Oppressive Rays MTG Card
2014-05-02 - Number 19
2014-07-18 - Number 21
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Enchantment — Aura |
| Abilities | Enchant |
Key Takeaways
- Provides card advantage by restricting opponents’ creatures cost-effectively.
- Maintains your mana curve, allowing efficient threat deployment.
- Disrupts opponents’ instant-speed plays for a timing edge.
Text of card
Enchant creature Enchanted creature can't attack or block unless its controller pays . Activated abilities of enchanted creature cost more to activate.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Restricts an opponent’s creature without spending too many of your resources. This can effectively take a powerful creature out of the equation, leaving you with more card advantage as they’ll likely have to commit another card to deal with the enchanted creature.
Resource Acceleration: With its low converted mana cost, Oppressive Rays does not hinder your own mana curve, allowing you to deploy your threats or answers efficiently while dealing with a potential threat from your opponent.
Instant Speed: Although Oppressive Rays is not cast at instant speed, its ability to make activated abilities cost more can disrupt your opponent’s instant-speed interactions or threaten end-of-turn plays, which can give you a timing advantage during the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Oppressive Rays does not have a discard requirement, the need to keep up mana to maintain its effect can be taxing on resources, especially when you’re trying to execute other strategies during your turn.
Specific Mana Cost: Oppressive Rays demands a white mana, which may not be easily accessible in multicolored or non-white decks, potentially limiting the card’s versatility across various deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although its initial cost is low, the ongoing mana required to utilize the card’s effect can add up, especially in the face of opponents capable of playing multiple creatures, rendering the cost-benefit less efficient compared to other control options.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Oppressive Rays can be slotted into a wide range of white decks. Its ability to lock down a creature or planeswalker at a low mana cost makes it a flexible control option.
Combo Potential: This card works wonders in synergy-driven decks, coupling with effects that prevent opponents from untapping their permanents or as a budget-friendly means to disrupt opposing strategies.
Meta-Relevance: In a game that often revolves around key creatures or planeswalkers, Oppressive Rays can serve a crucial role. With aggro and creature-based strategies commonly seen in many formats, having an affordable way to hinder your opponent’s momentum can be a game-changer.
How to beat
Oppressive Rays is an intriguing card that can really put a damper on your opponent’s strategy by curtailing the abilities of their most formidable creatures. It effectively raises the associated costs of that creature’s abilities or attacks, which can hinder your opponent’s game progress significantly. Overcoming this card requires a savvy approach, focusing on removing enchantments or using cards that allow for untapping creatures without paying the additional cost.
An adept player might lean on options like Naturalize or Disenchant, which directly target and dispose of enchantments like Oppressive Rays. Alternatively, employing creatures with hexproof or shroud can preemptively protect from Oppressive Rays being cast on them, ensuring your key creatures remain unscathed. Another viable strategy is to utilize cards that can bypass the need for activating abilities or attacking, such as those that cause direct damage or offer alternative win conditions.
Ultimately, while Oppressive Rays can present a formidable obstacle, understanding its mechanics and having the right countermeasures in your deck will allow you to effectively overcome this challenge and maintain the upper hand in your MTG duels.
Cards like Oppressive Rays
Oppressive Rays falls into the niche of low-cost aura cards in MTG that focus on restricting opponents’ creatures. A card reminiscent of Oppressive Rays’ ability to hinder your adversary’s creature is Pacifism. It outright stops the enchanted creature from attacking or blocking, making it a solid control tool. However, Oppressive Rays offers a more subtle form of control, imposing a mana cost on the creature’s abilities and attacks, which can be strategically more taxing in certain situations.
Another similar enchantment is Arrest, which completely nullifies the abilities of the targeted creature in addition to preventing it from attacking or blocking. This can be a game-changer, especially when dealing with creatures laden with dangerous activated abilities. Lastly, there’s Faith’s Fetters, which, though more expensive in mana cost, extends its disabling effect to any permanent, including planeswalkers, and grants you life—a broader and potentially more impactful approach.
While comparing these options, it becomes clear that Oppressive Rays excels as a budget-friendly control spell, especially effective in the early game against decks that lean on creature-based strategies. Its unique approach to creature containment allows savvy players to exploit their opponents’ mana limitations, while potentially reserving stronger removal spells for later threats.
Cards similar to Oppressive Rays by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Oppressive Rays MTG card by a specific set like Journey into Nyx and Magic 2015, 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 Oppressive Rays 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 Oppressive Rays Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2014-05-02 and 2014-07-18. Illustrated by Mark Zug.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014-05-02 | Journey into Nyx | JOU | 19 | 2003 | normal | black | Mark Zug | |
| 2 | 2014-07-18 | Magic 2015 | M15 | 21 | 2015 | normal | black | Mark Zug |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Oppressive Rays has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Oppressive Rays card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-07-18 | Activated abilities are written in the form “Cost: Effect.” Some keywords are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder texts. Static and triggered abilities are unaffected by Oppressive Rays. |
| 2014-07-18 | The enchanted creature's controller can choose to not attack or block with it even if it must attack or block if able. Players can't be forced to pay a cost to attack or block. |
