Crop Sigil MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment
Abilities	Delirium,Mill
Released	2016-07-22
Set symbol
Set name	Eldritch Moon
Set code	EMN
Number	153
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Titus Lunter

Key Takeaways

Crop Sigil enables strategic graveyard stocking and resource acceleration in MTG decks.
Green mana requirement limits usage, but its versatility in suitable decks is unmatched.
Despite a high activation cost, its consistency and late-game potential are beneficial.

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put the top card of your library into your graveyard. Delirium — , Sacrifice Crop Sigil: Return up to one target creature card and up to one target land card from your graveyard to your hand. Activate this ability only if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crop Sigil offers a consistent pathway to advantage by allowing you to delve into your deck, slowly filling your graveyard with potential resources. Over time, the ability to return a creature and a land card to your hand from the graveyard can significantly outpace your opponent in terms of card economy.

Resource Acceleration: By continuously stocking your graveyard, Crop Sigil sets the stage for plays that leverage the graveyard as a resource. When its delirium is activated, the card effectively accelerates your resources by recovering integral pieces directly back into play, thus bypassing the need for drawing and playing them the traditional way.

Instant Speed: While Crop Sigil itself does not operate at instant speed, its delirium ability can be triggered at the end of your opponent’s turn, making it a strategic surprise. This timing ensures that you can pass the turn with open mana for instant-speed interactions and still make a significant play with Crop Sigil when the moment is right, maintaining tempo and gaining a positional advantage.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Crop Sigil doesn’t specifically mandate you to discard cards, its delirium ability hinges on having a variety of card types in your graveyard, inherently pushing you toward self-discard strategies which might not align with your deck’s game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: Crop Sigil requires green mana, pigeonholing it into decks that can produce green mana. This cost, albeit low, restricts its playability to green-centric or multi-colored decks, potentially limiting its inclusion in a wider array of strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The activation cost to reap the benefits of Crop Sigil’s secondary ability is three mana, which can be seen as steep considering it requires setup time to achieve delirium. There are alternative cards that might provide immediate value or require less mana investment.

Reasons to Include Crop Sigil in Your Collection

Versatility: Crop Sigil offers a range of benefits in various deck builds, particularly those that take advantage of the graveyard. This card can seamlessly fit into strategies that capitalize on delirium or reanimation, turning your graveyard into an extended hand.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to sift through your library and selectively stock your graveyard can be a key component in powerful combos. It pairs well with cards that thrive on having specific types of cards in the graveyard, thereby setting the stage for potent synergies.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta filled with graveyard-centric tactics or where long games are common, the incremental advantage gained through Crop Sigil’s upkeep ability can be a game-changer. The late-game transformation into Harvest Hand provides an additional resource for victory.

How to Beat

Crop Sigil is a unique enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that serves as a slow but steady engine for deck and graveyard manipulation. It allows a player to delve into their library, fuel their graveyard for Delirium or other recursion strategies, and ultimately reap rewards by retrieving a creature or land card. Precision is key when tackling Crop Sigil. Quick removal of the enchantment is an effective method to prevent the value engine from taking off. Countering Crop Sigil the moment it hits the stack or swiftly eliminating it with enchantment destruction spells before it accumulates too much value can halt an opponent’s strategy in its tracks.

Players should also consider the strategic implications of Crop Sigil’s presence on the battlefield. If your deck is not equipped with direct removal, focus on applying pressure that forces Crop Sigil users to make unfavorable decisions. Speed up the game so the controller of Crop Sigil doesn’t have the leisure of fine-tuning their graveyard or field. Adaptation and observation are essential to overcome this enchantment, making sure that one is alert to the broader strategy the Crop Sigil might be enabling and disrupting it before it fully comes to fruition.

Ultimately, facing Crop Sigil is about maintaining tempo and control. It might not be the flashiest card, but underestimating its potential could lead to downfall.

Cards like Crop Sigil

Crop Sigil is an intriguing enchantment in the Magic: The Gathering universe, offering gradual graveyard stocking and eventual card advantage. When placed beside Grapple with the Past, the comparison is evident. Both cards provide a method of filtering through the library and filling the graveyard, key for decks that harness the power of the graveyard. Grapple with the Past, however, digs deeper with a more immediate effect, but does not offer the recurring benefit of Crop Sigil.

Then, consider Satyr Wayfinder, another card that serves a similar purpose. While it places fewer cards in the graveyard compared to Grapple with the Past, it guarantees a land drop to your hand, maintaining card advantage. Crop Sigil stands out with its delayed but powerful Delirium ability to retrieve a creature or land card straight to the battlefield, a potential game-changer.

In sum, Crop Sigil’s unique slow-burn approach to strengthening your board state through graveyard interaction gives it a distinctive spot among its peers, making it a valuable piece in decks designed to exploit its Delirium potential.

Grapple with the Past - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Crop Sigil by color, type and mana cost

Concordant Crossroads - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crop Sigil MTG card by a specific set like Eldritch Moon, 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 Crop Sigil and other MTG cards: