It may be a bold statement to make, but for these reasons along with the ability to land The One Ring as early as turn three, it’s catapulted itself into possibly being the single best all-around card in the format that isn’t a land.ĭon’t believe me? Believe the data. If the life loss from burden counters grows too large, then you can simply play another The One Ring, and use the convenient legendary rule to your advantage to ditch the copy in play that’s dragging you down.

Furthermore, the drawback is quite minimal even if the burden counters (the effective cost to use its activated ability) grow too high for your liking. What was yesterday’s Izzet Murktide is today’s Dimir Control (also known as “The One Dimir”).įinally, because it’s a noncreature artifact, you can tap it for its activated ability immediately the turn you play it, generating instant value at little cost to your life total (or no more costly than fetching or shocking a land into play). To some, such a comment might be obvious, but for a single card to slow the format down just with its ETB effect is unheard of, and has shaken the format to its core.

The “protection from everything” clause in the card’s text is remarkable for a reason not well-discussed: it slows the game down by one turn. Secondly, when cast, The One Ring guarantees you an extra turn.

I can’t think of a mainboard artifact in Modern that has become a format staple on its own, making The One Ring’s presence in Modern felt at all ends of the competitive spectrum. So why play The One Ring? How has the card caught on this strong and fast? A few reasons: firstly, it’s a colorless artifact, so anyone and everyone can play it (kind of like Sol Ring in Commander).

Mtg shadow of doubt on fetch land