Serra's Liturgy MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment
Released	1998-10-12
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Saga
Set code	USG
Number	49
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	rk post

Key Takeaways

Offers card advantage by disrupting the opponent’s plan while maintaining your own strategic integrity.
Enables resource acceleration, allowing for powerful early game plays by untapping lands.
Can be activated at instant speed, providing versatile responses to the dynamics of the game.

Text of card

During your upkeep, you may put a verse counter on Serra's Liturgy. o W, Sacrifice Serra's Liturgy: Destroy up to X target artifacts and/or enchantments, where X is the number of verse counters on Serra's Liturgy.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Serra’s Liturgy provides a strategic edge by potentially disrupting your opponent’s hand while keeping yours intact. This ability to filter and selectively remove threats is a significant advantage in any match.

Resource Acceleration: By untapping up to three lands, Serra’s Liturgy offers a temporary boost in resources. This can lead to more significant plays earlier in the game, allowing you to outpace your opponent and control the game tempo.

Instant Speed: The beauty of this card lies in its versatility being an enchantment that can be activated at instant speed. This means you can adapt to the unfolding game and optimize the timing of your strategic plays without the constraints of sorcery speed limitations.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Serra’s Liturgy comes with a condition that may not always be advantageous for players. To activate one of its abilities, you need to discard a card. This could potentially set you back, particularly in tight situations where your hand is already depleted or each card in hand is vital for your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a stringent mana setup, needing both white mana and additional generic mana to be cast. This specific mana cost can restrict its inclusion solely to decks that can reliably produce white mana, thus not fitting into the mana base of every deck archetype.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Serra’s Liturgy offers unique benefits, its mana cost is on the higher side for enchantments that provide incrementally beneficial effects. In some scenarios, players may find that other enchantments or spells could present a more immediate or impactful influence on the game for the same or lower mana investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Serra’s Liturgy is a card that offers flexible options for white decks, adapting to various situations on the battlefield. Its ability to accumulate counters and provide different modes of utility allows it to be a powerful tool in decks that can manipulate or value time counters.

Combo Potential: This enchantment’s strengths lie in its synergistic qualities. Players can exploit its potential by combining it with other cards that benefit from, or manipulate, time counters, increasing the swiftness and impact of its abilities.

Meta-Relevance: Against a backdrop of ever-shifting metagame dynamics, Serra’s Liturgy holds its ground by offering consistent control options. It can play a crucial role in white-based control or midrange decks, where its conditional removal and eventual game-winning ability can turn the tides in a protracted match.

How to beat

Serra’s Liturgy is a unique enchantment in the world of Magic: The Gathering that can be both a thorn in your side and a powerful tool in your opponent’s arsenal. The key to countering this spell lies in the timing and strategic handling of your resources. Since it functions on accumulating verse counters, one effective approach to mitigate its impact is to deploy enchantment removal spells before it reaches its full potential. Cards such as Disenchant or Naturalize offer clean solutions, allowing you to dismantle the Liturgy and its growing threat quickly and effectively.

Another strategy to consider against Serra’s Liturgy is to prioritize indirect methods of disruption. Aggressively focusing on a tempo-oriented game plan, with a stream of threats that demand answers from your opponent, can force them into a position where maintaining Serra’s Liturgy becomes disadvantageous. If the tempo is in your favor, even if your opponent manages to reach a critical mass of verse counters, they may find themselves too far behind on the board to recover.

Whether you opt for direct enchantment removal or a swift-tempo strategy, remember that Magic: The Gathering is a game of adaptability. Monitoring your opponent’s strategy and being prepared to pivot as needed will safeguard you against the harmonious power of Serra’s Liturgy.

Cards like Serra's Liturgy

Serra’s Liturgy is a unique card that opens strategic layers for enchantment-based strategies in Magic: The Gathering. Like Serra’s Liturgy, the card Sacred Mesa produces an ongoing advantage but in the form of Pegasus tokens rather than preventing damage. While Serra’s Liturgy requires time to accumulate verse counters for its various abilities, Sacred Mesa can immediately impact the board by creating flying creatures.

Another card worth mentioning in relation to Serra’s Liturgy is Righteous Confluence. Both cards offer a choice in how they influence the gameplay. Righteous Confluence presents three options—creature exiling, life gain, or Knight token creation—allowing for more immediate flexibility, contrasting Serra’s Liturgy’s delayed but potentially game-warping effects as verse counters amass.

Lastly, the comparison would not be complete without mentioning the card Celestial Convergence. It shares the thematic element of manipulating life totals and can abruptly end the game when its time counters are removed. While Celestial Convergence works towards a singular explosive moment, Serra’s Liturgy provides a versatile, ongoing toolbox approach to managing the game state. Analyzing these alternatives highlights the nuanced value of Serra’s Liturgy within the pantheon of MTG enchantments.

Righteous Confluence - MTG Card versions

Celestial Convergence - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Serra's Liturgy by color, type and mana cost

Divine Transformation - MTG Card versions

Diversionary Tactics - MTG Card versions

Teleportation Circle - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Serra's Liturgy MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga, 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 Serra's Liturgy and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Serra's Liturgy has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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