Kor Blademaster MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Kor Warrior
Abilities	Double strike
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	21
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Darren Tan

Key Takeaways

Grants double strike, turning equipment and warriors into significant threats on the battlefield.
Exemplifies white mana investment, delivering fast, aggressive plays and resource efficiency.
Requires smart deck construction for maximum impact, challenging opponents with skillful play.

Text of card

Double strike Equipped Warriors you control have double strike.

Every kor blade is imbued with the skill of a thousand generations.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Kor Blademaster’s Double Strike ability might not directly draw cards but effectively enhances the value of equipment and aura spells you control. When paired successfully, it turns each attachment into a potentially winning strategy, allowing for considerable board presence.

Resource Acceleration: Leveraging the Kor Blademaster’s synergies with equipment cards can lead to impactful plays earlier than expected. Although not providing mana acceleration in the traditional sense, the Blademaster can turn equipment into more efficient resources, leading to a faster and potentially more aggressive game.

Instant Speed: While the Kor Blademaster itself is not an instant-speed card, it encourages a deck style that often includes instant-speed interactions. Equipping at instant speed in response to attackers or blockers being declared can catch an opponent unprepared, allowing for advantageous trades and maintaining a lead on the battlefield.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Kor Blademaster requires no discard, which removes the concern of depleting your hand, but adds to the weight of having a suitable deck composition.

Specific Mana Cost: This card comes with a mana cost specifically requiring white, which necessitates a deck built around or heavily favoring that color, potentially affecting deck diversity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the Blademaster isn’t the most expensive creature, its two white mana cost for a 1/1 may not always be ideal, especially when cheaper creatures can fulfill a similar role, albeit without the Double Strike and equipment bonuses.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Kor Blademaster’s unique ability to grant double strike to equipped warriors adds value across various deck archetypes in white-centered aggro and warrior tribal configurations, enhancing their offensive capabilities significantly.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes excellently with equipment cards and other warriors, setting up powerful combinations that can quickly overwhelm opponents with a barrage of double-striking creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment that celebrates quick, decisive plays, Kor Blademaster’s low mana cost and impactful abilities make it a formidable addition that can adapt and thrive against various decks, ensuring your collection remains competitive.

How to beat

Kor Blademaster is a solid addition to the realm of white creatures in MTG, presenting a real threat with its double strike ability. What sets it apart is its synergy with an equipped army, bolstering your equipped warriors with double strike as well. Facing off against this card requires a strategic approach. Removal spells constitute an effective defense, especially those that can bypass Kor Blademaster’s potential protection from colors granted by certain equipment. Red spells like Lightning Bolt or black ones such as Fatal Push are particularly good choices; both are inexpensive, instant-speed ways to eliminate this threat before it can become an issue on the battlefield.

Another viable strategy against Kor Blademaster encompasses keeping the pressure with board controls like Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict, which help clear out multiple threats, including this formidable warrior. Although counterspells aren’t often used against creatures, in a situation where the Blademaster could tip the scales, they can become valuable. A well-timed Counterspell or Mana Leak can prevent it from even entering the field of play. Lastly, maintaining a blocker with a high toughness can halt the Blademaster in combat, considering its base power is relatively low without the support of equipment.

Altogether, employing targeted removals, counterspells, or even board wipes will help in keeping the Kor Blademaster from dominating the game. Staying ahead requires understanding your deck’s strengths and knowing when to stop threats like the Blademaster swiftly and efficiently.

Understanding Kor Blademaster’s Place in the Pantheon of Warriors

Kor Blademaster stands as a testament to creature synergy in MTG, emphasizing the power of double strike abilities within white aggro decks. Elevated by its inherent keyword, this aggressive card directly parallels cards like Fencing Ace, another low-cost creature that boasts double strike. What sets Kor Blademaster apart is its role as a tribal linchpin, empowering other warriors you control by imbuing them with double strike, a trait Fencing Ace keeps to itself.

Cards like Kor Blademaster

Kor Blademaster shares its spirit with Auriok Edgewright, a formidable card for those dedicated to Metalcraft, requiring three artifacts to activate double strike. Unlike Kor Blademaster, Edgewright’s condition for double strike isn’t automatically met. Mirran Crusader, another double striker, comes with protection from specific colors, but its cost is slightly higher without the tribal benefit Kor Blademaster provides. Kor Blademaster doesn’t have protection abilities, but it enforces a widespread offensive stance across your warriors, potentially leading to devastating combat phases.

When weighed against its counterparts, Kor Blademaster is a beacon for warrior decks, seamlessly turning a battlefield of warriors into a relentless assault force. It may not have the standalone resilience of Mirran Crusader, but as a force multiplier, its value within its tribe is unmatched, creating pathways to formidable aggressive strategies.

Cards similar to Kor Blademaster by color, type and mana cost

Voice of the Blessed - MTG Card versions

Silverflame Squire // On Alert - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Kor Blademaster MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Kor Blademaster and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Kor Blademaster has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-09-25	If a creature loses double strike after assigning damage in the first strike combat damage step (due to Kor Blademaster leaving the battlefield, for example), that creature won’t assign damage in the normal combat damage step.