Maze's End MTG Card
2013-04-27 - Number 152★
2013-05-03 - Number 152
2024-01-12 - Number 465
2002-06-24 - Number 48572
2020-09-26 - Number DGM-152
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Mythic |
| Type | Land |
Key Takeaways
- Searching for Gates with Maze’s End creates unexpected card advantage by strategically thinning your deck.
- Maze’s End’s win condition bypasses traditional combat, offering a novel approach to claiming victory.
- Despite high mana costs and setup, the card’s ability to win games outright justifies its inclusion in certain decks.
Text of card
Maze's End enters the battlefield tapped. : Add . , , Return Maze's End to its owner's hand: Search your library for a Gate card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. If you control ten or more Gates with different names, you win the game.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: With the Maze’s End, you directly search your library for a Gate card, effectively thinning your deck to improve the quality of your draws. This capability is a stealthy form of card advantage that puts you steps ahead of opponents.
Resource Acceleration: Maze’s End allows for a unique form of resource acceleration by enabling you to fetch various Guildgates onto the battlefield. While it doesn’t directly generate mana, it sets up a win condition that can end the game, bypassing the need for traditional forms of acceleration.
Instant Speed: Although Maze’s End activation isn’t at instant speed, its ability to be triggered during your upkeep adds an element of surprise and strategic depth. Players can prepare their board under the safety of an end step, priming for a game-winning move with Maze’s End on their next turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the challenges with Maze’s End is that it often necessitates a heavy investment in both the land base and card slots within a deck to reliably meet its winning condition, which can lead to a reduced number of cards in hand and leave you vulnerable to disruptive strategies from opponents.
Specific Mana Cost: Activating Maze’s End requires a specific mana combination that can be hard to achieve, especially in the early game. This can be particularly challenging for players, as it requires a careful balancing of the mana base with lands that can potentially enter the battlefield tapped, slowing down your overall game progress.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Additionally, the mana cost for activating Maze’s End’s ability is steep, and when combined with the necessity of having ten guildgates, this can often lead to slower gameplay. Other cards or strategies could prove to be more mana-efficient in achieving victory while also allowing for greater flexibility and interaction.
Reasons to Include Maze’s End in Your Collection
Versatility: Maze’s End is not your typical win condition. It can perform in a variety of decks, particularly those that enjoy ramping up to trigger different landfall abilities or that use gates as a subtheme.
Combo Potential: This card shines in a deck geared towards gates and has the potential to outright win the game by assembling a collection of guildgates, making it a stealthy and surprising finisher. Activate its ability, and you’re on your way to a satisfying victory.
Meta-Relevance: In a game that often revolves around combat and direct damage, Maze’s End provides an alternative victory condition that can bypass traditional defenses. If the format slows down, or if there’s a surge in control decks, having an unorthodox win condition like Maze’s End could give you the edge.
How to beat
Maze’s End is an enigmatic win condition that has intrigued Magic: The Gathering players since its debut. At its core, Maze’s End is a land with an ability that offers a victory unlike any other: collect all ten Guildgates and win the game. As such, countering this strategy requires disrupting the Maze’s End player’s land development. Land destruction spells are a quintessential method, preventing the necessary accumulation of Guildgates. Direct land removal, like Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin, can dismantle the maze piece by piece.
Graveyard disruption is another effective technique. By utilizing cards like Bojuka Bog, you can exile the carefully arranged Guildgates, stifling your opponent’s progress. Artifact removal spells, including cards such as Naturalize or Disenchant, can also remove Maze’s End from play before the condition is met. Lastly, counter spells can stop the activation of Maze’s End’s ability itself. It’s a chess match, and staying one step ahead of the Maze’s builder is essential to victory in this game of gathering and strategy.
When faced with Maze’s End, fast, aggressive playstyles can also outpace the slow buildup of the land-based win condition. Speed is of the essence, and a swift strike can often outmaneuver the meticulous construction Maze’s End requires.
Cards like Maze's End
Maze’s End enters the intriguing space of alternative win conditions in Magic: The Gathering. With a unique mechanism of victory through Guildgates, it has parallels with other cards that avoid traditional damage-based wins. Glaring Spotlight, for example, creates an unconventional route to deal with opponents’ creatures, though it does not directly influence victory like Maze’s End.
Door to Nothingness is another comparable card that presents an instant win scenario, requiring a diverse mana investment to activate. While both cards require specific conditions to be met, Maze’s End has the flexibility of being a land, making it less susceptible to counterplay. Helix Pinnacle is also in this category, rewarding players for stockpiling mana over the course of the game, but lacks the land synergy provided by Maze’s End.
Comparatively, Maze’s End offers a unique deck building challenge, encouraging exploration within the MTG multiverse, often leading to strategic deck construction and gameplay centered around lands. As such, for players drawn to non-conventional strategies that circumvent traditional combat and life total depletion, Maze’s End stands out as an intriguing and fun path to victory.
Cards similar to Maze's End by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Maze's End MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Dragon's Maze 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 Maze's End 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 MTG Products
Printings
The Maze's End Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2013-04-27 and 2024-01-12. Illustrated by Cliff Childs.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 48572 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs | ||
| 2 | 2013-04-27 | Dragon's Maze Promos | PDGM | 152★ | 2003 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs | |
| 3 | 2013-05-03 | Dragon's Maze | DGM | 152 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | DGM-152 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs | ||
| 5 | 2024-01-12 | Ravnica Remastered | RVR | 465 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Cliff Childs |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Maze's End has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Maze's End card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2013-04-15 | Controlling multiple Gates with the same name has no effect on your ability to win the game with Maze’s End. The excess Gates are simply ignored. |
| 2013-04-15 | Putting a Gate onto the battlefield with Maze’s End doesn’t count as the one land you can play during your turn. If it’s your turn, you can play Maze’s End or a different land card from your hand after its ability has resolved. |
| 2013-04-15 | Returning Maze’s End to its owner’s hand is part of the cost to activate its last ability. Once that ability is announced, players can’t respond to it until after you’ve paid its activation cost and returned Maze’s End to hand. |
| 2013-04-15 | When the last ability of Maze’s End resolves, you’ll search for a Gate and put it onto the battlefield before checking to see if you win the game. This check will happen even if you don’t put a Gate onto the battlefield this way. This check will happen only as the ability resolves, not at other times. |
