• Crystal Rod (Original Art)
  • Crystal Rod (Original Art)

    Crystal Rod (Original Art)

    Artist
    Amy Weber
    Origin
    Netherlands
    Year
    1993
    Set/Console Name
    Alpha
    Console/Game
    Magic the Gathering
    C.O.A.
    no
    Painted A.P.
    no
    Substrate Material
    Illustration Board
    Substrate Dimensions
    6 1/2"H x 8 9/16"W
    Image Area Dimensions
    5 3/4"H x 7 1/4"W
    Frame Dimensions
    Unframed
    Handmade Protective Case
    YES

    Crystal Rod is a one-mana artifact, originally printed in Alpha (1993). It’s one of the most iconic early life-gain artifacts, and was designed as a mild counter to blue decks. Whenever a player casts a blue spell, you may pay one colorless mana to gain 1 life. It represented an era when the game’s designers wanted every color to have an identity and every player a tool against it. Crystal Rod is one of the five early “life-gain spheres”, each aligned to a color (the others being Iron Star, Ivory Cup, Wooden Sphere and Throne of Bone). In Old School (93/94), it was sometimes used as a sideboard card against Mono-Blue Control or Blue Tempo decks. Gaining small amounts of life could sometimes buy enough time to survive against cards like Serendib Efreet or Psionic Blast. Crystal Rod is not on the Reserved List.
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