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Magic the Gathering card analysis: Thorn of Amethyst

"Thorn of Amethyst" is a colorless artifact printed for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Lorwyn." This is the type of artifact that one should have in a creature deck. In an extended deck, since Lorwyn got phased out from standard, one should have a few Thorn of Amethyst cards in his/her deck as a side-board if s/he is playing with plenty of creatures and knows that his/her opponents are planning not to use that many creatures. Thorn of Amethyst is a good way to throw off opponents that have plenty of creature removal and/or destruction spells.


The converted mana cost for Thorn of Amethyst is two. You will need two colorless mana to play Thorn of Amethyst. For what Thorn of Amethyst can do, paying two mana of any color does not seem to be a bad deal. Keep in mind that Thorn of Amethyst is an artifact. It means Thorn of Amethyst is susceptible to anything and everything that affects artifacts.


What does Thorn of Amethyst do in the first place?


Thorn of Amethyst has this one interesting ability. As long as you are playing with plenty of creatures, this should not be a problem at all. In this respect, Thorn of Amethyst can throw off decks that do not rely much on creatures. As long as Thorn of Amethyst is on the battlefield, all noncreature spells cost an additional one colorless mana to play.


It means that instant spells, sorceries, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers will require an additional one colorless mana to play. This should be good for you if you are playing mainly with creatures. If your opponents are not playing with many creatures, it will be bad for them. Say that an opponent may be able to play two noncreature spells with just enough mana, s/he would only be able to play one because both of them would require one additional colorless mana to play a piece. S/he would have to pay two additional colorless mana to play two spells.


To make matters worse for your opponents, you can possibly throw in another Thorn of Amethyst onto the battlefield. Two of those cards would mean that all noncreature spells would require an additional two colorless mana to play. That can really throw off the momentum of your opponents. If your opponents are using control or shock and burn decks, having a few Thorn of Amethyst cards can really put off their momentum because they would need the extra mana to for those noncreature spells.


You are also forcing opponents to make an effort to get rid of those artifacts. In a sense, you could find yourself as a target for your opponents in the process. Having at least two or three on the battlefield should suffice. It forces opponents to use up their mana to play spells such as "Shock," "Demonfire," "Banefire," "Terminate," "Swords to Plowshares," and so forth. Overall, this is a good artifact provided you have a creature heavy deck.



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Magic the Gathering card analysis: Thorn of Amethyst

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    by Can Tran

    "Thorn of Amethyst" is a colorless artifact printed for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Lorwyn." This is

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