Relic Axe MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact — Equipment
Abilities	Equip
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Number	248
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Cristi Balanescu

Key Takeaways

Relic Axe improves creatures, creating a stronger threat that can lead to indirect card advantage.
Special synergy with Warriors allows for mana-efficient equipment strategies and powerful board setups.
Despite its benefits, its red mana requirement and equip cost may limit flexibility in some decks.

Text of card

When Relic Axe enters the battlefield, attach it to target creature you control. Equipped creature gets +1/+1. If it's a Warrior, it gets +2/+1 instead. Equip

"It's light as a feather, but it hits with the force of a boulder. A very sharp boulder."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Although the Relic Axe doesn’t directly allow you to draw additional cards, equipping it can effectively create a more potent threat on the board, which pressures your opponent to answer it. Superior board presence often translates to a form of card advantage as it forces opponents to use up resources to deal with your improved creatures.

Resource Acceleration: The Relic Axe itself may not accelerate your mana resources, but by boosting your creatures, it allows you to close games faster. This enhanced pace can serve as indirect resource acceleration by shortening the number of turns needed to win, thus saving the mana you’d spend on longer games.

Instant Speed: While the Relic Axe is an artifact equipment that doesn’t operate at instant speed, the way it can be leveraged adds flexibility to your game. You can equip it at the end of your opponent’s turn or during your second main phase after attackers are declared, keeping your strategic options open and your mana usage efficient.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike other equipment cards, Relic Axe doesn’t require a discard, making this characteristic unapplicable.

Specific Mana Cost: While Relic Axe has a generic mana cost to cast, its equipment cost mercenarily demands red mana, which confines its integration to decks running red or having a reliable mana-fixing strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing two mana to cast and two to equip might not seem excessive, but in faster-paced games, allocating four mana to boost a single creature can be inefficient, especially when other equipment cards might offer more versatility or stronger bonuses for a similar or lesser investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Relic Axe is a flexible equipment that can boost any creature, making it a solid choice for a wide array of deck types. Its low equip cost is especially beneficial for decks that aim to be aggressive early in the game.

Combo Potential: When paired with Warriors, Relic Axe automatically attaches, setting the stage for powerful synergies in Warrior-centric builds. This can exponentially enhance your battlefield presence without additional mana expenditure on equip costs.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where quick, efficient creatures are key, Relic Axe stands out. As a reliable way to increase a creature’s power, it keeps pace with the demands of aggressive strategies that are prevalent in many metas.

How to beat Relic Axe

Relic Axe is a valued equipment card for its ability to buff creatures, particularly those with a Warrior subtype. It instantly awards an additional +1/+1 to any creature and a significant +2/+1 boost to a Warrior. This can rapidly escalate the threat level on the board, particularly in decks focused on Warrior synergy. However, its power is not insurmountable.

To counteract Relic Axe’s influence, removal spells are a player’s best friend. Rather than trying to overpower the enhanced creature, targeting it directly with instant-speed removal can neutralize the threat before buffs become a major issue. For instance, cards like Naturalize offer a swift answer to artifacts like Relic Axe, dismantling the boosted power at its source. Alternatively, board wipes reset the playing field and render the presence of Relic Axe moot, as the equipped creature can no longer take advantage of its benefits.

Overall, the key to beating Relic Axe lies in timing and choosing the right moment to dismantle the artifact or the buffed creature. Stripping opponents of the enhanced threat quickly keeps the game within manageable bounds, allowing for strategic maneuvers to gain the upper hand.

Cards like Relic Axe

Relic Axe is a unique artifact equipment card that bolsters the combat capabilities of your creatures in Magic: The Gathering. It offers an immediate power boost, especially when placed on Warriors — a detail that sets it apart from mere general equipment cards. In comparison, Bonesplitter is another equipment that grants a consistent power increase without specificity to a creature type, making it universally adaptable. Both cards share the trait of low equip cost, allowing players to swiftly enhance their creatures.

Another analogous card in this category is the Trusty Machete. It, too, is low-cost equipment that gives a similar power and toughness boost, albeit without the additional benefit for Warriors that Relic Axe provides. This makes Relic Axe particularly more valuable in Warrior-centric decks. Exploring the broader arsenal of equipment, Short Sword may also come to mind for its minimalistic yet effective power buff, but Relic Axe overshadows it when aligned with the right creature type.

Assessing these equipments side by side, Relic Axe proves to be a strategic asset in decks that capitalize on Warrior synergy, offering more than just a power up but fostering the thematic strength of the tribe within MTG’s vast universe of cards.

Cards similar to Relic Axe by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Relic Axe 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 Relic Axe and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Relic Axe has restrictions

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

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Relic Axe 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	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 the target creature becomes an illegal target, the Equipment remains on the battlefield unattached.