Magic the Gathering Card Analysis: Magus of the Mirror

The Magic: The Gathering card Magus of the Mirror is a rare black human wizard creature with a casting cost of two black mana and four colorless mana. In addition to being a 4/2 Magus of the Mirror has an amazing ability: you can tap and sacrifice it to exchange life totals with a target opponent.

Magus of the Mirror is a good card to play near the end of a game when you have a low life total. It is especially advantageous if an opponent has had a way to gain life such as Spirit Loop, an aura which causes the enchanted creature's controller to gain life equal to the damage dealt by the creature. With a permanent like this it is possible for an opponent to have twenty life or much more even near the end of a game.

This ability has a catch, of course: it can only be activated during your upkeep. This means that you must wait until your next turn to activate Magus of the Mirror's ability to exchange life totals. This puts you at a disadvantage because you no longer have the element of surprise. A lot can happen in a turn, especially since your opponents know exactly what you intend to do with Magus of the Mirror and will try their best to destroy it before your next upkeep. Since Magus of the Mirror only has a toughness of two, a simple direct damage spell such as Shock can kill it, and an activated ability such as that of Avatar of Woe can destroy it and prevent it from being regenerated.

The enchantment Vernal Equinox allows players to cast creature and enchantment spells as though they had flash. This is very beneficial to use with Magus of the Mirror because it will allow you to keep the element of surprise. Simply cast Vernal Equinox during your turn, play Magus of the Mirror near the end of the turn of the opponent who plays before you, and then tap and sacrifice it during your upkeep. It helps to have a way to destroy Vernal Equinox when you are done with it, such as Emerald Charm, so that your opponents cannot continue to use it to their advantage.

It can take a bit of chance and a bit of maneuvering to use Magus of the Mirror, but if you manage to keep it alive until your next upkeep, its ability is an incredibly powerful one.

Source

MagicCards.info