Temple of Malice MTG Card
2014-02-07 - Number 164
2020-01-24 - Number 247s
2020-01-24 - Number 350
2020-01-24 - Number 247p
2020-01-24 - Number 247
2021-11-19 - Number 186
2022-09-09 - Number 236
2022-11-18 - Number 208
2023-10-13 - Number 527
2023-10-13 - Number 908
2023-10-13 - Number 1118
2023-10-13 - Number 317
2024-03-08 - Number 307
2024-03-08 - Number 521
2024-03-08 - Number 1049
2024-03-08 - Number 835
2002-06-24 - Number 79875
| Card sets | Released in 17 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
| Abilities | Scry |
Key Takeaways
- Scry 1 on the battlefield entry refines draws, optimizing your strategic maneuvers and advantage.
- Dual black and red mana ability simplifies casting multicolored spells, enhancing game fluidity.
- While it enters the battlefield tapped, the temple’s flexibilities far outweigh its tempo cost.
Text of card
Temple of Malice enters the battlefield tapped. When Temple of Malice enters the battlefield, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.) : Add or to your mana pool.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Temple of Malice slots comfortably into any deck needing to filter through cards quickly. When it enters the battlefield, the scry 1 ability helps tailor your upcoming draws, giving you a slight push towards the cards you need most. This form of subtle card selection paves the way for better strategic planning and can be pivotal in maintaining the upper hand.
Resource Acceleration: As a dual land that taps for both black and red mana, the Temple of Malice aids in color fixing, ensuring that you can cast multicolored cards from your hand with greater ease. This versatility in mana production ensures a smoother progression of your game strategy by minimizing the chances of being color-locked at critical moments.
Instant Speed: While the Temple of Malice does not operate at instant speed itself, its scry ability indirectly supports instant-speed interactions. By structuring your upcoming draws, you can better prepare for counterplays and responses during your opponent’s turn. Ensuring the right resources are at your disposal when you need them enhances your capability to interact on the fly, making your game plan more resilient and adaptive.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One limitation of the Temple of Malice is that it enters the battlefield tapped unless you control two or fewer other lands. While this doesn’t require a discard, it can slow your momentum, especially in the early game when pace is critical.
Specific Mana Cost: Generating both black and red mana, the Temple of Malice is an excellent fit for only those decks that capitalize on Rakdos colors. Decks not requiring this specific mana combination may find the temple less beneficial, restricting its versatility in multicolor or colorless strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While not a card with a traditional mana cost, the tempo loss from a land entering tapped can be likened to a higher “cost.” In fast-paced games, this can be a crucial disadvantage, as players could otherwise utilize more immediate land options that allow for quicker plays and pressure on the opponent.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Temple of Malice is a valuable addition to any deck that runs on black and red mana. Its capability to tap for either color makes it a flexible land choice for a variety of strategies, from aggressive red decks to the more controlling black-based builds.
Combo Potential: As part of the scry land cycle, it allows you to scry 1 upon entering the battlefield. This simple yet powerful ability ensures you have a better chance of drawing into your crucial combo pieces or land drops, enhancing the consistency of your plays.
Meta-Relevance: In a metagame that’s heavily influenced by multicolored decks, having a land that doesn’t enter the battlefield tapped if you have two or more other lands and provides immediate mana-fixing is a significant advantage. Temple of Malice comfortably finds its place in various competitive formats where mana efficiency and selection are key.
How to beat
Temple of Malice is a card that quietly strengthens a deck’s mana base in Magic: The Gathering. Land cards like Temple of Malice are crucial for their dual mana capabilities, offering both red and black mana, which is vital for multicolored decks. However, its entrance tapped can be a tempo setback, but the scry 1 ability helps to mitigate this by organizing the upcoming draws.
To effectively counter Temple of Malice, focusing on land disruption strategies can be beneficial. Cards that specifically target nonbasic lands, such as Field of Ruin, can remove Temple of Malice from the battlefield. Aiming to accelerate your own board development can also surpass the tempo loss opponents might experience when using enters-the-battlefield-tapped lands. Cards like Ghost Quarter or Assassin’s Trophy provide a way to not only deal with the land but also replace it for the opponent, albeit with a basic land which could impede their color fixing efforts.
Using aggressive land destruction or rapid deployment of threats can make the most of the turns where an opponent’s Temple of Malice sets them slightly behind, giving the aggressor a window to seize control and secure victory before the value of scry and mana fixing can be fully realized.
Exploring the Depths of the Temple of Malice
Temple of Malice carves out a unique place among dual lands in Magic: The Gathering. As part of the Theros block, it offers both black and red mana and aligns with the scry mechanic, granting players a peek into the future of their deck. This scry ability is what distinguishes it from other dual lands, such as Blood Crypt from the shock land family, which can be brought into play untapped at the cost of life points – an option Temple of Malice doesn’t provide.
Cards like Temple of Malice
Temple of Malice invites players into a world of strategic mana flexibility akin to that of Dragonskull Summit, which also provides red and black mana sources. However, Dragonskull Summit lacks the scry advantage but compensates with the potential to enter the battlefield untapped without any cost. Sulfurous Springs offers a similar mana spectrum but includes the pain land characteristic of taking life-points in exchange for mana, something Temple of Malice circumvents with its focus on deck manipulation.
In weighing the merits, Temple of Malice offers a middle ground with its strategic scrying ability, enriching MTG gameplay by combining both mana fixing and deck insight, appealing to those who seek control and foresight in their matches.
Cards similar to Temple of Malice by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Temple of Malice MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Born of the Gods, 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 Temple of Malice 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 Magic products
Printings
The Temple of Malice Magic the Gathering card was released in 9 different sets between 2014-02-07 and 2024-03-08. Illustrated by 4 different artists.
Show/hide all sets| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 79875 | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | ||
| 2 | 2014-02-07 | Born of the Gods | BNG | 164 | 2003 | normal | black | Sam Burley | |
| 3 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death Promos | PTHB | 247s | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 4 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death | THB | 350 | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 5 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death Promos | PTHB | 247p | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 6 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death | THB | 247 | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 7 | 2021-11-19 | Crimson Vow Commander | VOC | 186 | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 8 | 2022-09-09 | Dominaria United Commander | DMC | 236 | 2015 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 9 | 2022-11-18 | The Brothers' War Commander | BRC | 208 | 1997 | normal | black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 10 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 527 | 2015 | normal | black | Jokubas Uogintas | |
| 11 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 908 | 2015 | normal | black | Jokubas Uogintas | |
| 12 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 1118 | 2015 | normal | black | Jokubas Uogintas | |
| 13 | 2023-10-13 | Doctor Who | WHO | 317 | 2015 | normal | black | Jokubas Uogintas | |
| 14 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 307 | 2015 | normal | black | Arthur Yuan | |
| 15 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 521 | 2015 | normal | black | Arthur Yuan | |
| 16 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 1049 | 2015 | normal | black | Arthur Yuan | |
| 17 | 2024-03-08 | Fallout | PIP | 835 | 2015 | normal | black | Arthur Yuan |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Temple of Malice has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Temple of Malice card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2013-09-15 | Scry appears on some spells and abilities with one or more targets. If all of the spell or ability's targets are illegal when it tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won't scry. |
| 2013-09-15 | When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom. |
| 2013-09-15 | You choose how to order cards returned to your library after scrying no matter where you put them. |
| 2013-09-15 | You perform the actions stated on a card in sequence. For some spells and abilities, that means you'll scry last. For others, that means you'll scry and then perform other actions. |
