Crooked Scales MTG Card

Crooked Scales - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)

Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
1999-10-04 - Number 291

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number MMQ-291

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact

Key Takeaways

Crooked Scales gives you the upper hand by potentially removing an opponent’s key creature at instant speed.
The need to discard and specific mana demands can restrict its use in various deck types.
Its unique ability to affect game dynamics makes it a card worth considering for your collection.

Text of card

o4, oc T: Choose target creature you control and target creature an opponent controls. Flip a coin. If you win the flip, destroy the creature the opponent controls. If you lose the flip, destroy the creature you control unless you pay o3 and reflip the coin.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crooked Scales offers a strategic edge by potentially depriving your opponent of their most valuable creature or planeswalker, effectively acting as a removal that swings the balance in your favor. This can disrupt their game plan and provide you with a significant card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Although the Crooked Scales itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, by affecting the board state and forcing your opponent to possibly lose a key piece, it indirectly accelerates your game plan as you could be left with a superior battlefield presence.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of activating Crooked Scales at instant speed is a critical advantage. You can navigate through your turn without committing to the scales, keeping your options open and responding to your opponent’s actions with precision, adding a layer of complexity to your match strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Crooked Scales demands that you discard a card to activate its ability. This can put you at a card disadvantage, especially if you’re in a tight spot without extra cards to spare.

Specific Mana Cost: This artifact necessitates a specific two black mana payment to function, potentially restricting its inclusion in multi-colored or mana-flexible decks. Finding the right mana at the critical moment can be a challenge.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an activation cost which is on the steeper end, Crooked Scales might be less appealing compared to other options. There are lower-cost alternatives that could fit into a deck’s curve more seamlessly and offer immediate value.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Crooked Scales offers a unique mechanism that fits into a variety of deck types. It’s not only a powerful tool in luck-based decks that manipulate chance but also adds a layer of unpredictability in any match.

Combo Potential: This card has the ability to synergize with strategies that capitalize on coin flips or need to manipulate probability, thereby enhancing decks that include cards with similar mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: In certain metagames that are focused on control and maintaining board state, Crooked Scales can serve as a wildcard, disrupting opponent strategies and providing potential advantage turns.

How to Beat Crooked Scales

Crooked Scales offers players in Magic the Gathering a unique gamble – a coin flip that can potentially eliminate an opponent’s crucial creature. Though unpredictability is its core, mastering how to circumvent its randomness is key to success. Cards like Pithing Needle can neuter the ability of Crooked Scales by preventing its activation altogether, rendering it a mere artifact with no impact on the game state.

In addition, adding cards that manipulate or take advantage of coin flips, like Krark’s Thumb, into your deck increases your odds when engaging with Crooked Scales on the battlefield. Counterspells can interrupt your opponent’s strategy, leaving their mana spent and their plans thwarted. Finally, swift removals like Naturalize or Disenchant can clear Crooked Scales from play before your opponent has the chance to utilize its effect, preserving your board and maintaining control.

Understanding the balance between risk and control makes Crooked Scales a card that demands a tactical approach. Plan wisely and employ precise disruption, and you can ensure that the scales are tipped in your favor during the game.

Cards like Crooked Scales

Crooked Scales is an intriguing artifact in the panorama of Magic: The Gathering, akin to cards like the Goblin Artisans or Cursed Scroll. Crooked Scales offers players a touch of chance, much like these other artifacts, but with the unique ability to potentially eliminate creatures based on coin flips. Goblin Artisans also plays with randomness but focuses on controlling the top card of a player’s library – a different kind of unpredictability.

When it comes to risk-reward mechanics, Cursed Scroll stands out as well. It allows a player to target a creature or opponent, but requires a correct guess of a card name. While Crooked Scales can offer a bigger payoff in a single toss, it requires more mana investment and doesn’t provide the repeatability of Cursed Scroll’s potential damage.

Each of these artifacts brings a distinctive dynamic to the game, but when we look closely, Crooked Scales possesses a unique position by offering a potential creature removal with an element of chance that can turn the tides of a game, making it a noteworthy option for players who appreciate a gamble.

Cards similar to Crooked Scales by color, type and mana cost

Krark-Clan Ironworks - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crooked Scales MTG card by a specific set like Mercadian Masques 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 Crooked Scales and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Crooked Scales Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1999-10-04 and 1999-10-04. Illustrated by Ron Spears.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1999-10-04	Mercadian Masques	MMQ		291	1997	Normal	Black	Ron Spears
2	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST		MMQ-291	1997	Normal	Black	Ron Spears

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Crooked Scales has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2004-10-04	If you pay the , you do not choose a new pair of targets when it repeats. This means that if you lose the flip, you have the choice of having your creature destroyed or paying to try again to win the flip. If you lose again, you get the same choice, and so on. You can keep trying to destroy your opponent’s creature as long as you have mana to pay.
2004-10-04	You choose both targets on activation, so you can only activate this when you can legally choose both targets.