Staff of the Death Magus MTG Card
2013-07-19 - Number 219
2014-07-18 - Number 232
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Artifact |
Key Takeaways
- Staff of the Death Magus encourages deckbuilding around black spells and Swamps, potentially increasing deck consistency.
- Life gain at instant speed without additional costs keeps you ahead in the race against aggressive decks.
- Despite limiting deck flexibility, the artifact’s advantages can justify its inclusion in specific meta environments.
Text of card
Whenever you cast a black spell or a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life.
A symbol of ambition in ruthless times.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While Staff of the Death Magus does not allow you to draw cards directly, it can offer a form of card advantage through its life-gain ability. Each time you play a Swamp or a black spell, the incremental life gain helps sustain your resources against opponent’s threats, effectively negating some of their card impacts.
Resource Acceleration: Although Staff of the Death Magus doesn’t produce mana or Treasures, it provides a passive acceleration of your most vital resource in any match: your life total. With each black spell and Swamp that enters your battlefield, the staff cushions your life, allowing you more time to deploy your strategy.
Instant Speed: The Staff of the Death Magus operates passively and triggers whenever the stated conditions are met, akin to having an effect that works at instant speed. This means that during your own turn or your opponent’s, whenever you play a relevant black spell or a Swamp, you gain life, ensuring constant interaction and pressure without the need for additional mana or timing considerations.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While the Staff of the Death Magus doesn’t demand card discard, it does require that you play certain types of cards—specifically swamps and black spells—which can dictate the direction of your deck’s construction, potentially limiting strategic diversity.
Specific Mana Cost: The artifact has a leaning towards black mana, making it a niche addition primarily suited to mono-black or heavy black-based decks. As a result, it may not seamlessly integrate into multi-colored decks that thrive on mana flexibility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: For three mana, Staff of the Death Magus provides incremental life gains which may not provide immediate board impact as other artifacts or spells at the same mana price point. Therefore, it often competes with other resources in your deck that may offer quicker or more profound effects on the game state.
Reasons to Include Staff of the Death Magus in Your Collection
Versatility: Staff of the Death Magus offers utility across a variety of black-aligned decks. It synergizes well with black’s life-draining spells and abilities, helping to stabilize your life total while you control the game.
Combo Potential: In a deck loaded with swamp lands or black spells, this artifact becomes a steady source of life gain. It can complement strategies revolving around life gain triggers, offering incremental advantages with each black spell cast or swamp entering the battlefield.
Meta-Relevance: Given its capacity to cushion your life total, Staff of the Death Magus can be a thorn in the side of aggressive decks that aim to win quickly. It’s the type of card that can tip the scales in a meta that favors fast, damage-dealing strategies, making it a smart tech choice in the right environment.
How to Beat Staff of the Death Magus
Staff of the Death Magus presents an intriguing challenge on the battlefield, with its ability to provide incremental life gain and slowly tip the scales in favor of the controller’s health pool. Much like its kin in the Staff series, this artifact stems from the core set Magic 2014, designed to benefit players who favor a particular color—in this case, black. Its impact is subtle but strategic, granting one life each time a black spell is cast or a Swamp enters the battlefield under your control.
When confronting the Staff of the Death Magus, consider including artifact removal in your deck. Cards like Naturalize, Smelt, or Return to Nature can take care of the artifact directly, thwarting the steady life gain. Alternatively, reducing the number of black spells and Swamps that can be played through land destruction or color-specific counterspells also mitigates the gains from the Staff. Control the pace and keep the Staff’s influence in check with vigilant plays and a few strategic counters.
In summary, the Staff of the Death Magus can be a silent threat if left unchecked. However, with the right removal tools and strategic interference with the opponent’s mana base or spellcasting abilities, its presence can be neutralized, keeping your opponent’s life advantage to a minimum.
Cards like Staff of the Death Magus
Staff of the Death Magus stands as a notable artifact within the realm of life gain in Magic: The Gathering. It shares the battlefield with artifacts like Pristine Talisman, which also grants a steady stream of life points. While the Talisman offers a consistent one life per tap, Staff of the Death Magus provides a specialized gain, offering life when you play a swamp or a black spell. Pristine Talisman, however, edges out by also providing mana in addition to incremental life gain.
Examining the similarities further, Sun Droplet is another card that excels at incremental life gain. Like the Staff, it can capitalize on certain conditions to gain life, specifically whenever you take damage. Both cards thrive in prolonged matches by creating an advantage over time. Contrast this with Elixir of Immortality, which has an instant impact by providing life boost upon activation and also shuffling your graveyard back into your library, yet lacks the repeating nature of the Staff’s effect.
While evaluating these various artifacts, Staff of the Death Magus’s ability to provide a specific strategic advantage in black or swamp-heavy decks can’t be underestimated, making it a recurring source of strength and sustenance for players leveraging dark magic and its landscapes.
Cards similar to Staff of the Death Magus by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Staff of the Death Magus MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2014 and Magic 2015, 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 Staff of the Death Magus 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 Staff of the Death Magus Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-07-19 and 2014-07-18. Illustrated by Daniel Ljunggren.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013-07-19 | Magic 2014 | M14 | 219 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Daniel Ljunggren | |
| 2 | 2014-07-18 | Magic 2015 | M15 | 232 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Daniel Ljunggren |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Staff of the Death Magus 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 Staff of the Death Magus card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-07-18 | Each of these artifacts cares about any land with the appropriate basic land type. For example, Staff of the Sun Magus’s ability triggers when any land with the subtype Plains enters the battlefield under your control, not just lands named Plains. |
| 2014-07-18 | If you cast a copy of a card that’s a certain color, the appropriate Staff’s ability will trigger. However, if you copy a spell on the stack without casting that copy, it will not. |
| 2014-07-18 | Most nonbasic lands don’t have basic land types, even if they produce colored mana. For example, Caves of Koilos is neither a Plains nor a Swamp. Having one enter the battlefield under your control won’t cause Staff of the Sun Magus’s ability to trigger. |
