Awaken the Ancient MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	2013-07-19
Set symbol
Set name	Magic 2014
Set code	M14
Number	126
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jaime Jones

Key Takeaways

Land becomes a 7/7 Giant, offering a dual advantage of resource and board presence.
Efficient mana cost allows rapid threat deployment, accelerating your game drastically.
Pairs well with instant speed spells, enabling unexpected plays and strategic depth.

Text of card

Enchant Mountain Enchanted Mountain is a 7/7 red Giant creature with haste. It's still a land.

Some days you stand to greet the horizon. Other days the horizon stands to greet you.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Awaken the Ancient transforms a mere Mountain into a formidable 7/7 Giant creature without sacrificing the mana it provides. This seamless transformation allows you to bolster your board presence while keeping your land resources intact, a clear strategic advantage.

Resource Acceleration: By converting a land into a massive threat, you effectively get a creature’s power without spending additional mana. This efficiency can serve as a springboard to deploy other threats or answers from your hand faster than usual, thus accelerating your game plan.

Instant Speed: While Awaken the Ancient itself doesn’t have instant speed, it pairs well with cards at instant speed for surprise combat tricks or responses. Transform your Mountain during your upkeep and hold your mana open for instant speed interactions, keeping opponents on their toes and at a disadvantage.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Awaken the Ancient necessitates pitching an additional card from your hand, which might run you short on options, especially during the crucial mid-game turns.

Specific Mana Cost: The card demands a rigid mana setup, needing three red symbols, which can be a tough fit outside mono-red or heavily red-centric decks, limiting deck-building flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its four mana investment to initiate its effect, Awaken the Ancient can be a heavy early draw, particularly when faster, lower-cost alternatives could be advancing your game state more efficiently.

Reasons to Include Awaken the Ancient in Your Collection

Versatility: Awaken the Ancient can adapt to different play styles, serving both as an imposing threat on the battlefield and as a decorative land until the right moment. Its ability to turn a simple Mountain into a potent defender makes it a flexible pick for red-centered decks.

Combo Potential: This card slots seamlessly into strategies revolving around land animation or those exploiting the surprise factor of transforming an unsuspecting land into a massive attacker. It’s also synergistic with effects that benefit from creatures entering the play or awakening dormant powers within your lands.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where players are prepared for creatures but not lands turning into 7/7 Golems, Awaken the Ancient stands out. Its influence can throw off an opponent’s removal strategy, giving you an advantage when the meta favors less traditional means of creature-based aggression.

How to Beat

Awaken the Ancient is a unique enchantment card in Magic: The Gathering that can turn even the most dormant of mountains into formidable threats on the battlefield. The key to overcoming this card lies in a few strategic approaches. First, keeping a diverse suite of removal spells in your deck can efficiently address the suddenly animated land. Direct damage spells or those that exile, rather than destroy, can bypass any indestructibility the enchanted mountain may have.

Another method is to target the enchantment itself. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant can remove Awaken the Ancient and render the mountain harmless once again. Moreover, utilizing counter spells to prevent Awaken the Ancient from entering the battlefield in the first place can be a clean and effective way to neutralize the potential danger.

Control decks can often manage the impact of Awaken the Ancient better than aggressive decks, thanks to their ability to manipulate the pace of the game. It’s also wise to avoid relying solely on mountain lands if possible when playing against a deck that may cast this enchantment, as diversification of land types lessens the potential for disruption. Steady board control and removal resources are your best bet to ensure that your opponent’s ancient does not awaken to cause havoc.

Cards like Awaken the Ancient

Awaken the Ancient is a red enchantment from the Magic 2014 core set that taps into the classic MTG theme of turning lands into mighty creatures. Like the famed Earth Surge, which amplifies the powers of all lands, Awaken the Ancient revitalizes a single mountain by transforming it into a towering 7/7 giant. Unlike Earth Surge, Awaken the Ancient is singular in focus but immediate in its impact, creating a colossal creature the moment it is cast.

Comparable in effect, we have the card Antler Skulkin which, while not transforming land, offers a recurring way to beef up creatures. Another option is the enchantment Elemental Uprising, which also animates land, but with a significant difference: it’s a one-turn affair. While both grant a temporary power boost to your lands, Awaken the Ancient stands apart with its permanency. Nissa, Who Shakes the World is another interesting parallel, rewarding you with a 3/3 creature every time a forest is tapped for mana, but Awaken the Ancient shifts from gradual build to immediate board presence.

In evaluating these options, Awaken the Ancient carries the advantage of creating an immediate threat that can quickly turn the tides of the game, solidifying its position among powerful land animation cards.

Nissa, Who Shakes the World - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Awaken the Ancient by color, type and mana cost

Uncontrollable Anger - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Awaken the Ancient MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2014, 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 Awaken the Ancient and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Awaken the Ancient has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-07-01	Awaken the Ancient can enchant any land with the subtype Mountain, not just one named Mountain.
2013-07-01	Copies of the enchanted Mountain won’t be 7/7 red Giant creatures with haste. For example, if Awaken the Ancient is enchanting a basic Mountain, a copy of that creature would just be a basic Mountain.
2013-07-01	If the enchanted Mountain stops being a Mountain for any reason, Awaken the Ancient will be put into its owner’s graveyard as a state-based action.
2013-07-01	The enchanted Mountain retains any other types or subtypes it may have. You can still tap it to add to your mana pool. It can be affected by anything that affects either a land or a creature.
2013-07-01	This doesn’t count as a creature entering the battlefield. The Mountain was already on the battlefield; it only changed types.