Serenity MTG Card
1997-06-09 - Number 24
1999-04-21 - Number 41
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
Key Takeaways
- Serenity excels in reducing opponents’ resources while preserving your own through selective destruction.
- Its upkeep-triggered effect offers a form of control that mimics the utility of instant speed spells.
- Despite the required card discard and specific mana, its board-clearing capability is a game-changer.
Text of card
During your upkeep, bury all artifacts and enchantments.
"Just think of me as the storm before the calm." —Gerrard of the *Weatherlight*
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Serenity provides a unique form of card advantage by systematically dismantling opposing nonland permanents, ensuring that you effectively reduce the resources available to your opponent while maintaining your own.
Resource Acceleration: Although Serenity doesn’t produce mana or tokens, it accelerates your game by clearing the board of artifacts and enchantments, freeing you to utilize your mana more effectively on your terms without the worry of artifact-based disruption or enchantment impacts.
Instant Speed: While Serenity itself is an enchantment that activates at the beginning of your upkeep, its ability to deal with threats at the earliest opportunity each turn functionally mirrors the benefits of instant speed interaction, allowing you to systematically control the game state each round.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Serenity card necessitates the discard of another card to be played, diminishing your hand and potentially constraining strategic options during crucial phases of the game.
Specific Mana Cost: Serenity carries a mana cost that includes white mana, which can restrict its inclusion to decks that can consistently generate that color, possibly limiting its versatility across various deck archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a necessary investment of multiple mana to cast, Serenity may be perceived as less efficient, especially when compared to other enchantments or removal spells that can offer immediate impact at a lower mana threshold.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Serenity offers a unique angle in decks that can leverage enchantment destruction. It’s adaptable in its ability to clear the board of problematic artifacts and enchantments at each of your upkeeps.
Combo Potential: With precise timing, Serenity can be pivotal in combo decks that aim to control the battlefield. It pairs well with cards that benefit from destroying your own permanents for advantage or that revive enchantments from the graveyard following a purge.
Meta-Relevance: In a game-state that frequently sees powerful enchantments and artifacts, Serenity can act as a recurring cleanser. Its relevance grows in metas dominated by intricate artifact and enchantment combos, making it a must-have for control and disruption-focused collections.
How to beat Serenity
Serenity is an intriguing enchantment from Magic: The Gathering that can temporarily level the playing field by destroying all artifacts and enchantments during its controller’s upkeep. To overcome Serenity, it’s critical to deploy removal spells that specifically target enchantments, like Naturalize or Disenchant. Timing is everything; casting such spells in response to Serenity’s triggered ability during upkeep is a strategic move.
Another effective strategy is to capitalize on instant speed spells or abilities that can save key permanents from destruction, such as Boros Charm or Golgari Charm. These cards offer versatility and protection against Serenity, ensuring your important artifacts and enchantments survive. Furthermore, playing around Serenity’s effect by holding back on casting nonessential artifacts and enchantments until after Serenity has resolved its ability can significantly mitigate the impact on your board state.
Ultimately, understanding Serenity’s limitations and planning your plays to either remove it swiftly or minimize its disruption is key to staying ahead in the game. With careful planning and the right cards in hand, turning the tide against Serenity and maintaining control of the board is well within reach for any savvy player.
Cards like Serenity
In the vast array of Magic: The Gathering enchantments, Serenity presents a unique approach to dealing with nonland permanents. Comparable enchantments like Cleansing Meditation possess the ability to reset the board, but they act immediately and require threshold to be effective. Serenity, in contrast, takes a more gradual path, destroying all artifacts, enchantments, and equipment during your upkeep and providing a strategic position in multi-player formats.
Another enchantment that echoes Serenity’s aspect of control is Aura of Silence. While it doesn’t remove permanents directly, it serves as a deterrent, increasing the casting cost of opponents’ artifacts and enchantments and offering the choice to sacrifice itself for the greater good. Additionally, Seal of Cleansing also provides a semblance of control similar to Serenity, but with an added element of surprise, since it can be activated at any time to remove a problematic artifact or enchantment. However, it lacks the repeating effect that defines Serenity’s persistent board presence.
When evaluated alongside its parallels, Serenity settles into a unique niche within MTG. It offers a powerful effect that’s both a blessing and a caveat – a distinguishing factor that makes it specially potent in matches where timing and board control dictate the path to victory.
Cards similar to Serenity by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Serenity MTG card by a specific set like Weatherlight and Classic Sixth Edition, 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 Serenity and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Serenity Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1997-06-09 and 1999-04-21. Illustrated by Cliff Nielsen.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997-06-09 | Weatherlight | WTH | 24 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Cliff Nielsen | |
| 2 | 1999-04-21 | Classic Sixth Edition | 6ED | 41 | 1997 | Normal | White | Cliff Nielsen |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Serenity has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Serenity card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2008-04-01 | Serenity’s triggered ability destroys itself too. |
