Wooden Sphere MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 18 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact

Key Takeaways

  1. Wooden Sphere ensures card advantage with low activation cost and instant-speed utility in matching colored decks.
  2. Despite its utility, it lacks strategic discard interaction and can be restrictive due to specific mana costs.
  3. Integral for decks seeking incremental gains, it offers potential life gain and meta relevance in green-heavy builds.

Text of card

o1: Any green spell cast by any player gives you 1 life.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Wooden Sphere offers consistent card advantage in decks that frequently cast spells matching the chosen color. By investing just one mana to activate, you gain the ability to draw additional cards over the course of the game, fueling your hand and increasing your options.

Resource Acceleration: Though not directly providing mana, the card indirectly contributes to resource acceleration by ensuring a steady flow of cards, which in turn can lead to more land drops or opportunities to play mana-generating spells.

Instant Speed: This artifact’s ability can be used at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions. Whether you’re reacting to a spell cast or end of turn, you can convert your spells into potential card draw without missing a beat.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One downside of Wooden Sphere is that it does not require a card discard, potentially making it less interactive and strategic than alternatives that leverage your hand as a resource.

Specific Mana Cost: Wooden Sphere’s activation is based on a specific mana expenditure. This means you must spend mana of the precise color that a player has used, making it somewhat restrictive in terms of mana flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Wooden Sphere itself has a low cost to cast, the cost to activate its ability competes with other mana sinks or more impactful plays. Some players might find that there are more cost-effective ways to gain an advantage or manage their resources in a game.


Reasons to Include Wooden Sphere in Your Collection

Versatility: Wooden Sphere stands as a useful addition for decks that seek to gain incremental advantages. Its ability to grant you life for each green spell cast allows it to be a useful tool across various deck archetypes, particularly in ones that have a heavy green component.

Combo Potential: In combination with cards that allow you to cast numerous spells in a single turn or with abilities that untap your artifacts, Wooden Sphere can become a lifeline, quite literally, offering you a steady stream of life points to outlast your opponents.

Meta-Relevance: With the ever-shifting dynamics of MTG gameplay, having a card that can provide you with additional life can be critical, especially in metas where aggressive strategies dominate. Wooden Sphere could serve as a counterbalance to maintain stability in your life total while setting up your winning conditions.


How to beat

Wooden Sphere presents a unique obstacle for MTG players, with its ability to provide extra life for every spell of a chosen color. Its application largely depends on mono-color heavy decks where it can potentially tip the scales. However, the key to overcoming this artifact isn’t just in removing it from the board—it’s in diversifying your strategy.

Implementing a deck that embraces a mix of colors can dilute the effectiveness of Wooden Sphere. Alternating your spell casting between colors not only restricts the life gained but also forces your opponent to reassess their defenses. Artifact removal cards are, of course, direct solutions to the Wooden Sphere conundrum. Naturalize and Disenchant are prime examples, able to sweep away the Sphere for a small mana investment, while offering a tactical edge by keeping opponents off balance.

Dominating the battlefield against Wooden Sphere means keeping pressure with a multi-colored assault while maintaining ready answers for artifact interference. Keeping your plays unpredictable and your removal spells handy ensures Wooden Sphere doesn’t become an insurmountable advantage for your opponent.


Cards like Wooden Sphere

Wooden Sphere stands as a unique artifact in Magic: The Gathering, capable of providing a consistent albeit minimal advantage. It is reminiscent of cards like Ivory Cup, which also yields life gain from casting spells of a certain color. Where Ivory Cup responds to white spells, Wooden Sphere does so with green, offering a touch of life in return for each green spell cast.

Delving into a more contemporary comparison, we find the likes of Lifecrafter’s Bestiary. While this artifact doesn’t offer life gain, it does provide a tangible benefit whenever a green creature spell is cast, in the form of card draw. This can be a substantially more powerful effect over the course of a game. Additionally, the Bestiary’s scry ability further refines your draw, something the Wooden Sphere lacks. Then there’s the venerable Gaea’s Cradle, which doesn’t provide life or card advantage directly but taps for mana for each green creature you control, fueling more substantial plays far quicker than the incremental gain of a Wooden Sphere.

Assessing Wooden Sphere within the array of green-associated Magic: The Gathering artifacts, it finds its niche with players who enjoy small, accumulative advantages while harboring nostalgia for the game’s early mechanics.

Ivory Cup - MTG Card versions
Lifecrafter's Bestiary - MTG Card versions
Gaea's Cradle - MTG Card versions
Ivory Cup - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Lifecrafter's Bestiary - Aether Revolt Promos (PAER)
Gaea's Cradle - Judge Gift Cards 1998 (JGP)

Cards similar to Wooden Sphere by color, type and mana cost

Glasses of Urza - 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
Barbed Sextant - MTG Card versions
Glasses of Urza - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Sol Ring - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Iron Star - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Library of Leng - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Black Vise - Revised Edition (3ED)
Urza's Chalice - Masters Edition (ME1)
Ivory Cup - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Brass Man - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Mana Vault - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Soul Net - Seventh Edition (7ED)
The Rack - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Helm of Chatzuk - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Obelisk of Undoing - Rinascimento (RIN)
Feldon's Cane - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Ivory Tower - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Meekstone - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Triangle of War - Visions (VIS)
Throne of Bone - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Crystal Rod - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Barbed Sextant - Fifth Edition (5ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Wooden Sphere MTG card by a specific set like Limited Edition Alpha and Limited Edition Beta, 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 Wooden Sphere and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Wooden Sphere Magic the Gathering card was released in 15 different sets between 1993-08-05 and 2022-11-28. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11993-08-05Limited Edition AlphaLEA 2761993normalblackMark Tedin
21993-10-04Limited Edition BetaLEB 2771993normalblackMark Tedin
31993-12-01Unlimited Edition2ED 2771993normalwhiteMark Tedin
41993-12-10Collectors' EditionCED 2771993normalblackMark Tedin
51993-12-10Intl. Collectors' EditionCEI 2771993normalblackMark Tedin
61994-04-01Foreign Black BorderFBB 2811993normalblackMark Tedin
71994-04-01Revised Edition3ED 2811993normalwhiteMark Tedin
81994-06-21Summer Magic / EdgarSUM 2811993normalwhiteMark Tedin
91995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 3591993normalblackMark Tedin
101995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 3591993normalwhiteMark Tedin
111997-03-24Fifth Edition5ED 4091997normalwhiteDonato Giancola
121999-04-21Classic Sixth Edition6ED 3181997normalwhiteDonato Giancola
132001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 3241997normalwhiteTerese Nielsen
142001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 324★1997normalblackTerese Nielsen
152003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 321★2003normalblackDonato Giancola
162003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 3212003normalwhiteDonato Giancola
172022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 5691997normalblackMark Tedin
182022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 2722015normalblackMark Tedin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Wooden Sphere has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

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