Game Preserve MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment
Released	1999-10-04
Set symbol
Set name	Mercadian Masques
Set code	MMQ
Number	248
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Luca Zontini

Key Takeaways

Game Preserve offers card advantage and ramp by cheating mana costs, but at the risk of hand size.
The requirement to reveal cards creates unique strategic interactions and unpredictability in play.
While powerful, Game Preserve’s higher cost and color-specific mana can limit its deck compatibility.

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, each player reveals the top card of his or her library. If all cards revealed this way are creature cards, put those cards into play under their owners' control. (Otherwise, put them back face-down on top of their owners' libraries.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Game Preserve can potentially offer significant card advantage by allowing both players the chance to put a creature card from their hand onto the battlefield, setting the stage for powerful plays without depleting their hand.

Resource Acceleration: This enchantment could work as a form of resource acceleration by bypassing the mana cost of creature cards, effectively letting you cheat on mana costs for some of the more costly creatures in your deck.

Instant Speed: Its ability triggers during the upkeep, which, while not at instant speed, provides a recurring opportunity at the beginning of each turn to deploy creatures, maintaining the pace of your strategy and putting pressure on your opponent consistently.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: With Game Preserve, one of the key drawbacks is the need to discard a card from your hand. This can be quite disadvantageous during games where your hand size is already depleted, making the card’s activation costlier than one might initially anticipate.

Specific Mana Cost: Game Preserve requires a specific combination of mana colors to cast, making it a potentially awkward fit in decks that don’t regularly produce green mana. Players running multi-colored decks might find this mana requirement restrictive and harder to fulfill consistently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Game Preserve can offer a unique advantage by allowing players to potentially cheat creatures onto the battlefield, its initial investment of four mana can be steep, especially when compared to other cards at a similar cost that may provide a more immediate impact or benefit to the battlefield state.

Reasons to Include Game Preserve in Your Collection

Versatility: Game Preserve is a unique enchantment that can be slipped into decks that aim to play a diverse range of creature spells, supporting a variety of board states while keeping the gameplay dynamic.

Combo Potential: This card can create unexpected synergies with a deck’s creatures, particularly in multiplayer games where the reveal mechanic can be used to your strategic advantage, giving you access to creatures that might otherwise be difficult to cast.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where games can stretch out and deck diversity is high, Game Preserve can offer consistent value over time, ensuring that you have access to creatures that can potentially turn the tide of a game.

How to beat

Game Preserve is a unique enchantment in the MTG landscape, offering a mechanism where players mutually benefit from revealing cards and potentially playing them without a cost. While this can seem daunting to oppose, there are reliable strategies to turn the tables. Primarily, controlling the card reveal is crucial. Consider running a deck with scry or library manipulation mechanics, as this allows you to influence what gets revealed.

Another effective approach involves employing removal spells or enchantment destruction cards that directly address Game Preserve. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant can immediately remove it from play, allowing you to regain control of the game flow. It’s also worth noting that Game Preserve functions through parity, so building a deck with a diversity of card types lessens the chances that both players will reveal and hence play the same type of card for free.

Ultimately, while Game Preserve offers a fascinating dynamic to gameplay, with attentive deck building and a focus on maintaining control over the game state, this enchantment can be successfully mitigated or even exploited to your advantage.

Cards like Game Preserve

Game Preserve is a unique card that channels an interesting route of creature acquisition in MTG. It has a comparable dynamic to cards like Lurking Predators, which also allows players to potentially put creatures onto the battlefield. Game Preserve, however, relies on mutual agreement between players to reveal cards, providing a distinct vein of unpredictability and diplomacy not found in Lurking Predators.

Another similar card would be Selvala’s Stampede, which hinges on the voting mechanic for cheating creatures out of one’s hand or directly from the library. While both Game Preserve and Selvala’s Stampede circumvent traditional casting costs, the latter offers a more unilateral control over the outcome. Furthermore, card such as Mosswort Bridge can also be seen as akin, given its hideaway mechanic that enables you to play a powerful creature for a reduced cost, although it lacks the interactive aspect of Game Preserve.

Analysing these cards side by side, Game Preserve stands out for its ability to create potentially advantageous situations for both the controller and the opponent, fostering a game environment centered on both strategy and chance within the diverse world of MTG.

Cards similar to Game Preserve by color, type and mana cost

The Dragon-Kami Reborn // Dragon-Kami's Egg - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

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