Illusionist's Bracers MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip

Key Takeaways

  1. Doubles activated abilities, offering significant card advantage and potential board dominance when used effectively.
  2. Boosts mana generation and untapping lands, creating opportunities for accelerated gameplay and surprise tactics.
  3. Can be mana-intensive, requiring careful deck construction and strategic play to leverage its high impact potential.

Text of card

Whenever an ability of equipped creature is activated, if it isn't a mana ability, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy. Equip

It's easy to believe you're a god when you're twice as powerful as everyone else.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When equipped to a creature with an activated ability, Illusionist’s Bracers doubles the effect, effectively giving you twice the output for a single input. This kind of advantage can snowball, putting you significantly ahead of the opposition in both board presence and potential plays.

Resource Acceleration: By amplifying abilities that generate mana or untap lands, this card can serve as a powerful accelerator, allowing you to deploy your threats faster or increase your mana availability for disruptive plays during critical moments of the game.

Instant Speed: Although the equip ability isn’t at instant speed itself, once equipped, the Bracers multiply instant-speed activated abilities. This opens up opportunities for surprising plays and powerful reactions in response to your opponent’s actions, greatly enhancing your tactical flexibility.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When using Illusionist’s Bracers, one must be mindful of the requirement to potentially discard other valuable cards from your hand. This could lead to a significant disadvantage, especially when playing a deck with limited draw capabilities or when you need to hold onto key cards for strategic plays later in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Illusionist’s Bracers come with a specific mana cost to be paid for its equip ability. This cost includes generic mana, but it may still be restrictive for some decks, particularly those that operate on a tight mana curve or seek to execute quicker strategies without room for potentially slower cards.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At two mana for the artifact itself and a further two to equip, the Bracers may be seen as having a high comparative mana cost for the benefit they offer. There are situations where the card could be perceived as mana-inefficient, especially if the deck is not designed to maximize the use of the doubled activated abilities that the Bracers provide.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Illusionist’s Bracers is a flexible accessory for any deck capitalizing on activated abilities. Whether you’re commanding creatures that tap to deal damage or ones that generate tokens, this equipment can double their impact with ease.

Combo Potential: This artifact shines when paired with cards that have potent activated abilities. It can turn an innocuous creature into an engine of value or a formidable threat, allowing for unexpected synergy and powerful plays.

Meta-Relevance: With ever-shifting meta-games, having Illusionist’s Bracers in your arsenal means you’re ready to amplify an array of strategies. It can adapt to various playing styles and potentially disrupt opponents who aren’t prepared for its doubling effect.


How to beat

Illusionist’s Bracers is a unique equipment piece in Magic: The Gathering, known for its potential to amplify abilities of creatures that have activated abilities, effectively doubling their effects. This card, similar to Rings of Brighthearth, offers strategic flexibility and an exponential increase in a creature’s capability to affect the game state. However, it’s crucial to recognize that Illusionist’s Bracers can be outmaneuvered by understanding its reliance on the equipped creature.

To invalidate the advantage conferred by Illusionist’s Bracers, interaction with the equipped creature is key. Neutralizing the creature, either through removal spells like Doom Blade, Path to Exile, or through counters like Cancel when the creature spell is on the stack, can prove to be effective strategies. It’s also feasible to target the artifact itself using shatter effects such as Naturalize or artifact-specific countering cards like Stony Silence, which prevent activated abilities of artifacts altogether.

In essence, Illusionist’s Bracers excels when paired with the right creatures, but countering either the creature or the equipment itself, or even preemptively applying effects that restrict artifact abilities, can dismantle the synergy it aims to create, providing a path to overcoming this potential threat in your MTG games.


BurnMana Recommendations

The magic of MTG lies in clever deck building and exploiting card synergies, with Illusionist’s Bracers being a prime example of potential game-changers. This card can be a cornerstone in decks that focus on activated abilities, propelling your strategy forward and keeping opponents on their toes. Mastery of such an artifact demands both creativity and tactical finesse. Dive deeper into the realm of MTG, where each card is a step towards victory. Enhance your collection, perfect your deck, and outmaneuver the competition. With the right knowledge, every match can be a showcase of skill and the art of the possible. Discover more strategies and tips with us, and make each duel an exhibition of your growing prowess.


Cards like Illusionist's Bracers

The Illusionist’s Bracers stands as a unique artifact in Magic: The Gathering, largely defined by its ability to copy activated abilities when equipped to a creature. When considering parallels, the most closely related card is perhaps the Rings of Brighthearth, which also has the capacity to copy abilities, yet this includes not only creature abilities but planeswalkers, artifacts, and lands as well. However, it is worth noting that the Rings require an additional two mana each time you want to use its copying ability, posing a steeper investment compared to the consistent capability of the Bracers once equipped.

Then there’s Lithoform Engine, another versatile copying tool within a player’s arsenal. It expands upon the copy mechanic by offering additional modes, including copying instant and sorcery spells or even permanent spells, enhancing its utility across diverse strategies. Even so, Lithoform Engine incurs a higher mana cost for its adaptability. It’s the distinction in mana efficiency and specificity that set Illusionist’s Bracers apart, providing a specialized function with the potential for powerful synergies in the right deck.

Each of these artifacts offers strategic advantages, but Illusionist’s Bracers carve out a niche, particularly in decks that revolve around potent activated abilities. Its uniqueness is in how it can become a game-changer by doubling up on key creature abilities, which is pivotal for many combo-oriented and commander decks.

Rings of Brighthearth - MTG Card versions
Lithoform Engine - MTG Card versions
Rings of Brighthearth - Lorwyn (LRW)
Lithoform Engine - Zendikar Rising (ZNR)

Cards similar to Illusionist's Bracers by color, type and mana cost

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Chaos Orb - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Winter Orb - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Ankh of Mishra - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Amulet of Kroog - Rinascimento (RIN)
Nacre Talisman - Ice Age (ICE)
Howling Mine - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Essence Bottle - Tempest (TMP)
Emerald Medallion - Commander Anthology (CMA)
Scrying Glass - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Cursed Totem - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Mask of Intolerance - Apocalypse (APC)
Tsabo's Web - World Championship Decks 2001 (WC01)
Millikin - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Swiftfoot Boots - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Ark of Blight - Scourge (SCG)
Surestrike Trident - Darksteel (DST)
Demon's Horn - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Energy Chamber - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Water Gun Balloon Game - Unhinged (UNH)
Angel's Feather - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Illusionist's Bracers MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash 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 Illusionist's Bracers and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Illusionist's Bracers Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2013-02-01 and 2024-01-12. Illustrated by Svetlin Velinov.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12013-02-01GatecrashGTC 2312003normalblackSvetlin Velinov
22020-09-26The ListPLST GTC-2312003normalblackSvetlin Velinov
32024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 392z2015normalblackSvetlin Velinov
42024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 3921997normalblackSvetlin Velinov
52024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 2602015normalblackSvetlin Velinov

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Illusionist's Bracers has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-01-24 An activated ability is written in the form “Cost: Effect.”
2013-01-24 If Illusionist’s Bracers somehow becomes equipped to a creature an opponent controls, and an activated ability (that isn’t a mana ability) of that creature is activated, you will control the copy of that ability.
2013-01-24 If the ability has in its cost, the value of X is copied.
2013-01-24 If the ability is modal (that is, it says “Choose one —” or the like), the copy will have the same mode. You can’t choose a different one.
2013-01-24 If the cost of an activated ability requires Illusionist’s Bracers or the equipped creature to be sacrificed, the ability won’t be copied. At the time the ability is considered activated (after all costs are paid), Illusionist’s Bracers is no longer equipped to that creature.
2013-01-24 The copy will have the same targets as the ability it’s copying unless you choose new ones. You may change any number of the targets, including all of them or none of them. If, for one of the targets, you can’t choose a new legal target, then it remains unchanged (even if the current target is illegal).
2013-04-15 A mana ability is an ability that (1) isn’t a loyalty ability, (2) doesn’t target, and (3) could put mana into a player’s mana pool when it resolves.

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