Radiant Destiny MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment
Abilities Ascend

Key Takeaways

  1. Radiant Destiny accelerates wins by boosting creature power, offering significant pressure on the opponent.
  2. Playing Radiant Destiny before combat can tilt the game’s momentum in your favor unexpectedly.
  3. Ascend mechanic requires card retention which may hinder recovery after opponent’s board clear.
Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.) As Radiant Destiny enters the battlefield, choose a creature type. Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1. As long as you have the city's blessing, they also have vigilance.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Radiant Destiny can contribute to card advantage without directly drawing cards by increasing the value of your creatures on the battlefield with its ascend ability, effectively turning each creature into a more powerful threat.

Resource Acceleration: While not a traditional acceleration card, Radiant Destiny can speed up your victory by enhancing your board’s presence. This can pressure opponents, requiring fewer turns to close out a game.

Instant Speed: Although Radiant Destiny is a sorcery, it can still bolster your creatures unexpectedly. When played before combat or main phases, it has the potential to sway the course of the game by empowering your creatures at a critical moment.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Radiant Destiny provides a powerful boon to tribal decks, it necessitates retaining a card in hand to enable its ascend ability. This could potentially put you at a disadvantage when you’re attempting to stabilize or recoup after an opponent’s board wipe.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Radiant Destiny, which includes one white mana, while not overly restrictive, specifies color commitment. Decks that run heavily on other colors might find this to be a deterrent and may not be able to accommodate it efficiently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Radiant Destiny competes for a slot in your deck against other impactful three mana cards. The cost can be somewhat high for the initial effect, as you might not always get immediate value if you haven’t reached the city’s blessing.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Radiant Destiny, with its ascend mechanic, offers a unique boost to creature-heavy decks. Suitable for various tribal strategies, it can be a key enchantment in decks focusing on a single creature type, such as Elves, Goblins, or Vampires.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with other tribal synergies. Its ability to grant vigilance, along with a power and toughness boost to your creatures upon reaching the city’s blessing, can be a game-changer, making it a staple in synergy-driven decks.

Meta-Relevance: Given the fluctuating landscape of the meta, Radiant Destiny remains relevant by potentially shifting the balance in matches where creature superiority dictates the pace. Its continuous buff to your team can secure a dominating position against various opposing deck types.


How to beat

Radiant Destiny is a notable enchantment that buffs creatures in MTG, especially potent in decks focusing on tribal synergies. The card boosts your creatures’ stats and could grant them vigilance if you have the city’s blessing. To counter this, board wipes like Wrath of God or Blasphemous Act can reset the playing field, stripping away the card’s influence.

Spot removal spells such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile can manage the growing threat of individual creatures, disrupting the efficacy of the enchantment. Enchantment destruction is also a key strategy. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant directly target Radiant Destiny, effectively neutralizing its impact on the game.

Moreover, countering it before it hits the battlefield is ideal. Hold up mana for counterspells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto when you anticipate it’s coming. In essence, maintaining control over the board and being reactive to the tribal synergies it promotes can diminish the card’s potential and make it easier to overcome during play.


BurnMana Recommendations

MTG enthusiasts recognize that strategic enhancements like Radiant Destiny can alter the flow of battle in significant ways. With its potential for upgrading creature dynamics, this card is a wise consideration for players looking to fortify their tribal decks. Acknowledging the delicate balance of pros and cons is crucial when wielding such an enchantment. If Radiant Destiny’s potential resonates with your playstyle and you’re eager to craft a deck that truly stands out in both casual games and competitive scenes, dive deeper into the intricacies of this card’s utility. Enhance your collection and gameplay wisdom by visiting us to explore more insights and strategies tailored for the zealous player.


Cards like Radiant Destiny

In the realm of enchantments boosting creatures’ attributes, Radiant Destiny shines in Magic: The Gathering. It’s akin to cards such as Always Watching which grants non-token creatures vigilance and a +1/+1 buff. However, Radiant Destiny extends this bonus across the board to all creatures of a chosen type, including tokens—an excellent synergy for tribal decks.

Looking at another comparison, Vanquisher’s Banner also empowers creatures of a specific type by providing a +1/+1 boost and the additional perk of drawing a card whenever a creature of the chosen type enters the battlefield. Though it has a higher mana cost, the card draw ability can be a significant advantage throughout the game.

Glorious Anthem is a simpler counterpart that grants all of your creatures a +1/+1 increase with no allegiance to a creature type or additional abilities. For some, the straightforward, unconditional buff might streamline strategy and gameplay.

Choosing the right card often depends on the deck’s focused strategy and the player’s style. But with its conditional ascension mechanic and inclusivity of tokens, Radiant Destiny provides a robust option for players looking to enhance the power of their creature-heavy tribal decks.

Always Watching - MTG Card versions
Vanquisher's Banner - MTG Card versions
Glorious Anthem - MTG Card versions
Always Watching - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
Vanquisher's Banner - Ixalan Promos (PXLN)
Glorious Anthem - Urza's Saga (USG)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Radiant Destiny MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander, 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 Radiant Destiny and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Radiant Destiny Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by Emrah Elmasli.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-01-19Rivals of IxalanRIX 182015normalblackEmrah Elmasli
22023-11-17The Lost Caverns of Ixalan CommanderLCC 1352015normalblackEmrah Elmasli

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Radiant Destiny has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-01-19 A permanent is any object on the battlefield, including tokens and lands. Spells and emblems aren't permanents.
2018-01-19 Ascend on a permanent isn't a triggered ability and doesn't use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can't respond to getting the city's blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can't respond before you get the city's blessing.
2018-01-19 Gaining vigilance any time after the moment you choose to attack with a creature won't cause that creature to become untapped, and losing vigilance after that time won't cause it to become tapped.
2018-01-19 If you cast a spell with ascend, you don't get the city's blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city's blessing.
2018-01-19 If you control ten permanents but don't control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don't get the city's blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won't have the city's blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control.
2018-01-19 If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterwards (most likely due to the "Legend Rule" or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city's blessing before it leaves the battlefield.
2018-01-19 Once you have the city's blessing, you have it for the rest of the game, even if you lose control of some or all of your permanents. The city's blessing isn't a permanent itself and can't be removed by any effect.
2018-01-19 Some cards get power, toughness, and/or abilities once you have the city's blessing. If another card has an ability that triggers when creatures with certain characteristics enter the battlefield (such as Mentor of the Meek or Elemental Bond do), use the entering permanent's characteristics after you have the city's blessing to determine whether those abilities trigger. This is true even if the entering permanent is your tenth permanent.
2018-01-19 To choose a creature type, you must choose an existing creature type, such as Vampire or Knight. You can't choose multiple creature types, such as "Vampire Knight." Card types such as artifact can't be chosen, nor can subtypes that aren't creature types, such as Jace, Vehicle, or Treasure.

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