Ravager's Mace MTG Card


Ravager's Mace - Zendikar Rising
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip
Released2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set nameZendikar Rising
Set codeZNR
Number235
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byAntonio José Manzanedo

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card advantage by deterring blockers and forcing opponent’s unfavorable decisions.
  2. Boosts creature power, accelerating your path toward victory with each attack.
  3. Instant re-equipping allows strategic flexibility, maintaining tempo on the fly.

Text of card

When Ravager's Mace enters the battlefield, attach it to target creature you control. Equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each creature in your party and has menace. (Your party consists of up to one each of Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard.) Equip


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ravager’s Mace shines by equipping a creature and instantly granting it greater board impact. When it arrives on the battlefield attached to a creature, you control, that creature gains menace until end of turn, deterring blockers and potentially leading to a successful attack. This may coerce your opponent into unfavorable blocks or taking unexpected damage, thus swinging the card advantage in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: As an equipment artifact, Ravager’s Mace acts as a catalyst for resource acceleration not through direct mana generation, but by boosting the power of your creature. With each attack made by the equipped creature, you get closer to victory, effectively accelerating the resources (damage) you are accumulating to win the game.

Instant Speed: While Ravager’s Mace itself doesn’t act at instant speed, it fortifies your field presence immediately upon entering and can be re-equipped at instant speed to adapt to the ever-changing battlefield. This characteristic allows for strategic redeployment mid-combat or in response to an opponent’s actions, thereby maximising efficiency and maintaining tempo.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ravager’s Mace demands that you part with another card to activate its ability. This can deplete your hand, leaving you with fewer options and potentially hindering your strategy when you’re already managing limited resources.

Specific Mana Cost: To cast Ravager’s Mace, a precise combination of mana is necessary — one black and one red. This condition could restrict your deck-building choices, particularly if you are looking to integrate this card into a multi-colored deck that doesn’t heavily focus on these colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana plus its equip ability that requires another two, Ravager’s Mace can be considered expensive for its benefits. When evaluating its overall cost against other equipment cards, players might find more cost-effective alternatives for enhancing their creatures on the battlefield.


Reasons to Include Ravager’s Mace in Your Collection

Versatility: Ravager’s Mace is adaptable to various builds, excelling in decks that focus on party mechanics or aggression. Its ability to scale with party members makes it a flexible addition across different deck archetypes.

Combo Potential: With the right setup, Ravager’s Mace synergizes with cards that benefit from +1/+1 counters or equipment. It can quickly turn even the most unassuming creature into a significant threat.

Meta-Relevance: As the MTG arena continuously evolves, having cards that can serve multiple roles is crucial. Ravager’s Mace’s potential for a considerable power swing can catch opponents off guard, especially in a meta that underestimates party-based mechanics.


How to Beat

Ravager’s Mace can prove to be a formidable card in the epic strategy game of Magic: The Gathering when in the right deck, acting as a force multiplier for the aggressive Mardu party archetype. As a piece of equipment, it not only boosts a creature’s power and toughness but also has the potential to grant additional effects whenever the equipped creature attacks, depending on the number of creatures you have that share a type. The synergy with various tribal decks can be considerable.

To overcome a card like Ravager’s Mace, you might consider strategies that involve artifact removal or counter strategies that disrupt the tribal and party mechanics. Cards such as Naturalize or Disenchant can straightforwardly remove Ravager’s Mace from play. If your strategy involves preemptive disruption, thoughtfully timed removal spells or counterspells, such as Negate, can prevent your opponent from ever equipping and exploiting the mace’s advantages. Additionally, ensuring control over the board with mass removal spells like Wrath of God can limit the benefits the opponent gains from having a wide array of creature types.

Employing these strategic countermeasures can significantly diminish the impact of Ravager’s Mace in a match, leveling the playing field and paving your way to victory in this entrancing world of strategic duels and dynamic plays.


Cards like Ravager's Mace

Ravager’s Mace makes an intriguing mark in the realm of equipment cards in MTG. It shares similarities with cards such as Vulshok Morningstar by offering a mixture of both power boost and toughness enhancement to creatures it equips. Yet, Ravager’s Mace moves a step further with an interesting twist – it potentially increases its potency depending on the number of party members you control.

Analogous in function is Captain’s Claws, which also interacts with the party mechanic. Although, instead of providing a direct creature boost, it creates token creatures that can contribute to a full party. Captain’s Claws, unlike Ravager’s Mace, doesn’t directly bolster a single creature’s stats, but can incrementally strengthen your board presence with multiple bodies for your party.

Yet another comparable equipment is Forebear’s Blade. This card not only gives a substantial boost to power and toughness but also grants vigilance and trample, potentially offering a greater immediate impact on the game. However, it lacks the party synergy that gives Ravager’s Mace its unique flavor in the appropriate deck.

In analyzing the nuances and comparisons, Ravager’s Mace holds a special place among equipment cards in MTG, recognizing its valuable synergy with the party mechanic and the potential for significant power swings it brings to the table.

Vulshok Morningstar - MTG Card versions
Captain's Claws - MTG Card versions
Forebear's Blade - MTG Card versions
Vulshok Morningstar - Darksteel (DST)
Captain's Claws - Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW)
Forebear's Blade - Dominaria Promos (PDOM)

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Flamewar, Brash Veteran // Flamewar, Streetwise Operative - Transformers (BOT)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ravager's Mace 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 Ravager's Mace and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ravager's Mace has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-09-25 An ability referring to the number of creatures in your party gets a number from zero to four. Such abilities never ask which creatures are in your party, and you never have to designate specific creatures as being in your party. You can’t choose to exclude creatures from this count to lower the number.
2020-09-25 Attaching an Equipment with its enters-the-battlefield triggered ability isn’t the same as using its equip ability. You don’t pay mana for the attachment, and if the Equipment enters at a time you couldn’t cast a sorcery, you can still attach it to a creature you control.
2020-09-25 If a creature has more than one party creature type, and there are multiple ways to count that creature that could result in a different number of creatures in your party, the highest such number is used. For example, if you control a Cleric and a Cleric Wizard, the number of creatures in your party is two. You can’t choose to have it be just one by counting the Cleric Wizard first as a Cleric.
2020-09-25 If the target creature becomes an illegal target, the Equipment remains on the battlefield unattached.
2020-09-25 To determine “the number of creatures in your party,” check whether you control a Cleric, whether you control a Rogue, whether you control a Warrior, and whether you control a Wizard. The number is the total number of those checks to which you answered yes. Each creature you control can be counted for only one of those checks.

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