If i play an artifact spell, and its countered, Mishra's ability would trigger?
Ubertoast
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is awesome, it's only downside is that it costs 3 colors, but this isn't much if you use glimmervoids. I use it in my artifact deck with triskelions and skullclamps. To answer your question, pojomx, I believe it would trigger because it is when you play an artifact, not when an artifact you control is comes into play. If a spell is countered you are still playing it.
OmnicromXR
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(7 votes)
Not really all that sure about the flavor behind this card honestly.
Mishra was a master artificer, but I'm unsure whether or not one of his talents was duplication.
Still if you play a deck that can cast this and uses numerous artifacts that work in multiples there's no reason not to call him up.
RedHawk32
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(6 votes)
For pojomx's question, I don't think it'd work that way. A spell has to come into play to trigger an effect, and if it's countered, then technically it hasn't been played... so if your artifact gets countered, you don't get the bonus.
Tezz
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
useless as an EDH commander as you have no 2 cards with the same name in an EDH deck
PhyrexianLobbiest
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Useful in a heavy artifact deck that's running Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker; Since the elder dragon has the same colors as Mishra he's not out of your way; and in concert with artifacts which generate land he can help you pool together the 4UBBR you need to summon Nicol Bolas.
Maybe not the most efficient way to do it, but a cool/convient combo considering the share the same colors.
Mana
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(5 votes)
Since the shard of alasba (I forgot the spelling :P) came out, he fits perfectly into the blue red black decks.
And personally I think he deserves to be a planewalker. He is a Urza level character, definally deserve to be a plainwalker.
Taltor
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Mishra is very nice in an artifact heavy deck, especially from the Alara block, since they are multi-colored also. I wonder if they will make a planeswalker version of Urza, he'd be better than Tezzeret obviously and even comparable to Nicol Bolas in power. Please make it wizards, Urza deserves to be a planeswalker just as much as Bolas, and surely more than those no name planeswalkers...
Jafarian
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Alright, so I have a question on the and/or wording on the card. What if you play and artifact and you have a copy of the spell in your hand, graveyard, AND library. Would you only get to play the one copy or would you be able to play all three?
MasterOfEtherium
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(9 votes)
Wow This Card Whoops, This Cat Is No Doubt A Prodigy
JohnWilliamDonalddeG
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(5 votes)
bad as edh commander because of the singleton rule
In response to the very first point, if you cast a spell, the ability triggers. Then if a player were to counter that artifact, then it would go into your graveyard. Since the counter is in response to the cast, it would resolve first. The next effect on the stack would be Mishra's ability. You could then search your graveyard for the countered card and put it into play. Basically, the card becomes even more FREAKING AWESOME because artifacts can't be countered with him on the field. <3 Mishra, only thing that says "screw the stack" more are Zuberas.
Guntz1092
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
i got a question thats probably been asked before... if i play an artifact and i have 4 of total in my deck, cud i then play the rest of em? or just a 2nd one (something to do with the difference between playing an Artifact and playing an Artifact Spell?)
Donovan_Fabian
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Best artifact creature thats not an artifact.. EVER. He's nuts for affinity decks, nuts for master of etherium.. and he turns simple things like expedition maps, pilgrim's eye, or armillary sphere into multiple land draws. If he has any downside its that his color requirement is pretty heavy, requiring a 3+ color deck to use (usually involving vivid lands and reflecting pools or etc) and doesn't fit in with the newer sets esper shard, since grixis isn't known for its artifacts. Basically if you can afford to run him in your artifact deck you should be.
Mudbutt_on
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm confused why he's a 4/4. He doesn't seem to have the raw power and fortitude of say... a Dragon Broodmother.
He strikes me as a 2/2 tops.
Kyuuketsukiou
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(8 votes)
@mana: No, Mishra definitively shouldn't be a Planeswalker? Why? Because he isn't one, never was one, and never will be one, storywise. Unlike Urza, who was.
@Taltor: No, they most likely won't make an Urza, Planeswalker card, since dear Urza died a looong time ago.
@Mudbutt_on: I can see why you think so, but don't forget that all power isn't physical. If we imagine that he has his Weakstone, which he probably has, then that would explain a of why he is a 4/4 rather than a 2/2.
Dynamic_Reversist
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Though at first glance Mishra seems a nice way to double up on expensive artifacts and cheat them onto the field, his true strength lies in his ability to summon oodles of trinkets, pop em, and reuse them. I have a deck that utilizes his three colors and adds in white, its very casual, but if he sticks to the battlefield, my opponents have a hard time dealing, because he doubles up every answer that is searched out with Trinket Mage or Artificer's Intuition. Pyrite Spellbomb, Aether Spellbomb, Dispeller's Capsule, Executioner's Capsule, Wayfarer's Bauble, all start to enter and exit the battlefield in a flurry, due to their cheap cost and activation.
Zolpidem
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
him + Mycosynth Lattice would be a hoot....
nikosison
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@OpenSeasonNoobs That only works if your opponent makes a mistake. The proper way to counter an artifact spell would be to wait until mishra's ability resolves before casting your countermagic. Since Mishra's ability is on top of the casted spell, it would resolve first.
drp527
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Since I haven't seen the question answered here yet, I figure I may as well go ahead and do it. For the people wondering if you can go play all copies of each artifact whenever you play one, you can't. Why? Because it says search for A copy, meaning a single one. The wording simply means that you don't have to choose only one to search, and if you guessed wrong, be unable to find it elsewhere. Also, you are putting the copy into play, not casting it, and that is why the ability wouldn't repeat itself each time you find a copy.
Doom_Lich
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This guy actually isn't half bad as a general. A decent 3 color body, and he makes artifacts uncounterable.
How about this? Use him to cast 4 seat of synods (or his other artifact/land buddies) Or you could just grab some mimic vats or myr battlespheres or something/ 5/5
Ihateworking
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Like every other time in the mtg card world the Mishra Legendary Creature outperforms the Urza Legendary Creature (Blind Seer).
Think about:
Mishra's Workshop vs Urza Mine/Tower/Powerplant
Mishra's Factory vs Urza's Factory
Mishra's Bauble vs Urza's Bauble
Mishra's War MAchine vs Urza's Engine
Mike-C
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Are they referring to Venser the Sojourner?
Corey_bayoudragonfly
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
@ God_of_the_Smurfs : unfortunately, Seat of the Synod and his artifact-land buddies are still not spells, and good ol' Mishra's ability only works when you play an artifact spell. Great username, though.
Ninjazilla
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
tumble magnet's and steel hellkites, here I come
raadface
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Man.. Just imagine if edh wasn't singleton heh.:p
Max_Glycine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I wonder why Mishra was printed in Time Spiral? He should be dead by this point, yes? Is this an alternate Mishra?
Atali
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(14 votes)
Remember that the three sets in the block were each themed on a different part of the time rifts. Time Spiral was past-themed, thus the timeshifted cards with old card frames, refrences to old cards galore (Ancestrall Vision, Lotus Bloom, Wheel of Fate, and legendary characters from Magic history that never got a card before.
Dralnu, Endrek Sahr, Ib Halfheart, Ith, Jaya Ballard, Kaervek, Lim-Dûl, Mangara, Mishra, Norin, Saffi, Stonebrow, Teferi, Thelon, and Tivadar are all in Time Spiral, yet all (except Teferi) should be long dead, and some are very specifically stated to be dead (Saffi's most famous quote is her last words after all).
The time chicanery has lifted historic figures and deposited them in a jumble, this version of Mishra is from his youth, before the Brother's War, probably before his falling out with Urza.
if they made a mishra card why can't they make an urza card? :P
CMDR_Phelddagrif
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
This guy is an awesome EDH General! I use him in a Grixis good deck along with all the staple artifacts that most people run in my play group. To make him work I run Thada Adel, Acquisitor, Guile, Knowledge Pool, Praetor's Grasp, and now that I came across it Spelljack .
I won a 4 person game with this combo Grasping a Sol Ring to massively ramp out. And people thought I was running him just for the 5 extra points I get in the league scoring for running Mishra.
HairlessThoctar
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Mishra is actually secret tech in EDH.
Run Blood Funeral to get your stuff out cheaper and Nether Void to prevent your opponents from playing anything reasonably priced.
TrueBloodWolf
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Mishra, you're awesome!!! You help my Replicate deck so much!
SeiberTross
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is great, and cheap. And seems like he'd be an all star with the newer artifacts from Scars.
I'm thinking of using him in a deck with Rage Extractor, seems like 2 feature cards to build around.
But damn this thing would have been broken if that {R} was {W}. All the Esper jazz would have come into play, and then Tempered Steel to top it off. Still fairly crazy if it has a supporting deck around it.
Kryptnyt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I know its silly, but you can pull out two Myr Galvanizers with him. Sure makes that combo almost doable
TheCaptainKanada
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
this would be such a piece of shit in commander
UsagiYojimbo
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@nikosison "That only works if your opponent makes a mistake. The proper way to counter an artifact spell would be to wait until mishra's ability resolves before casting your countermagic. Since Mishra's ability is on top of the casted spell, it would resolve first."
Fact, however there is a way around that, and it is the wackiest solution possible.
@ Kyuuketsukiou: you can't know if he is going to be a planeswalker or not, you don't write the storylines. I know your comment is old, but reading it seems out of place. Karn became a planeswalker, so i can only imagine WotC can make whatever character they want into a planeswalker. Mishra SHOULD be a planeswalker, just on story alone, if not for being the "OG" planeswalker's bro. All hail Mishra!
If you haven't heard of Urza and Mishra, you haven't been playing Magic long enough. Actually, with the return of Phyrexia, I would guess you must not play Magic at all.
Far more valuable for his history than this specific card's play value, the card is also playable and therefore totally justified Vault Material.
CuChulain01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When I read the books I always pictured mishra as...bigger...not like hulk big but, I don't know, definitely more muscular than this. Still he has an amazing ability, and I want to find a place for him in my artifact deck. Toss him in with etched champion and some other metalcraft artifacts and watch the battle spiral into mayhem lol.
This is one of those cards that I really wish they had designed 5 years later, since back when this was made EDH wasn't a thing. :-(
On the plus side, Mishra is awesome, and it's nice to see him get his due in card form. I'm guessing this card represents him around the time he visited Urza at Kayla Ben Kroog's palace and tried to steal Urza's Might Stone; suave, young, powerful, and arrogant. Later on in life, he grew fat and bitter, while earlier he lacked the drive.
dlgn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Poor Mishra. Ever since he found the Weakstone, his life has been total crap.
Mishra's ability lets you get out artifacts even if the spell was countered. Whenever a player casts an artifact spell search your library, hand, blah blah put it on the battlefield.
player 1: "I cast steel overseer" player 2: "I counter steel overseer" player 1: Since I casted a spell named "steel overseer", I search my library for a card named "steel overseer" and put it in play"
Even better: I think the countered overseer goes into your graveyard as you search your graveyard. Oh look! There's a card named "Steel overseer" in my graveyard... wonder how that got there?! May not be the case though.
Seeing him makes me miss Urza. Good times, those were. Though I didn't actually start playing until Mirrodin.
notsure1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@atemu1234 Ever heard of Sarcasm?
Superllama12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If only his ability was "Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control, if you cast it from your hand, search your hand, library, and/or graveyard for a card with the same name and put it onto the battlefield." That way, in response to the ability triggering, you can sacrifice the artifact to something, then let Mishra's ability resolve, allowing you to search your graveyard and put the sacrificed artifact onto the battlefield. But alas, it was not to be, and Mishra now only works with Nether Void, Blood Funnel, and Possibility storm in EDH
Still a great card, though!
atemu1234
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@adrian Nope. Ever heard the term Singleton? @not sure1 no.
Missile_Penguin
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Nearly every card in Time Spiral block was a throwback to at least one previously printed card.
This card represents the character Mishra, brother to Urza, the master artificers who's sibling rivalry escalated into the world-engulfing Brother's War, the central plot of Antiquities and Urza's Saga. Mishra was seduced by Phyrexian demons; he and his apprentice/mistress Ashnod were given augmented abilities. Ultimately, Urza was forced to use the Golgothian Sylex to obliterate Mishra and his army, an act that ignited Urza's spark and made him a planeswalker.
Wormfang
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@kaleidostorm
the way it actually works is you cast your overseer, it goes on the stack. Mishra triggers and his ability goes on the stack. They counter the overseer.
so, resolving goes, counter the overseer: successful, counterspell then overseer hit the yard. mishra triggers, search everything for any steeloverseers find one in graveyard (yay!) put it into play.
if they put the counter spell on the stack before Mishras trigger then Mishra will resolve first, you'll need t get a new one and then the first one gets countered and hits the yard.
Random7Nonsense7
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Worst Commander general ever.
Kontrah
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Gotta love the abilities, the 4/4 body, and the block he came from... 5/5
Moxxy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everytime I stumble across this card my love for Grixis and artifacts and the history of the brothers just screams at me "Make this a general!"
Then it hits me why that wouldn't work and I die a little inside.
Umbric
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ugh I just wish he was a great EDH general, I honestly have no idea how to make him into a general that could be really good and still somehow get past the EDH rules of only having one card legally.
Still great card in every aspect 4.5/5
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In terms of body and everything, he is perfect. A 4/4 for is fantastic, especially for one who doesn't have a particularly aggressive ability. He is a casual god.
It is a bit of a problem that he is hard to play with in EDH, and if you use him as your general, you know you're just doing it for style points. It's like play Phage the Untouchable as your general (which is entirely possible via Torpor Orb or Platinum Angel).
All in all, it's fantastic that they created a card for the one man who essentially WAS magics story for a while.
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
how about wormcoil engine?
Dismiss
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Possibly the best legendary for any Commander deck, ever.
SavageK2
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
How has this not seen play in any artifact deck? First time ive noticed it.
zeniongames
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
They really should give Urza and Mishra iconic versions that are solid in Commander. This version of Mishra wants to be good, but anyone looking at his cost should immediately picture him as a Commander, but then you get to his ability which seems almost purposefully anti-Commander. My thinking is Commander/EDH weren't a huge format when they designed Mishra.
docjarvisd09
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
No, he isn't a good commander. No, Wizards probably wasn't thinking about that format when they designed this card. Yes, this is still an insane card for 60 card artifact decks. Not every card is going to be great for your pet format.
Comments (69)
Mishra was a master artificer, but I'm unsure whether or not one of his talents was duplication.
Still if you play a deck that can cast this and uses numerous artifacts that work in multiples there's no reason not to call him up.
Maybe not the most efficient way to do it, but a cool/convient combo considering the share the same colors.
And personally I think he deserves to be a planewalker. He is a Urza level character, definally deserve to be a plainwalker.
if i play an artifact and i have 4 of total in my deck, cud i then play the rest of em? or just a 2nd one (something to do with the difference between playing an Artifact and playing an Artifact Spell?)
He strikes me as a 2/2 tops.
@Taltor: No, they most likely won't make an Urza, Planeswalker card, since dear Urza died a looong time ago.
@Mudbutt_on: I can see why you think so, but don't forget that all power isn't physical. If we imagine that he has his Weakstone, which he probably has, then that would explain a of why he is a 4/4 rather than a 2/2.
That only works if your opponent makes a mistake. The proper way to counter an artifact spell would be to wait until mishra's ability resolves before casting your countermagic. Since Mishra's ability is on top of the casted spell, it would resolve first.
Whats that?
Play you with Cruel Ultimatum and Prophetic Prism?
I'll get right on that.
Or you could just grab some mimic vats or myr battlespheres or something/
5/5
Think about:
Mishra's Workshop vs Urza Mine/Tower/Powerplant
Mishra's Factory vs Urza's Factory
Mishra's Bauble vs Urza's Bauble
Mishra's War MAchine vs Urza's Engine
Dralnu, Endrek Sahr, Ib Halfheart, Ith, Jaya Ballard, Kaervek, Lim-Dûl, Mangara, Mishra, Norin, Saffi, Stonebrow, Teferi, Thelon, and Tivadar are all in Time Spiral, yet all (except Teferi) should be long dead, and some are very specifically stated to be dead (Saffi's most famous quote is her last words after all).
The time chicanery has lifted historic figures and deposited them in a jumble, this version of Mishra is from his youth, before the Brother's War, probably before his falling out with Urza.
*common sense bolt*
Dammit.
I won a 4 person game with this combo Grasping a Sol Ring to massively ramp out. And people thought I was running him just for the 5 extra points I get in the league scoring for running Mishra.
Run Blood Funeral to get your stuff out cheaper and Nether Void to prevent your opponents from playing anything reasonably priced.
I'm thinking of using him in a deck with Rage Extractor, seems like 2 feature cards to build around.
But damn this thing would have been broken if that {R} was {W}. All the Esper jazz would have come into play, and then Tempered Steel to top it off. Still fairly crazy if it has a supporting deck around it.
"That only works if your opponent makes a mistake. The proper way to counter an artifact spell would be to wait until mishra's ability resolves before casting your countermagic. Since Mishra's ability is on top of the casted spell, it would resolve first."
Fact, however there is a way around that, and it is the wackiest solution possible.
Counter your own spells.
If you run an effect that counters your own spell (Chalice of the Void, Nullstone Gargoyle, Blood Funnel, Ice Cave, Nether Void, Planar Chaos and Disruptive Pitmage and the like are all in color) then they can't touch you. You cast, then counter, then the card goes into your graveyard and from there onto the battlefield.
If you haven't heard of Urza and Mishra, you haven't been playing Magic long enough. Actually, with the return of Phyrexia, I would guess you must not play Magic at all.
Far more valuable for his history than this specific card's play value, the card is also playable and therefore totally justified Vault Material.
On the plus side, Mishra is awesome, and it's nice to see him get his due in card form. I'm guessing this card represents him around the time he visited Urza at Kayla Ben Kroog's palace and tried to steal Urza's Might Stone; suave, young, powerful, and arrogant. Later on in life, he grew fat and bitter, while earlier he lacked the drive.
Whenever a player casts an artifact spell search your library, hand, blah blah put it on the battlefield.
player 1: "I cast steel overseer"
player 2: "I counter steel overseer"
player 1: Since I casted a spell named "steel overseer", I search my library for a card named "steel overseer" and put it in play"
Even better:
I think the countered overseer goes into your graveyard as you search your graveyard. Oh look! There's a card named "Steel overseer" in my graveyard... wonder how that got there?!
May not be the case though.
Seeing him makes me miss Urza. Good times, those were. Though I didn't actually start playing until Mirrodin.
Still a great card, though!
@not sure1 no.
This card represents the character Mishra, brother to Urza, the master artificers who's sibling rivalry escalated into the world-engulfing Brother's War, the central plot of Antiquities and Urza's Saga. Mishra was seduced by Phyrexian demons; he and his apprentice/mistress Ashnod were given augmented abilities. Ultimately, Urza was forced to use the Golgothian Sylex to obliterate Mishra and his army, an act that ignited Urza's spark and made him a planeswalker.
the way it actually works is you cast your overseer, it goes on the stack. Mishra triggers and his ability goes on the stack. They counter the overseer.
so, resolving goes, counter the overseer: successful, counterspell then overseer hit the yard. mishra triggers, search everything for any steeloverseers find one in graveyard (yay!) put it into play.
if they put the counter spell on the stack before Mishras trigger then Mishra will resolve first, you'll need t get a new one and then the first one gets countered and hits the yard.
Then it hits me why that wouldn't work and I die a little inside.
Still great card in every aspect 4.5/5
It is a bit of a problem that he is hard to play with in EDH, and if you use him as your general, you know you're just doing it for style points. It's like play Phage the Untouchable as your general (which is entirely possible via Torpor Orb or Platinum Angel).
All in all, it's fantastic that they created a card for the one man who essentially WAS magics story for a while.