Pyre of Heroes MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Pyre of Heroes provides consistent access to your deck for impactful creature conversions.
  2. Speeds up play by skipping summoning costs, offering a strategic edge.
  3. Despite its benefits, it requires a sacrifice and can be mana-intensive.

Text of card

, , Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a creature card that shares a creature type with the sacrificed creature and has mana value equal to 1 plus that creature's mana value. Put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Activate only as a sorcery.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Pyre of Heroes has the ability to consistently provide card advantage by turning your existing creatures into more impactful ones from your deck. This advantage grows as the game progresses, offering sustained access to your library’s critical pieces.

Resource Acceleration: By turning creatures into new threats without expending additional cards from hand, Pyre of Heroes accelerates your board presence. This tributing process bypasses normal summoning conditions, effectively speeding up your resource deployment.

Instant Speed: Although this artifact does not operate at instant speed, its activation at the end of your opponent’s turn simulates a similar strategic advantage. This timing allows you to adapt to the board state and make well-informed decisions on which creature to summon from your deck.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To activate Pyre of Heroes, you need to sacrifice a creature, which can diminish your board presence. This is especially detrimental if you’re sacrificing creatures with valuable abilities or those that serve as your main form of defense.

Specific Mana Cost: Pyre of Heroes requires two generic mana for its activation. This is added to the card’s initial cost, creating a scenario where the overall mana investment could interfere with the development of your board, particularly in the early game when mana resources are scarce.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a two-mana activation cost on top of the initial two to cast, Pyre of Heroes can be a costly investment. Other tribal support cards or creature fetch options may provide a similar effect with less mana, thus allowing for a more fluid and less restrictive gameplay experience.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Pyre of Heroes offers a flexible role in a wide array of tribal decks, providing consistent creature tutoring to chain into more powerful minions turn after turn.

Combo Potential: This card creates opportunities for combo plays by allowing you to search for the perfect piece needed to execute your winning strategy, elevating synergy among your creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where creature-based decks are constantly evolving, Pyre of Heroes remains highly relevant by adapting to the ever-changing battlefield and fueling powerful tribal interactions.


How to beat

Pyre of Heroes is a unique tribal artifact in Magic: The Gathering that can significantly alter the battlefield’s dynamics. Its ability to morph creatures into potentially more powerful ones poses a strategic challenge. As such, dealing with Pyre of Heroes requires a multi-faceted approach.

One effective strategy is the inclusion of artifact removal in your deck. Cards like Abrade or Nature’s Claim are efficient answers to eliminate Pyre of Heroes quickly before it can be utilized extensively. Additionally, keeping counter spells at hand for when your opponent tries to activate its ability can preserve your position and thwart their strategy.

Another line of defense is grave-hate cards. By using cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void, you ensure that the creatures used with Pyre of Heroes do not return to haunt you from the graveyard – a crucial part of many tribal decks that rely on the value generated from graveyard interactions.

Understanding your own deck’s strength and timing is also key. Apply pressure to force answers or create situations where they cannot safely invest mana into activating the Pyre. A thoughtful and proactive game plan can often tip the scales in your favor against the Pyre of Heroes.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the nuanced mechanics of Pyre of Heroes reveals both its potential for empowerment in tribal decks and its drawbacks when resources are stretched thin. Taking these insights into account can transform your MTG play. By incorporating Pyre of Heroes thoughtfully, you not only harness tribal synergies but also navigate its mana demands strategically. For those keen on mastering the art of creature evolution and unleashing potent combos on the battlefield, Pyre of Heroes is a card that shouldn’t be overlooked. Elevate your MTG experience and deck capabilities—join us to delve deeper into optimizing your play with Pyre of Heroes.


Cards like Pyre of Heroes

Pyre of Heroes, a tribal aficionado’s delight from Magic: The Gathering, bears resemblance to the renowned Birthing Pod. Both cards facilitate a chain of creature upgrades, however, Pyre of Heroes demands a narrower focus: same creature type is a necessity. This limitation contrasts with the broader utility of Birthing Pod, yet for those building tribal-based decks, Pyre of Heroes stands as an invaluable tool.

Another counterpart is the artifact Aether Vial, yet striking differences set them apart. Aether Vial allows for the instant-speed placement of creatures onto the battlefield without spending mana, whereas Pyre of Heroes requires mana investment and is an activated ability. This gives Aether Vial an edge in speed and surprise, however Pyre of Heroes excels in scalability, offering the potential to summon increasingly powerful tribal creatures as the game progresses.

To conclude, amidst the myriad options for creature tutoring and deployment in Magic: The Gathering, Pyre of Heroes emerges as a strategic gem for the tribal connoisseur, promising a steady crescendo of creature power, albeit with narrower synergy and a more strategic setup than some of its counterparts.

Birthing Pod - MTG Card versions
Aether Vial - MTG Card versions
Birthing Pod - New Phyrexia (NPH)
Aether Vial - Darksteel (DST)

Cards similar to Pyre of Heroes by color, type and mana cost

Chaos Orb - MTG Card versions
Winter Orb - MTG Card versions
Ankh of Mishra - MTG Card versions
Amulet of Kroog - MTG Card versions
Nacre Talisman - MTG Card versions
Howling Mine - MTG Card versions
Essence Bottle - MTG Card versions
Emerald Medallion - MTG Card versions
Scrying Glass - MTG Card versions
Cursed Totem - MTG Card versions
Tsabo's Web - MTG Card versions
Millikin - MTG Card versions
Ark of Blight - MTG Card versions
Surestrike Trident - MTG Card versions
Energy Chamber - MTG Card versions
Water Gun Balloon Game - MTG Card versions
Angel's Feather - MTG Card versions
Demon's Horn - MTG Card versions
Elsewhere Flask - MTG Card versions
Dragon's Claw - MTG Card versions
Chaos Orb - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Winter Orb - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Ankh of Mishra - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Amulet of Kroog - Rinascimento (RIN)
Nacre Talisman - Ice Age (ICE)
Howling Mine - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Essence Bottle - Tempest (TMP)
Emerald Medallion - Commander Anthology (CMA)
Scrying Glass - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Cursed Totem - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Tsabo's Web - World Championship Decks 2001 (WC01)
Millikin - Odyssey (ODY)
Ark of Blight - Scourge (SCG)
Surestrike Trident - Darksteel (DST)
Energy Chamber - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Water Gun Balloon Game - Unhinged (UNH)
Angel's Feather - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Demon's Horn - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Elsewhere Flask - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Dragon's Claw - Duels of the Planeswalkers (DPA)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Pyre of Heroes MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Kaldheim, 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 Pyre of Heroes and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Pyre of Heroes Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-02-05 and 2021-02-06. Illustrated by Piotr Dura.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 883942015normalblackPiotr Dura
22021-02-05KaldheimKHM 3702015normalblackPiotr Dura
32021-02-05KaldheimKHM 2412015normalblackPiotr Dura
42021-02-06Kaldheim PromosPKHM 241s2015normalblackPiotr Dura
52021-02-06Kaldheim PromosPKHM 241p2015normalblackPiotr Dura

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Pyre of Heroes has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-02-05 If a permanent or a card in a library has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2021-02-05 Once you announce that you’re activating the activated ability, no player may take actions until the ability has been paid for. Notably, opponents can’t try to remove one of your creatures to stop you from sacrificing it.
2021-02-05 Use the creature types and converted mana cost of the creature you sacrificed as it existed on the battlefield to determine what creature card you can find. Notably, if you sacrifice a creature that’s a double-faced permanent with its back face up, you’ll use the characteristics of the back face, not the front face.

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