The Great Aurora MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost9
RarityMythic
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. The Great Aurora provides a unique way to restock hands and refresh board states, offering new strategies.
  2. Shuffling all cards can reset advantages, demanding thoughtful play to capitalize on its effects.
  3. Its high mana cost and color specificity make it a challenging yet potentially game-changing play.

Text of card

Each player shuffles all cards from his or her hand and all permanents he or she owns into his or her library, then draws that many cards. Each player may put any number of land cards from his or her hand onto the battlefield. Exile The Great Aurora.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Great Aurora is renowned for its sheer power in flipping the tide of a game. By shuffling all cards on the battlefield and in players’ hands into their libraries and then drawing that many cards, it generates enormous card advantage, ensuring a player could potentially restock their hand with fresh opportunities.

Resource Acceleration: The shuffling effect of The Great Aurora creates a new and often unconventional form of resource acceleration. After the shuffle, each land card a player draws comes into play untapped, which can significantly ramp up mana availability in one turn and allow immediate utilization of newfound spells.

Instant Speed: Although The Great Aurora does not operate at instant speed, the sweeping change it brings upon resolution can be as disruptive and decisive as any instant. Changing the board state entirely can invalidate an opponent’s imminent threats or previously laid plans, offering a strategic advantage akin to disruptive instants.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the key drawbacks of The Great Aurora is its demand for you to shuffle all cards you own into your library. This resets your hard-earned board state and hand, potentially discarding advantageous positions.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s casting cost is a substantial combination of green mana and generic mana, which may challenge mana bases that aren’t heavily skewed towards green. Players might struggle to cast it if they don’t have enough green sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a hefty nine mana to cast, The Great Aurora is one of the more expensive sorceries out there. Its grand effect could be overshadowed by the reality that few games allow the buildup of such resources without significant competition or disruption from opponents.


Reasons to Include The Great Aurora in Your Collection

Versatility: The Great Aurora is a unique card with the power to reset the game board, creating an equal opportunity for all players. Its ability to shuffle all cards in play and redraw a new hand and battlefield makes it useful in a variety of decks, particularly those looking to recover from a losing position or aiming to capitalize on having a large number of permanents.

Combo Potential: This card creates immense combo potential by potentially providing a surge of new lands onto the battlefield. Players can configure their decks to take advantage of this by including cards that benefit from landfall triggers or high land counts. It also opens up the possibility of synergizing with strategies that manipulate deck order to ensure a beneficial draw post-reshuffle.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where board states become cluttered and the balance of power shifts over long games, The Great Aurora can serve as a powerful reset button. This makes it highly relevant, especially in formats where long games and complex board states are prevalent.


How to Beat The Great Aurora

The Great Aurora is a spell that reshuffles the game for those who aren’t prepared. It’s a formidable green sorcery that can potentially turn the tide by resetting the battlefield, hand, and even lands. Similar to the upheaval effects of cards like Scrambleverse, The Great Aurora demands a strategy that ensures you remain in control post-cascade.

To counteract the potential chaos, having a deck that thrives on change or can quickly rebuild is essential. Cards that generate value upon entering the battlefield or when discarded, like creatures with “Enter the Battlefield” effects or landfall abilities, align well with the reshuffle The Great Aurora brings. Permanents that can capitalize on the reset, such as Tireless Tracker, help refuel your hand, while cards like Crucible of Worlds permit a swifter land recovery.

Most importantly, precise timing and understanding when to hold back are key. By not overextending on the board, you preserve resources that can be drawn into post-Aurora, enabling a faster rebound than your opponent. With these tactics, you maintain the upper hand, turning The Great Aurora’s ripple effect into a mere ripple in your strategic pond.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the mechanics of The Great Aurora unveils a doorway to inventive deck strategies. This card’s potential to entirely refurbish the playing field holds promise for those looking to swing momentum in their favor. With the card advantage and resource acceleration it provides, you can transition from the brink of defeat to a commanding position. It’s key to craft a setup that flourishes in the aftermath of such board-wide resets, utilizing strategies that can exploit the influx of untapped lands. Dig deeper into optimizing your play style and integrating this capricious yet potent card by visiting us for more insights and tactics to ensure your matches unfold under the most auspicious of skies.


Cards like The Great Aurora

The Great Aurora is a standout card in Magic: The Gathering, offering a unique board-resetting effect. With a similar intent of transforming the game state, we might look at cards like Warp World. Warp World also shuffles in permanents and then lets players reveal cards from the top of their libraries, but it relies heavily on the number of permanents one controls. While both cards promote a chaotic and unpredictable outcome, The Great Aurora places the emphasis on drawing cards equal to the total land count, which can be a more controlled method for setting up post-shuffle plays.

Next in line for comparison would be Scapeshift, albeit on a smaller scale. Scapeshift allows for a targeted approach in land swapping, giving more consistency but lacking the full-board impact that The Great Aurora provides. Each has its specific uses depending on the player’s strategy and board state. Day’s Undoing is another that resets many aspects of the game by shuffling hands and graveyards into libraries—though it notably ends the turn, contrasting The Great Aurora’s game-continuing aftermath of card draw.

What sets The Great Aurora apart from these alternatives is its sweeping reset followed by the potential for a strong setup. It’s a card that can dramatically alter the trajectory of a game, making it a distinct choice among MTG cards with transformative effects.

Warp World - MTG Card versions
Scapeshift - MTG Card versions
Day's Undoing - MTG Card versions
Warp World - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Scapeshift - Morningtide (MOR)
Day's Undoing - Magic Origins (ORI)

Cards similar to The Great Aurora by color, type and mana cost

Crush of Wurms - MTG Card versions
Reshape the Earth - MTG Card versions
Feral Incarnation - MTG Card versions
Crush of Wurms - Judgment (JUD)
Reshape the Earth - Commander Legends (CMR)
Feral Incarnation - Magic 2015 (M15)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase The Great Aurora MTG card by a specific set like Magic Origins and The List, 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 The Great Aurora and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The The Great Aurora Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-07-17 and 2015-07-17. Illustrated by Sam Burley.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-07-17Magic OriginsORI 1792015normalblackSam Burley
22020-09-26The ListPLST ORI-1792015normalblackSam Burley

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where The Great Aurora has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-06-22 A token is owned by the player under whose control it entered the battlefield. Tokens shuffled into a library count toward the number of cards drawn, though they cease to exist upon becoming part of a library. Regardless of what you’re using to represent tokens, you won’t shuffle that physical object into your library.
2015-06-22 As The Great Aurora resolves, first you choose any number of land cards in your hand to put onto the battlefield, and then each other player in turn order does the same. The lands enter the battlefield simultaneously.
2015-06-22 If a player is required to draw more cards than their library contains, that player loses the game. If all players lose the game this way, the game is a draw.
2015-06-22 The number of cards you draw is equal to the number of permanents on the battlefield that you shuffle into your library plus the number of cards from your hand that you shuffle into your library.

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