[Card] Ankh of Mishra

[Fossil4182]

So thumbing through some of the older rare cards in my binder, I came across Ankh of Mishra. I was building a theme deck and decided to look up the card in Gather to see what the current errata was. I found this:

"Whenever a land comes into play, Ankh of Mishra deals 2 damage to that land's controller."

This essentially means that if this is in play and someone fetches, its going to cost them 5 life.

After playing decks decks that used Back to Basics and recently Dragon Stompy, I've come to appreciate how disrupting the shaky mana bases in Legacy can easily win you games. Also watching Stilfe have a break through in decks like Team America and Dreadstill as a disrupter to Fetchlands made me look to see if there was another card that could have some of the same utility. While it doesn't deny them mana, paying life to get one land can be fairly problematic and very costly. Especially when combined with some land destruction.

Some of the deck lists I've seen have started to use more basic lands in response to disruption like Wasteland, B2B and Blood Moon effects, however in a lot of cases this has been solved with an increase in the number of fetchlands to try and fix the mana bases. However as Stilfe effects have proven, disrupting the fetchland can be just as effective. While this doesn't deny them the mana, it does make it very costly to play it.

*I guess the note here is if 5 life to fetch is enough to qualify as a disruption to a mana bases. I understand that it doesn't deny them the mana, but 5 life is a lot to play and could very easily deter playing fetchlands. (This assumes fetching, I'm sure people would play a land for 2 damage, but even then it would force them to play more conservatively) Combine this with something like Back to Basics or land destruction, and the card gets progressively better.

Against a meta with decks like Team America which loses lots of life via Thoughtseize, Snuff Out and massive amounts of fetchlands, or decks that utilize a lot of fetchlands, this cards seems like it would be fairly valuable. A case and point would be that if you could resolve an Ankh turn one against Team America, having them open with a Thoughtseize will now put them at 13 life if they need to fetch.

Also, if you have Landstill or mana intensive decks, this card gets a lot better. Even Stax or the Rock which usually run upwards of 22 lands (Stax runs up to 26), this Ankh can cause a lot of problems for them.

I guess a specific instance I can think of where this card might have a niche is in Dragon Stompy. It can resolve it turn one, the deck only runs around 18-20 lands and zero fetch lands. Some of the faster Aggro decks might also be able to utilize a shock every turn to their advantage. More or less, after seeing the card's potential, it might be worth posting to get feed back.

*On a side note, this could be a plus for Path to Exile lol.

[Captain Hammer]

I've been playing Ankh of Mishra in the sideboard of Fairie Stompy off and on for sometime now, mostly several months ago.

I brought it up before but most people think you're better off playing Back to Basics in that slot.

It's the perfect fit because even just one fetchland use is enough to be able to finish them off with a Sea Drake by turn 3-4.

It's a great card against fetchland heavy deck. And it's fantastic that you can lay it down turn one off of either an Ancient Tomb, City of Traitor, Chrome Mox + Island etc and have your opponent take damage right from the start.

The main problem is, Fairie Stompy itself takes a lot of self inflicted damage from Ancient Tomb.

I suppose you just have to be careful when to bring it in, and that life problem is mitigated these days thanks to SoLS.

Hell, in a meta with a low occurance of Goblins, Burn or Goyf Sligh, it could even be a maindeckable card, though what to cut is a tough question.

I suppose the card would work even better in Dragon Stompy, as the deck as a whole seems to have a lot less truly broken business spells to play than most Fairie Stompy deck.

[Seriously]

somewhat synergistic with path of exile.

[Atwa]

I've always played it along with Root Maze in my green stompy decks. Losing 5 life and 2 turns to get mana from a fetch wins you games with fast decks.

It isn't good enough to build a complete deck around (believe me, I've tried), but it's a nice trick to pull against someone who doesn't expect it.

[DalkonCledwin]

This essentially means that if this is in play and someone fetches, its going to cost them 5 life.

Only if the fetch wasn't in lay prior to the Ankh. If the Ankh came into play before the fetch then you are quite correct. However if it came into play after the fetch, then they will only be losing 3 life. Either way, Ankh of Mishra has its greatest Synergy with Price of Progress in my personal opinion. And actually the new Path of the Exile card is indeed an interesting synergy with Ankh as well.

[KillemallCFH]

Either way, Ankh of Mishra has its greatest Synergy with Price of Progress in my personal opinion.I'd argue they have pretty awful synergy with each other. Having an Ankh in play will cause the opposing player to not play their lands (usually of the nonbasic variety) that they would normally play if not for the Ankh. Therefore, by playing Ankh, PoP will be dealing less damage on average.

[Atwa]

I'd argue they have pretty awful synergy with each other. Having an Ankh in play will cause the opposing player to not play their lands (usually of the nonbasic variety) that they would normally play if not for the Ankh. Therefore, by playing Ankh, PoP will be dealing less damage on average.

That is true.

However, normally people will also fetch basics in fear of said PoP and Wasteland. When they have to pay a shitload of live to get a land, they are bound to search a land which has the most options (duals).

But the best way to finish you opponent of while under this lock still creature beatdown.

[DalkonCledwin]

I'd argue they have pretty awful synergy with each other. Having an Ankh in play will cause the opposing player to not play their lands (usually of the nonbasic variety) that they would normally play if not for the Ankh. Therefore, by playing Ankh, PoP will be dealing less damage on average.

hmm.... I could have sworn there was a card in red I synergized with the Ankh.. but now that you speak of it, that is true... hmmm... oh yeah... it was Shrapnel Blast :D

[Jaiminho]

Only if the fetch wasn't in lay prior to the Ankh. If the Ankh came into play before the fetch then you are quite correct. However if it came into play after the fetch, then they will only be losing 3 life. Either way, Ankh of Mishra has its greatest Synergy with Price of Progress in my personal opinion. And actually the new Path of the Exile card is indeed an interesting synergy with Ankh as well.

Ankh is bad against lands that are in play already, but it's exceptionally good against lands that haven't been played but will be, because when a land comes into play, its controller loses 2 life. If it doesn't, no one loses life. Ankh is also an artifact with no colored cost, so it can be paid with any colored mana or even colorless mana.

[DeathwingZERO]

Ankh is the primary kill condition of Ankh Sligh, a deck I always have packed. It also maindecks PoP, because against decks like 4c Landstill, Thresh, etc....it rapes.

Packing in Wasteland to these builds also seems anti-synergestic, but I did that too, because it caused them to need to play more lands to keep ahead.

Reading up on that thread might find you some other things you can do with it, it's not really just a sligh card.

[Benie Bederios]

somewhat synergistic with path of exile.

+1

On a serious note. I don't like Ankh of Mishra that much, because it doesn't hamper the opponents development. Unless you can cast it turn 1, it doesn't deal to much damage except against decks like Standstill and MUC like decks. Against those decks I would rather play Winter Orb. The cost is the same, and it seriously slows down control players. And even Landstill can win with a Ankh in play by keeping only 4 lands out.

It's only good in a deck that can take advantage with it, Like Pirates! or Ankh Sligh. It's a pity both decks are quite bad though.

BB

[Gheizen64]

This is at his best probably in aggro-loam or any 'geddon deck.

Geddon stax with Ankh and PtE... probably just a bad idea.

[JeroenC]

Ankh of Mishra in Aggro Loam? One of the decks that, IIRC, drops most lands in all of Legacy? Hardly seems like a good plan.

[Goaswerfraiejen]

I've come across a few of these in the past. I've found that often, the card is more problematic for the user for a reason already cited above: it needs to hit the table ASAP, which might be harder to do against blue-based control or aggro-control.

I can see it being decent in a deck with enough land destruction/other mana hate, but then the problem is fitting in enough copies of decent clocks. The more recent metagame shift, however, seems to suggest that it bears tinkering with. I'd be interested to see what sort of shell it fits in best, whether old or (preferably!) new.

[Fossil4182]

If your opponent is playing something like Threshold, Team America, ITF ect and you're running Ankh; I think you mulligan aggressively to resolve it turn one. It wrecks decks that rely on Fetchlands as stated, it only gets worse over time. However I still think that if you resolve it as late as turn two, it can still have some value.

I think Wasteland ought to be included in a deck that runs Ankh because it forces them to fetch. (Or at least some form of land destruction) As an example, lets say you are able to resolve this against Threshold, ITF or Team America early. If you can Waste them off their Green source (or destroy it by some other means) it forces them to do one of two things: Fetch for another green source (5 Life) or play draw go until they find another green source. Either way you're taking five life from them or gain valuable turns while they play draw go. It also helps that most of the cards that would destroy this card hurt if you can keep them off their green source. Grip, Deed are the usual suspects. However even EE needs two colors so you might be able to get some traction off of that (all be it far less likely). Plus its always nice to stop them from resolving cards like Goyf or Mongoose and Enforcer from Threshold.

[rufus]

In principle, Ankh has some decent synergy with a Death & Taxes shell or a Helldozer shell. Honestly, it's a sideboard card, at best since a lot of decks can basically ignore it.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I think I'm going to try to make a more mono-black sui testing out ankh. Sinkhole + dark ritual + chrome mox should work pretty decently with it.

It's a shame Zo-Zu the Punisher sucks so much or we could have Ankh 5-8 too.

[BlindMage]

Also has synergy with Parallax Tide, another strong card that doesn't have a home in a deck.

[FoolofaTook]

Ankh has always been best in heavy damage decks that were looking to get the opponent down 20 as fast as possible. It was iffy even in those decks back in the 1996 meta. It's hard to imagine that it has become more valuable since then, although the cost to fetch a land is intriguing.

I'd probably use it in a deck that was packing Wasteland, Sinkhole and maybe even Pillage, alongside red damage and other artifact and black disruption. I can't imagine the deck would be particularly strong, however the modern hangup with LD spells like Sinkhole and Pillage - that they could be Dazed resulting in an auto-counter - would not exactly apply given that picking up that Island would likely mean taking two damage again at some point.

[Concallesco]

Wouldn't Ghost Quarter be really good with Ankh? Either they get their basic and take 2 (damage + hampering mana base), don't get that extra land, or can't (Ghost Quarter just became Strip Mine). Or is 2 life too negligible, so that most player who can fetch that basic will almost always do so?

What if this effect was repeated?

What if you played heavy LD to supplement Ankh?

What about 4x Ankh, 4x Ghost Quarter, 4x Wasteland with Mox Diamonds in a Stax shell? Obviously you'd have to cut down on the land recursion effects (assuming White Stax, that would mean flagstones and crucibles would be less valuable, since you're taking so much damage anyways), but it seems like it would be very frustrating to play against, in theory. Or is it just overkill?

Edit: Also, Ghost Quarter can enhance your Wastelands, since if you Quarter their basic (that they fetched to dodge non-basic hate or something), they're not likely to have very many basics left in their deck. See Team America.

[ssilver]

Crazy... I was just thinking about how to make my friends 8-land stompy deck better... Run lots of free creatures, very few lands and now a way to make your opponents pay for getting ahead on land. Its perfect for our meta as well since we have a 4 - of proxy rule (berserk).

[Chaz_the_hunter]

Ankh is bad against lands that are in play already, but it's exceptionally good against lands that haven't been played but will be, because when a land comes into play, its controller loses 2 life. If it doesn't, no one loses life. Ankh is also an artifact with no colored cost, so it can be paid with any colored mana or even colorless mana.


...Another bright idea from the school of Madden.....thanks for your imput

[DeathwingZERO]

I'd argue they have pretty awful synergy with each other. Having an Ankh in play will cause the opposing player to not play their lands (usually of the nonbasic variety) that they would normally play if not for the Ankh. Therefore, by playing Ankh, PoP will be dealing less damage on average.

It's almost as if you haven't seen Ankh Sligh.

The deck packs Wastelands, PoP and Ankh because they are all working for each other. You shrug off the damage you take by a minimal number of lands in play, and using Wastelands effectively to color screw them and need to put more duals or fetches in play.

If/When they start getting too many lands in play, PoP and Shrapnel Blast turn into the heavy hitters. If you get rid of the Ankh, you keep tossing damage to their dome and play lands to chain burn and Fireblast.

The entire deck packs synergy, because every artifact, land, and card in hand is a potential threat. In my opinion, it's really the only build that's been able to both capitalize on Ankh while packing a stable mana base that's still disruptive.

The main problems with this deck right now though is it's basically burn. Runs out of steam, CB/Top is harsh, and it needs to use mana intensive effects like Top and Browbeat as it's only real card replenishment. It's like playing slow ass combo against anything but non-basic heavy environments.

[sunshine]

Ankh of Mishra + Parallax Tide + Stifle + Wasteland = fun times.

One sided armageddons (Stifle + Tide) or eight/ten to the dome (Ankh + Tide). I used to play this back in the day it was tons of fun. Maybe not exactly tier one but still a lot of fun.

[Fossil4182]

Another delineation to note between Ankh and Land Destruction is that Ankh puts you closer to the goal where as Land Destruction is attempting to disrupt long enough for you to capitalize and win. I think you have to pair the two themes together to get the most out of the card. But Ankh puts you closer to winning whereas disruptions/destruction attempts to open up doors so in that respect it is unique.

[sunshine]

It might be an interesting idea to couple ankh with taxing effects such as Trinisphere or Sphere of Resistance or even B2B.

[Gheizen64]

Ankh as a win condition in white Stax?

That's original.

[Nihil Credo]

Ankh as a win condition in white Stax?

That's original.

Consistency is what White Stax desperately needs; a card whose only effect is slowly lowering the opponent's life total would go in the opposite direction. As a secondary note, if you only draw Ankh as a win condition you'll go to time as your opponent won't kill itself. As a tertiary note, a fuckton of times Stax stabilises with life in the single digits.

As for more classic uses of Ankh of Mishra, i.e. in damage- or LD-based decks, which I've actually tried (like I guess almost every Legacy player) it suffers from the same problems Hypnotic Specter does, except that its best effect is somewhat weaker and its worst effect is much worse. You can sideboard it against control decks where it retains effectiveness for much longer, but every deck I know of that would run Ankh either is already very favoured against mana-hungry decks or has better SB options to run (such as Choke or Blood Moon).

[chokin]

What about Ankh with a land destruction deck? Like (yeah I know it's kinda retarded) a Stone Rain+Molten Rain deck with Ankh and burn. Like a burn shell with some land destruction to force them to play more lands or be unable to play. Maybe some Blood Moon/Magus for good measure?