Lantern of Undersight MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides strategic insight into the opponent’s next move, enabling better counterplay and decision-making.
  2. Activates at instant speed, allowing flexibility that aligns with instant-speed interaction strategies.
  3. Requires careful management of resources due to its discard and specific mana cost constraints.

Text of card

You draw cards from the bottom of your library instead of the top of your library.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lantern of Undersight offers a unique advantage by providing you with insight into your opponent’s next move. Knowing the top card of their library can guide your strategy and potential counterplays, keeping you one step ahead.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly providing mana or tokens, this artifact can set up future plays by ensuring you draw into more impactful spells. Optimizing your draw step can be indirectly synonymous with accelerating your resources, as it ensures you’re pulling the cards you need to maintain momentum.

Instant Speed: With the ability to activate at instant speed, Lantern of Undersight seamlessly fits into your game plan without disrupting your tempo. This enables you to retain flexibility and react to an evolving board state while gaining continuous informational advantage. Additionally, this supports strategies centered around instant-speed interaction, letting you keep mana open for responses while still obtaining value from the card.

Remember to abide by the game rules and ensure you are using Lantern of Undersight in a manner that is consistent with its official capacities as per Wizard’s guidelines. Tailoring your plays with the lantern’s capabilities in mind can be the beacon that guides you to victory.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To activate the Lantern of Undersight’s ability, a discard is necessary, which could be a setback for players with a depleted hand.

Specific Mana Cost: This artifact requires both colorless and black mana for activation, potentially limiting its integration in multi-colored decks that may not have ready access to black mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The Lantern’s costs might outweigh its benefits, especially when other low-costing cards could provide more efficient control over the opponent’s strategy.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lantern of Undersight is a unique addition to any deck that aims to control the flow of the game. Its ability to peek at the top card of an opponent’s library can inform strategic decisions, making it a tool suitable for various strategies and formats.

Combo Potential: This artifact shines when coupled with cards that manipulate or capitalize on an opponent’s deck. It can pave the way for disruptive combos that thwart your opponent’s plans, adding depth to your overall game strategy.

Meta-Relevance: In formats where game knowledge translates to a significant advantage, Lantern of Undersight gains importance by providing constant insight into the opponent’s next move. It becomes even more valuable when the meta is filled with top-deck manipulation or when anticipating the perfect timing to disrupt an opponent’s strategy is crucial.


How to beat Lantern of Undersight

Lantern of Undersight makes its mark in MTG as a distinctive tool, granting its wielder the ability to see an opponent’s top card and play the game with an open hand strategy. This can shift the dynamics of a match, allowing tactics built around deck manipulation and anticipation of an opponent’s next move. To turn the tide against Lantern of Undersight, consider using cards that shuffle your deck, like fetch lands or effects that scry and rearrange the top cards of your library.

Another effective strategy includes deploying countermagic to prevent Lantern of Undersight from resolving or utilizing artifact removal spells and abilities to eliminate it once it’s on the battlefield. Cards such as Nature’s Claim or Abrade can efficiently eradicate the Lantern, thereby disrupting an adversary’s planned moves and shielding your own strategy from being unraveled. In essence, keeping versatile answers in your decklist can assuage the advantage that Lantern of Undersight might bestow upon your opponent.

Ultimately, the most effective methods involve staying one step ahead with deck shuffling and strategic counters, ensuring that even a revealed top card won’t compromise the integrity of your carefully constructed game plan. Interactivity and adaptability are your greatest allies in outmaneuvering an opponent aided by Lantern of Undersight.


Cards like Lantern of Undersight

The Lantern of Undersight adds a unique twist to the concept of information control in Magic: The Gathering. It’s often weighed against cards like Lantern of Insight, which allows players to see the top card of each library. While Lantern of Insight openly reveals this information, Lantern of Undersight provides a more clandestine benefit, allowing you to peek into your opponent’s hand, but only if they would draw a card at a time other than their draw step.

Ghoulcaller’s Bell is another intriguing comparison. This artifact doesn’t provide the hand insight of Lantern of Undersight but offers a shared aspect of manipulating libraries by prompting each player to mill the top card. The subtlety of Lantern of Undersight lies in its targeted usage, shaping strategies around your opponent’s hand and upcoming draws, whereas Ghoulcaller’s Bell has a broader, though less discerning influence.

Codex Shredder also merits comparison, granting targeted library interaction through milling a specific card, akin to the strategic depth offered by Lantern of Undersight. However, it lacks the direct insight into an opponent’s immediate options. Assessing these cards highlights Lantern of Undersight’s niche in fine-tuning your game plan against opponents’ potential moves.

Lantern of Insight - MTG Card versions
Ghoulcaller's Bell - MTG Card versions
Codex Shredder - MTG Card versions
Lantern of Insight - MTG Card versions
Ghoulcaller's Bell - MTG Card versions
Codex Shredder - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Lantern of Undersight by color, type and mana cost

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Throne of Bone - MTG Card versions
Crystal Rod - MTG Card versions
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

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lantern of Undersight MTG card by a specific set like Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019 and Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021, 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 Lantern of Undersight and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Lantern of Undersight Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-11-07 and 2021-08-20. Illustrated by Trick Jarrett.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-11-07Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019CMB1 1062015NormalBlackTrick Jarrett
22021-08-20Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021CMB2 1062015NormalBlackTrick Jarrett

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2019-11-12 If an effect refers to the top card of your library, it doesn’t refer to the bottom card of your library while you control Lantern of Undersight. Lantern of Undersight affects only how you draw cards.

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