Padeem, Consul of Innovation MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Vedalken Artificer
Power 1
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Padeem offers a consistent draw advantage for holding the highest cost artifact.
  2. Her ability to hexproof artifacts protects key components of your game plan.
  3. While supportive in artifacts, Padeem can be restrictive due to specific mana needs.

Text of card

Artifacts you control have hexproof. At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control the artifact with the highest converted mana cost or tied for the highest converted mana cost, draw a card.

"Impress me."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Padeem, Consul of Innovation offers a consistent draw mechanism that triggers at the beginning of your upkeep if you control the artifact with the highest or tied for the highest converted mana cost. This ability can steadily tip the scales in your favor, ensuring you never run out of options as you progress through the match.

Resource Acceleration: As a champion of innovation, Padeem interacts positively with the wealth of artifacts in your deck. While Padeem doesn’t directly accelerate your resources, her presence can protect your key artifacts, maintaining your board-state and allowing you to harness their abilities without interruption — a subtle yet powerful form of acceleration.

Instant Speed: Although Padeem herself doesn’t operate at instant speed, her ability to grant hexproof to your artifacts secures your game plan against instant speed removal from opponents. This preemptive safeguard ensures that your strategies remain intact and your valuable artifacts survive to see another turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Padeem, Consul of Innovation offers no discard requirement, players may find themselves needing to discard to make room for other nonartifact spells or hand size limits, subsequently losing the advantage Padeem could protect or leverage.

Specific Mana Cost: Sitting at a specific mana cost, Padeem requires both blue and generic mana, necessitating a solid blue mana base which can restrict her inclusion to primarily blue or artifact-centric decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, Padeem, Consul of Innovation enters the battlefield later in the game. Given her abilities cater to artifact-heavy decks, players might consider lower-cost alternatives for early-game protection and card draw.


Reasons to Include Padeem, Consul of Innovation in Your Collection

Versatility: Padeem, Consul of Innovation is a flexible card that can enhance a wide variety of decks, especially those that are artifact-centric. By providing protection to your valuable artifacts, it helps safeguard your key pieces from removal and can be a significant boon in long-drawn games.

Combo Potential: With Padeem in play, the ability to give hexproof to your artifacts opens up a wealth of combo possibilities. This not only protects combos involving artifacts but also synergizes with strategies that scale with the number of artifacts you control, empowering your overall game plan.

Meta-Relevance: As the game evolves, strategies that rely on artifacts continue to be prominent. Padeem provides a layer of security against common artifact removal, making it a strong contender in environments where artifact interaction is crucial to success.


How to beat

Padeem, Consul of Innovation shines in Magic: The Gathering as a beacon for artifact strategies, granting them hexproof and often drawing extra cards for the controller if they possess the artifact with the highest mana cost on the battlefield. To triumph over Padeem, a multifaceted approach is required. One strategy is to avoid the arms race of high-cost artifacts and instead disrupt the synergies. Artifact removal spells, such as Abrade or Shatterstorm, can dismantle the protective umbrella Padeem provides, enabling you to target the threats directly.

Another effective tactic is to bypass Padeem entirely by employing creature control cards like Doom Blade or board wipe spells such as Wrath of God to clear the path for your attacks. Finally, ensuring that you have the artifact with the highest mana cost yourself takes away Padeem’s card advantage, effectively negating one of its core benefits. This can be done through cards like Treasure tokens which can be sacrificed to raise your artifact’s value, or by simply playing more cost-efficient artifacts. This clever resource management is key to outpacing the value generated by Padeem, Consul of Innovation.


Cards like Padeem, Consul of Innovation

Padeem, Consul of Innovation is an influential addition to blue artifact-centric decks in Magic: The Gathering. Its closest analog may be found in cards such as Hanna, Ship’s Navigator, which also offers a unique interaction with artifacts. Padeem’s ability to provide hexproof to your artifacts is invaluable, setting it apart from Hanna’s ability to return artifacts from the graveyard to your hand. Another card worth mentioning is the red and green Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient, which duplicates activated abilities of artifacts. Although Kurkesh increases the potency of your artifacts, it lacks Padeem’s protective feature that shields your mechanical creations from targeted removal.

Looking over to Vedalken Archmage, which rewards players for playing artifacts with card draw, we see a synergetic strategy with Padeem, yet it’s important to note that while the Archmage is centered on card advantage, Padeem focuses on artifact resilience. The inclusion of Padeem enforces a defensive strategy as opposed to the Archmage’s aggressive card draw strategy.

When comparing Padeem to other similar MTG cards, its unique ability to defend and draw cards by simply possessing the highest converted mana cost artifact offers a distinct advantage, ensuring it commands a valuable spot in decks focused on artifacts.

Hanna, Ship's Navigator - MTG Card versions
Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Archmage - MTG Card versions
Hanna, Ship's Navigator - Invasion (INV)
Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient - Magic 2015 (M15)
Vedalken Archmage - Mirrodin (MRD)

Cards similar to Padeem, Consul of Innovation by color, type and mana cost

Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Phantom Monster - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions
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Thieving Magpie - MTG Card versions
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Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
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Glen Elendra Archmage - MTG Card versions
Fatestitcher - MTG Card versions
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Phantasmal Forces - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Phantom Monster - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Wall of Vapor - Chronicles (CHR)
Tradewind Rider - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Archivist - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Thieving Magpie - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Inga Rune-Eyes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Laboratory Drudge - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Johnny, Combo Player - Unhinged (UNH)
Dream Prowler - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Clone - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Cytoplast Manipulator - Dissension (DIS)
Crookclaw Transmuter - Time Spiral (TSP)
Dreamborn Muse - Tenth Edition (10E)
Turtleshell Changeling - Lorwyn (LRW)
Glen Elendra Archmage - Eventide (EVE)
Fatestitcher - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Outrider of Jhess - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Argent Sphinx - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Padeem, Consul of Innovation MTG card by a specific set like Kaladesh and Kaladesh 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 Padeem, Consul of Innovation and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Padeem, Consul of Innovation Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2016-09-30 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by Matt Stewart.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-09-30KaladeshKLD 592015normalblackMatt Stewart
22016-09-30Kaladesh PromosPKLD 59p2015normalblackMatt Stewart
32016-09-30Kaladesh PromosPKLD 59s2015normalblackMatt Stewart
42020-11-12Kaladesh RemasteredKLR 602015normalblackMatt Stewart
52022-11-18The Brothers' War CommanderBRC 911997normalblackMatt Stewart
62023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 1092015normalblackMatt Stewart
72023-08-04Commander Masters Art SeriesACMM 82015art_seriesborderlessMatt Stewart

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Padeem, Consul of Innovation has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-09-20 If an artifact has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2016-09-20 If you don't control an artifact with the highest mana value as your upkeep begins, Padeem's second ability won't trigger. You can't cast an instant to destroy an opponent's artifact during your turn before your upkeep begins.
2016-09-20 If you no longer control an artifact with the highest mana value as Padeem's triggered ability resolves, you don't draw a card.
2016-09-20 The artifact you control has to have the highest mana value only among artifacts on the battlefield, not among all permanents on the battlefield.

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