectonic Edge - Zendikar Expeditions (EXP)
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - Theros (THS)
Buried Ruin - Commander 2014 (C14)
Wasteland - Zendikar Rising Expeditions (ZNE)
Eldrazi Temple - Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi (DDP)
Maze of Ith - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Homeward Path - Judge Gift Cards 2017 (J17)
Arid Mesa - Modern Masters 2017 (MM3)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mobilized District MTG card by a specific set like War of the Spark and War of the Spark Promos, 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 Mobilized District and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Mobilized District Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2019-05-03 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by Jedd Chevrier.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-05-03War of the SparkWAR 2492015normalblackJedd Chevrier
22019-05-04War of the Spark PromosPWAR 249s2015normalblackJedd Chevrier
32019-05-04War of the Spark PromosPWAR 249p2015normalblackJedd Chevrier
42022-09-09Dominaria United CommanderDMC 2182015normalblackJedd Chevrier
52023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 10112015normalblackJedd Chevrier

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mobilized District has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-05-03 An ability that turns a land into a creature also sets that creature's power and toughness. If the land was already a creature (for example, if it was the target of Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi), this will overwrite the previous effect that set its power and toughness. Effects that modify its power or toughness will continue to apply no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change its power or toughness (such as +1/+1 counters) and effects that switch its power and toughness. For example, if Mobilized District has been made a 0/0 creature with nine +1/+1 counters on it, activating its last ability will turn it into a 12/12 Citizen creature that's still a land.
2019-05-03 If Mobilized District becomes a creature the same turn it enters the battlefield, you can't attack with it or activate its mana ability.
2019-05-03 If you control four or more legendary permanents that are creatures and/or planeswalkers, the last ability of Mobilized District costs no mana to activate. A legendary planeswalker that's also a creature reduces this cost by only .

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks