Sword of Truth and Justice MTG Card
2019-06-14 - Number 229
2021-06-18 - Number 32
2002-06-24 - Number 91367
2019-06-05 - Number 46
2019-12-02 - Number 1096
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Mythic |
| Type | Artifact — Equipment |
| Abilities | Equip,Proliferate |
Key Takeaways
- Grants card advantage and board presence through proliferate ability, enhancing creatures and other counters.
- Enables fewer card commitments to the board, saving resources while pressuring opponents with growing creatures.
- Protection from two colors boosts resilience, posing a challenge for opponents during their own turn.
Text of card
Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from white and from blue. Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control, then proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) Equip
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Equipping Sword of Truth and Justice to a creature can incrementally grow your card advantage through its proliferate ability. This mechanic not only permits bolstering the equipped creature but can also enhance other permanents with counters, effectively multiplying your value on the board with each attack.
Resource Acceleration: The Sword provides a subtle form of resource acceleration by adding +1/+1 counters to your creatures. As your threats grow more formidable, you’ll likely need to commit fewer cards to the board to maintain pressure, allowing you to deploy other resources or hold them back as needed.
Instant Speed: While the Sword itself doesn’t function at instant speed, the impact it has can influence instant-speed interactions. Creatures equipped with the Sword, due to the protection from two colors ability, can become unexpectedly difficult to deal with for your opponents during their turn, potentially throwing off their plans and preserving your key pieces.
Card Cons
Specific Mana Cost: Sword of Truth and Justice carries a specific mana requirement comprising two colorless and one white mana which could potentially limit its integration in multicolored or color-intensive decks that may not always have the right mana available.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment for this artifact is not insubstantial. With a total cost of three, including a white mana, it competes with other impactful three-mana spells which may deter players from choosing it over lower-costed options with immediate impact.
Discard Requirement: While Sword of Truth and Justice itself does not have a discard requirement, equipping it to a creature could leave a player vulnerable to discard effects. Since equipping requires mana and is typically done after playing the sword, it could deplete resources making players an easier target for discard strategies.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Sword of Truth and Justice is not just a powerful equipment card but also a flexible asset in various deck types. Its ability to provide protection from two colors and distribute +1/+1 counters makes it a formidable addition to decks focusing on voltron strategies or those seeking incremental advantages.
Combo Potential: This sword synergizes well with decks that capitalize on proliferating counters—be it for poison counters, loyalty counters on planeswalkers, or +1/+1 counters on creatures. This card can be the engine that powers sophisticated and lethal combinations.
Meta-Relevance: With a meta that rewards resilience and adaptability, Sword of Truth and Justice remains relevant. The card’s protection abilities safeguard key creatures while its counter-distributing feature continues to be pertinent in matchups across various formats.
How to beat
The Sword of Truth and Justice is a powerful artifact card known for its ability to shape matchups in Magic: The Gathering. This equipment stands out by offering both protection from two colors and the potential to proliferate, enhancing permanents with counters. To counteract the Sword’s advantages, consider using cards that aren’t hindered by its protections. Versatile removal spells that don’t specify colors are your safest bet in these situations.
Beyond direct removal, another strategy is to control the battlefield with effects that don’t target individual creatures, avoiding the protective barrier of the Sword. Board wipes or mass removal spells can clear the equipped creature from the field. Also, don’t underestimate the importance of maintaining card advantage and efficient use of mana to outpace and out-resource an opponent relying on equipment like the Sword of Truth and Justice.
To summarize, stay adaptable, prioritize non-color-specific interactions, and manage resources smartly. Players need to know that facing down this formidable equipment requires adaptability and foresight, yet it is certainly possible to emerge victorious even when it is in play.
BurnMana Recommendations
The Sword of Truth and Justice is a unique addition to any MTG player’s arsenal, offering both a defensive boon and offensive prowess. With potential to swing games through its proliferate ability, it deserves a spot in decks that thrive on counters. Whether you’re honing a counter-centric strategy or looking for versatile protection for your creatures, this sword could be the key to turning the tides of battle in your favor. Curious about weaving the Sword of Truth and Justice into your collection for that strategic edge? Delve deeper with us for more insights and tactics to optimize your deck’s performance.
Cards like Sword of Truth and Justice
The Sword of Truth and Justice is an exceptional artifact in the realm of powerful equipment cards. It shares parallels with its brethren within the Sword cycle, such as Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Feast and Famine. Like its counterparts, the Sword of Truth and Justice offers a combination of protections—this time from white and blue spells—and provides an impressive duel of buffs when dealing combat damage to a player. However, this particular blade stands out with its unique proliferate ability. It allows you to fortify not only creatures but also any kind of counters present on the battlefield, including loyalty and +1/+1 counters.
In comparison, Sword of Fire and Ice also delivers card advantage by drawing a card alongside dealing 2 damage to any target. While this can directly impact the game by removing creatures or dealing player damage, Sword of Truth and Justice opts for a more strategic long-term advantage. Meanwhile, Sword of Feast and Famine boasts a different approach, untapping your lands to potentially cast more spells or disrupt opponent strategies by making them discard a card. The uniqueness of Sword of Truth and Justice is seen in its potential for exponential growth of power levels across the board, particularly in decks centered around counters.
Ultimately, within the distinguished Sword series, each offers a distinct strategic edge catering to various playstyles. While others may direct impact at the moment of combat, Sword of Truth and Justice gears towards snowballing advantages that, if left unchecked, can dominate the game over time.
Cards similar to Sword of Truth and Justice by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Sword of Truth and Justice MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Modern Horizons Art Series, 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 Sword of Truth and Justice 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 Sword of Truth and Justice Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2021-06-18. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 91367 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Chris Rahn | ||
| 2 | Modern Horizons Art Series | AMH1 | 46 | 2015 | Art series | Borderless | Chris Rahn | ||
| 3 | 2019-06-14 | Modern Horizons | MH1 | 229 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Chris Rahn | |
| 4 | Secret Lair Drop | SLD | 1096 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Nils Hamm | ||
| 5 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 1 Timeshifts | H1R | 32 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Chris Rahn |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Sword of Truth and Justice has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Sword of Truth and Justice card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2019-06-14 | If a permanent or player you choose while proliferating has more than one kind of counter on it, it will get one more of each of those kinds. This means that if you put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control with a -1/-1 counter on it, then choose that creature while proliferating, you’ll put another of each of those counters on it before state-based actions remove them. |
| 2019-06-14 | Protection from a color means that the equipped creature can’t be blocked by creatures of that color, can’t be the target of spells of that color or abilities from sources of that color, can’t be enchanted or equipped by Auras or Equipment of that color, and all damage that sources of that color would deal to it is prevented. Nothing other than these events is prevented or illegal. |
| 2021-03-19 | If a permanent has +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it, they’re removed in pairs as a state-based action so that the permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it. |
| 2021-03-19 | Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it’s too late for anyone to respond. |
| 2021-03-19 | To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can’t choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them. |
| 2021-03-19 | You don’t have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since “any number” includes zero, you don’t have to choose any permanents at all, and you don’t have to choose any players at all. |
