Civic Saber MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip

Key Takeaways

  1. Civic Saber leverages multicolor creatures, enhancing battlefield presence without additional mana investment.
  2. Flexibility at instant speed allows players to respond dynamically during a match with Civic Saber.
  3. Versatile and mana-efficient, Civic Saber can be a valuable addition to various MTG decks.

Text of card

Equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each of its colors. Equip

Those without a guild signet often display a different form of protection.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Civic Saber is a card that may not directly produce card advantage, but its real utility shines when equipped to multicolored creatures. It helps make the most of the creatures you already have on the battlefield, turning them into larger threats effortlessly.

Resource Acceleration: Although not a traditional acceleration tool, Civic Saber can be seen as a form of resource acceleration. For a mere two mana, one to cast and one to equip, it efficiently amplifies the power of your creature — effectively speeding up your damage output without the need for further mana investment.

Instant Speed: The equip ability of Civic Saber operates at instant speed, allowing you to adapt quickly to the unfolding game. This flexibility lets you wait for the right moment to enhance a creature, catching an opponent unawares or responding to threats on the fly.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Civic Saber necessitates having a multicolored creature on the battlefield. Without one, the card simply sits idly in your hand without any utility, which can be problematic when trying to maintain card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Although its mana cost seems low at just one generic mana, the true cost comes into play when you consider the need to have a diverse mana base to effectively utilize its abilities—multicolored creatures are essential, and in some decks, this might be a difficult criterion to meet consistently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Compared to other equipment that buffs creatures, Civic Saber’s impact is tied directly to the number of colors among the creatures you control. In a single-color deck, the card is utterly useless, and even in two-colored decks, there may be more mana-efficient options to increase a creature’s power.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Civic Saber is a dynamic piece of equipment that easily slips into multicolored decks, where it can provide a significant power boost to creatures by capitalizing on the diverse color identity present in your deck.

Combo Potential: With Civic Saber, you unlock exciting interactions in decks that pivot around color-specific mechanics or multicolored creatures, enhancing creatures far beyond their base stats for potentially game-winning combos.

Meta-Relevance: Given the shifting nature of the meta, a quick equip card like Civic Saber adapts well to various competitive environments, providing a lightweight and cost-effective uptick in your creature’s impact, which could be crucial in the face of diverse threats.


How to beat

Civic Saber is a versatile equipment artifact in Magic: The Gathering that can potentially amplify a creature’s power substantially, particularly in multi-color decks. The key to handling an opponent wielding a Civic Saber lies in disrupting their creature base. Without a creature to equip, the saber’s impact is nullified. It’s crucial to time your creature removal spells effectively, striking before the Civic Saber can be capitalised upon. Simple removal spells, such as Path to Exile or Doom Blade, when used in response to the equip attempt, can foil your opponent’s plans.

Artifact destruction is also a direct countermeasure against Civic Saber. Sideboard cards like Naturalize or the more versatile Abrade, which can deal with both creatures and artifacts, are excellent choices to clear the saber from the board. Control strategies can manage the threat before it materializes, with counterspells like Counterspell or Dovin’s Veto ensuring Civic Saber never touches the field. Lastly, consider cards that restrict the types of spells your opponent can play, such as Teferi, Time Raveler, to limit their ability to equip at crucial moments and keep the saber from becoming a problem.

Knowing when to neutralize Civic Saber’s potential influence is a key tactical advantage for maintaining control of the game. By keeping these strategies in mind, players can turn the tide against Civic Saber and maintain the upper hand in their matches.


Cards like Civic Saber

Civic Saber is an intriguing equipment card in Magic: The Gathering, with its unique ability to add power based on the number of colors among the creatures it equips. It finds its peers in the likes of Blade of the Bloodchief and Bonesplitter, both being equipment that boost a creature’s stats. However, Civic Saber shines in multicolored decks, where it’s not uncommon for it to grant a larger boost with just one mana to equip. Blade of the Bloodchief caters to decks that thrive on creature deaths, offering a more situational yet potentially larger power increase, while Bonesplitter provides a consistent +2/+0 boost with no color strings attached.

Another comparable card is the Paradise Mantle, which offers a mana ability rather than a power boost but shares the low equip cost of Civic Saber. For players valuing versatility and mana fixing, Paradise Mantle may edge out Civic Saber, while those looking to increase creature threat level may prefer the saber’s immediate impact on the battlefield.

Ultimately, Civic Saber’s performance is highly dependent on the deck’s color diversity. In the right setting, it can be an economical force multiplier, at times surpassing its counterparts in effectiveness, especially in fast-paced, multicolored games.

Blade of the Bloodchief - MTG Card versions
Bonesplitter - MTG Card versions
Paradise Mantle - MTG Card versions
Blade of the Bloodchief - Zendikar (ZEN)
Bonesplitter - Arena League 2003 (PAL03)
Paradise Mantle - Fifth Dawn (5DN)

Cards similar to Civic Saber by color, type and mana cost

Glasses of Urza - MTG Card versions
Wooden Sphere - MTG Card versions
Sol Ring - MTG Card versions
Iron Star - 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
Throne of Bone - MTG Card versions
Meekstone - MTG Card versions
Thran Foundry - MTG Card versions
Cursed Scroll - MTG Card versions
Candelabra of Tawnos - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Dreadnought - MTG Card versions
Glasses of Urza - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Wooden Sphere - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Sol Ring - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Iron Star - Fourth Edition (4ED)
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 - Fifth Edition (5ED)
The Rack - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Helm of Chatzuk - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Obelisk of Undoing - Rinascimento (RIN)
Feldon's Cane - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Throne of Bone - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Meekstone - World Championship Decks 2000 (WC00)
Thran Foundry - World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)
Cursed Scroll - World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)
Candelabra of Tawnos - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Phyrexian Dreadnought - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Civic Saber MTG card by a specific set like Return to Ravnica and Double Masters 2022, 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 Civic Saber and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Civic Saber Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2012-10-05 and 2024-01-12. Illustrated by Jung Park.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12012-10-05Return to RavnicaRTR 2272003normalblackJung Park
22022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 3002015normalblackJung Park
32024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 2542015normalblackJung Park

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Civic Saber has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2012-10-01 Civic Saber’s bonus can range from +0/+0 (for a colorless creature) to +5/+0 (for a creature that’s all five colors).
2012-10-01 If the equipped creature becomes a different number of colors, the bonus will change accordingly.

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