Light of Hope MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides crucial versatility with three choices in a single card, enhancing its utility in diverse game states.
  2. Instant speed grants reactive capabilities, offering strategic advantage and flexibility during play.
  3. Mono-white mana cost makes it a mainstay in white-centric decks, though potentially less fitting in multicolor ones.

Text of card

Choose one — • You gain 4 life. • Destroy target enchantment. • Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Light of Hope offers a choice of three valuable effects with just a single card, ensuring its versatility in various game scenarios without sacrificing a slot in your deck for highly specialized spells.

Resource Acceleration: The option to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature can accelerate your board presence, effectively providing an additional resource that can impact the game’s outcome during combat or through synergistic abilities.

Instant Speed: The instant speed nature of Light of Hope allows for reactive plays during any phase of the game. It can be a crucial lifeline by providing life gain in response to direct damage, disrupting an adversary’s combo with enchantment removal, or bolstering your forces just before a key combat phase.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Light of Hope necessitates a white mana to play, which might not align well with all deck strategies, particularly in multicolor decks that may have more pressing mana allocation concerns.

Discard Requirement: While Light of Hope does not inherently require a discard, its conditional nature means it could be a dead card in your hand if you lack a target for its effects, thus indirectly pressuring you to discard it for better options.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While costing a single white mana can be seen as efficient, in a game where tempo is crucial, the fact that it only offers a limited range of small-scale effects—gain 4 life, destroy target enchantment, or put a +1/+1 counter—might not always justify its spot in a deck over more impactful one-mana spells.


Reasons to Include Light of Hope in Your Collection

Versatility: Light of Hope offers a flexible solution for many situations, providing options to buff creatures, remove enchantments, or gain life – all at a low mana cost.

Combo Potential: The ability to increase life points can synergize with strategies that capitalize on high life totals, while the enchantment removal or +1/+1 counter can be critical in various combo setups.

Meta-Relevance: With enchantment-based decks cycling through the meta, having an efficient and cheap answer like Light of Hope can be essential for maintaining an edge in the prevailing competitive environment.


How to beat Light of Hope

Light of Hope presents versatile utility, offering a choice between life gain, enchantment removal, or a boost to a creature’s power via a +1/+1 counter. Addressing this multifaceted tool requires strategy, akin to handling efficient modal spells in Magic: The Gathering. Against life gain, beat the card through aggressive plays, maintaining pressure, and ensuring your opponent cannot leverage their increased life total. When confronted with enchantment removal, bait it out with less critical enchantments, preserving your key pieces for later stages of the match.

Targeting a creature with a +1/+1 counter through Light of Hope can be sidestepped by employing removal spells post-combat phase, disrupting your opponent’s calculated defense or attack upgrade. Moreover, negating Light of Hope’s effect outright with counterspells or utilizing instant-speed removal in response to the targeting renders the card ineffective, nullifying the threat it could pose. With well-timed tactics, you can mitigate the impact of Light of Hope and maintain control over the game’s direction.

Understandably, while Light of Hope caters to a niche role, mastering the nuances of game tempo and resource management enhances your position, especially when you can anticipate and neutralize its diverse modes effectively.


BurnMana Recommendations

Delving into the nuanced world of MTG, cards like Light of Hope exemplify the elegance of simple yet strategic gameplay. The benefits of integrating such a multipurpose card with your deck can be significant, elevating your tactical play through its versatile options for life gain, creature enhancement, or enchantment removal at instant speed. Acknowledging both its strengths and limitations ensures you make the most informed decisions for your deck’s composition. Elevate your game and find out how to optimize your use of Light of Hope and similar spells; join our ever-growing community of dedicated players and triumph in your MTG journey.


Cards like Light of Hope

Light of Hope emerges as a versatile choice within the pantheon of single-mana spells in the game. Its multifaceted nature draws parallels to cards like Healing Salve, which can either protect a creature or recover a player’s health. Nevertheless, Light of Hope steps ahead by offering the additional option to remove enchantments, granting it superior flexibility. In contrast, Healing Salve is restricted to its two original options without the enchantment interaction.

Its capacity for enchantment removal also nudges it into comparison with Disenchant, noted for its targeted removal capabilities. While Light of Hope may not always destroy targets like Disenchant, its lower cost and the lifegain or +1/+1 counter options cater to more strategic plays in diverse deck compositions. Another card, Gods Willing, provides protection for creatures and the bonus of scrying, yet it does not share the same range of actions as Light of Hope, limiting itself to just creature focus.

Ultimately, when considering utility and cost-effectiveness, Light of Hope affirms itself as a solid contender, adept at adapting to numerous in-game scenarios and bolstering one’s strategic edge.

Healing Salve - MTG Card versions
Disenchant - MTG Card versions
Gods Willing - MTG Card versions
Healing Salve - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Disenchant - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Gods Willing - Theros (THS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Light of Hope MTG card by a specific set like Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, 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 Light of Hope and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Light of Hope Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2020-04-24 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Kimonas Theodossiou.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12020-04-24Ikoria: Lair of BehemothsIKO 202015normalblackKimonas Theodossiou
22021-08-26Jumpstart: Historic HorizonsJ21 7772015normalblackKimonas Theodossiou
32022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 2092015normalblackKimonas Theodossiou

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Light of Hope has restrictions

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

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