Profane Memento MTG Card


Profane Memento - Magic 2015
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact
Released2014-07-18
Set symbol
Set nameMagic 2015
Set codeM15
Number226
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byFranz Vohwinkel

Key Takeaways

  1. Profane Memento grants life gain as creatures enter opponents’ graveyards, offering a form of card advantage.
  2. It increases resource access by giving players more life to deploy key spells without urgent life total concerns.
  3. The artifact’s instant speed effect can disrupt opponents’ strategies, adding a layer of defensive utility.

Text of card

Whenever a creature card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you gain 1 life.

"An angel's skull is left too plain by death. I made a few aesthetic modifications." —Dommique, blood artist


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Profane Memento grants a pseudo card advantage by gaining life for each creature card that hits an opponent’s graveyard, effectively turning their creatures’ demise into your incremental benefit.

Resource Acceleration: By providing consistent life gain, Profane Memento can help stabilize your position, buying more time to access vital resources and bring game-changing spells into play without the immediate pressure of a dwindling life total.

Instant Speed: Profane Memento works passively and its effect can be triggered during any turn, aligning with the utility of instant speed interactions. It allows for strategic plays as it gains you life in response to creatures dying at any time, which can be especially pivotal during your opponent’s turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: With Profane Memento, a downside is the absence of a discard mechanic, which is often a benefit in graveyard-focused strategies. Without the ability to interact with the graveyard or benefit from discard synergies, its utility in certain deck archetypes may be diminished.

Specific Mana Cost: Profane Memento has a dedicated colorless mana cost, making it accessible to most decks, but lacking the color flexibility that could be relevant for meeting color-specific requirements of other cards or abilities.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although it’s a one-mana artifact, Profane Memento’s impact might be seen as low in the face of other one-mana artifacts or spells that can provide immediate or more powerful effects on the game state.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Profane Memento offers a unique benefit to any deck facing creatures strategies. Its ability to gain you life whenever creatures hit the graveyard makes it a useful sideboard card or even a main-deck choice in the right environment.

Combo Potential: This artifact shines when combined with cards that force opponents to sacrifice creatures or when used in mill decks to help stabilize your life total as you churn through an opponent’s library.

Meta-Relevance: Given the prevalence of creature-based strategies in many metagames, Profane Memento can be a key piece to outlast aggressive opponents, making it a timely addition to your arsenal.


How to beat

Profane Memento is an artifact revered for its ability to offer consistent life gain in Magic: The Gathering. When a creature card is put into an opponent’s graveyard from anywhere, its controller gains 1 life, making this card particularly strong in matchups against strategies that rely on creatures entering the graveyard frequently. It shines in metas heavy with creature-based decks, acting as a deterrent to aggressive, creature-heavy playstyles.

To surpass this obstacle, focus on non-creature strategies. Cards that limit graveyard interactions can be highly effective. Tormod’s Crypt, for instance, can exile all cards from a target player’s graveyard, nullifying the life gain from Profane Memento. Also, Direct damage spells and planeswalker abilities can bypass the life gain by targeting the player or planeswalker directly rather than engaging in combat with creatures. Consider enchantment removal as well, such as Disenchant, to remove Profane Memento from the game entirely.

Playing around Profane Memento requires thoughtful deck construction and a strategic approach during gameplay. By employing the right mix of removal, counterplay, and alternative win conditions, you can weaken the impact of this potent card and continue towards victory.


Cards like Profane Memento

Profane Memento is an intriguing artifact within the MTG universe, offering players a unique life gain avenue. It shares a similarity with other life-gaining artifacts such as Sun Droplet. Sun Droplet provides a steady life recovery method, distributing it over each upkeep, reflecting a long-term strategy. Contrarily, Profane Memento grants life instantly whenever a creature card hits any graveyard, potentially reacting to multiple triggers in a turn.

Prism Ring is another card that echoes passive life gain, yet it’s limited to the casting of spells of a chosen color. Profane Memento, with its broader trigger condition, can offer life benefits irrespective of color but is contingent on the graveyard activity, emphasizing interaction with the opponent’s strategy. Conversely, Damping Sphere, though not a life-gaining artifact, is brought into comparison for its reactionary nature against multi-spell turns or heavy lands utilization.

In essence, while assessing the utility in life-gain artifacts, Profane Memento stands out for its potential in matches with high creature turnover, making it a valuable tool for sustaining your vitality against aggressive decks in the MTG arena.

Sun Droplet - MTG Card versions
Prism Ring - MTG Card versions
Damping Sphere - MTG Card versions
Sun Droplet - Mirrodin (MRD)
Prism Ring - Magic Origins (ORI)
Damping Sphere - Dominaria (DOM)

Cards similar to Profane Memento by color, type and mana cost

Glasses of Urza - MTG Card versions
Wooden Sphere - MTG Card versions
Sol Ring - MTG Card versions
Iron Star - MTG Card versions
Library of Leng - MTG Card versions
Black Vise - MTG Card versions
Urza's Chalice - MTG Card versions
Ivory Cup - MTG Card versions
Brass Man - MTG Card versions
Mana Vault - MTG Card versions
Soul Net - MTG Card versions
The Rack - MTG Card versions
Helm of Chatzuk - MTG Card versions
Obelisk of Undoing - MTG Card versions
Feldon's Cane - MTG Card versions
Ivory Tower - MTG Card versions
Meekstone - MTG Card versions
Triangle of War - MTG Card versions
Throne of Bone - MTG Card versions
Crystal Rod - MTG Card versions
Glasses of Urza - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Wooden Sphere - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Sol Ring - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Iron Star - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Library of Leng - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Black Vise - Revised Edition (3ED)
Urza's Chalice - Masters Edition (ME1)
Ivory Cup - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Brass Man - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Mana Vault - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Soul Net - Seventh Edition (7ED)
The Rack - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Helm of Chatzuk - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Obelisk of Undoing - Rinascimento (RIN)
Feldon's Cane - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Ivory Tower - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Meekstone - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Triangle of War - Visions (VIS)
Throne of Bone - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Crystal Rod - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Profane Memento MTG card by a specific set like 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 Profane Memento and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Profane Memento has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2014-07-18 If Profane Memento is put into your graveyard at the same time as a creature card is put into an opponent’s graveyard, its ability won’t trigger.
2014-07-18 Profane Memento’s ability will trigger when a nontoken creature you control but an opponent owns dies.
2014-07-18 Token creatures dying won’t cause Profane Memento’s ability to trigger.

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