Mycosynth MTG: Is Mycosynth Lattice a “Scam” and What Are Your Best Alternatives?

Struggling to understand why everyone talks about “Mycosynth MTG” with such a mix of awe and frustration? You’ve landed in the right spot! Today, we’re really going to break down the Mycosynth cycle from Magic: The Gathering. We’re talking about cards like Mycosynth Lattice, Mycosynth Golem, Mycosynth Gardens, and Mycosynth Wellspring. Now, if you’ve been around the Magic community for a bit, you’ve probably heard one of these referred to as a “scam” or seen players roll their eyes at the mere mention. That’s usually directed at Mycosynth Lattice, and for good reason! This card, particularly its notorious combo with Karn, the Great Creator, created a play pattern so utterly dominant and “unfun” that it ended up banned in a major format.

But don’t worry, this isn’t just a lament about a powerful, now-banned card. We’re going to dive into why Mycosynth Lattice earned its controversial reputation, how that “scam” combo works, and most importantly, what genuinely effective and fair alternatives you can use to build powerful, synergistic artifact decks. Whether you’re brewing a Commander deck, exploring Modern, or just curious about Magic’s history of problematic cards, you’ll get the full picture here. By the end, you’ll not only understand the Mycosynth saga but also have a toolkit of cards and strategies that achieve similar goals without making your friends want to flip the table. Let’s jump in!

The Notorious Mycosynth Lattice: Why It’s Called a “Scam”

let’s get right into it: Mycosynth Lattice is arguably the most infamous card in the entire Mycosynth lineup, and the one most often associated with the “scam” label. This isn’t because the card itself is deceptive, but because of the brutally effective, often game-ending, and frequently one-sided board state it creates when paired with specific other cards.

What does Mycosynth Lattice actually do? Well, its text is pretty straightforward but incredibly impactful:

• “All permanents are artifacts in addition to their other types.”
• “All cards that aren’t on the battlefield, spells, and permanents are colorless.”
• “Players may spend mana as though it were mana of any color.”

Sounds like a fun, chaotic way to make everything an artifact for your artifact synergies, right? And the universal mana-fixing seems helpful. On its own, it’s a six-mana artifact, which is a significant investment, but it doesn’t immediately win the game. However, its real power and the source of its “scam” reputation comes from its interaction with other cards, most notably the planeswalker Karn, the Great Creator.

The Mycosynth Lattice price has seen its ups and downs, but it typically holds a decent value due to its unique effect and Commander playability, even after its ban in other formats. It was originally printed way back in the Darksteel set in 2004, and its reprint in Battlebond in 2018 also affected its price history. Nanozoom Review: Is This Smartphone Microscope a Scam? (And What to Buy Instead)

Before its Modern ban, this card was a staple in certain competitive strategies, turning all lands into artifacts was already potent with things like Vandalblast or other artifact destruction spells, essentially enabling mass land destruction. But that’s just scratching the surface of its truly problematic interaction. The core issue wasn’t just turning things into artifacts. it was what you could do once everything was an artifact.

Unpacking the “Scam”: The Karn-Lattice Combo Explained

This is where the “scam” truly unfolds. The combination of Mycosynth Lattice and Karn, the Great Creator creates a complete, non-interactive lock that essentially prevents your opponent from playing the game. It’s often referred to as the “Karn-Lattice lock” and it was the primary reason Mycosynth Lattice was banned in Modern in January 2020.

Here’s how this infamous combo works:

1. You cast Mycosynth Lattice. Once it’s on the battlefield, its static ability immediately kicks in: all permanents including lands, creatures, enchantments, and other artifacts become artifacts in addition to their other types. All cards in zones other than the battlefield, and spells, also become colorless. Players can also spend mana as though it were any color.
2. You then cast Karn, the Great Creator. Karn has a static ability that reads: “Activated abilities of artifacts your opponents control can’t be activated.”

Now, here’s the kicker: because Mycosynth Lattice has turned all of your opponent’s permanents into artifacts including their lands!, Karn’s ability prevents them from activating any of their activated abilities. This means they can’t tap their lands for mana, activate abilities on their creatures, or use any other activated abilities on their permanents. It’s a total lockout. Your opponent is effectively unable to generate mana, cast spells, or interact with your board in almost any meaningful way. They’re stuck, waiting for you to win the game, which usually happens pretty quickly after establishing the lock. Dentivia: Separating Fact from Fiction in Oral Health

This “unfun play pattern” was explicitly cited by Wizards of the Coast as the reason for Mycosynth Lattice’s ban in Modern. While many powerful combos exist in Magic, the Karn-Lattice lock was particularly egregious because it was a two-card combo that completely shut down an opponent’s ability to respond, often early in the game, leading to non-games where one player simply couldn’t do anything. This led to a lot of frustration and the perception of the combo being a “scam” because it denied the opponent the opportunity to actually play Magic.

Better Alternatives to Mycosynth Lattice for Strategic Advantage

So, Mycosynth Lattice is out of the picture for Modern, and even in Commander, playing the Karn-Lattice lock might earn you some side-eye. But what if you love artifact synergies, want flexible mana, or enjoy a good bit of resource denial? Luckily, Magic has tons of cards that offer similar strategic advantages without creating such an oppressive, one-sided game state. These aren’t direct replacements, but rather alternatives that achieve similar goals in a more interactive and generally more fun way.

Let’s look at some fantastic options to achieve those artifact-centric goals:

Targeted Artifact Conversion & Synergy Enablers

If you’re looking to turn specific permanents into artifacts to enable synergies, rather than locking everyone out, you have some great tools.

• Liquimetal Coating and Liquimetal Torque: These artifacts allow you to tap them to turn a target permanent into an artifact until end of turn. This is perfect for enabling Metalcraft, boosting artifact counts, or making an opponent’s key non-artifact permanent vulnerable to artifact-specific removal, all without the global lockout. It’s a much more surgical and interactive approach.
• Argent Mutation: This instant turns a target permanent into an artifact until end of turn and lets you draw a card. It’s a one-shot effect but provides card velocity and targeted conversion.

These cards are fantastic for artifact-themed decks that want to interact with their own or an opponent’s board in a fair and fun way, allowing for creative lines of play without shutting down the game.

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Universal Mana Fixing & Colorless Synergy

Part of Mycosynth Lattice’s appeal was making all lands tap for any color and making all spells colorless, simplifying mana bases. While there’s no single card that perfectly replicates all of that without the problematic aspects, you can achieve excellent mana fixing and artifact synergy with these:

• Chromatic Lantern: This artifact makes your lands tap for any color. It’s a classic for five-color decks or any deck needing robust mana fixing. It’s clean, effective, and doesn’t affect your opponents’ ability to play.
• Dryad of the Ilysian Grove: This enchantment creature is a powerhouse, allowing you to play an additional land each turn and making your lands every basic land type in addition to their other types. This means all your lands can tap for any color, much like the Lattice, but it’s tied to a creature that can be removed and doesn’t universally turn everything into an artifact. It also ramps you, which is a huge bonus!

For making your non-land spells colorless or cheaper, artifact lands are a great start to increase your artifact count for cards with “affinity for artifacts” or similar mechanics.

Resource Denial & Stax More Interactive Versions

If you’re drawn to the resource denial aspect of the Karn-Lattice combo, there are other “stax” pieces that can restrict the game in interesting ways without being a hard lock. These cards slow things down or limit options, but typically allow opponents to still play, just under challenging conditions.

• Winter Orb and Static Orb: These artifacts restrict untapping. Winter Orb prevents players from untapping more than one land during their untap steps as long as it’s untapped. Static Orb takes it a step further, preventing players from untapping more than one permanent during their untap steps. They can be powerful but are symmetrical, meaning they affect you too, unless you build your deck to break the symmetry e.g., by untapping your own lands with other effects or by having lots of artifacts that don’t need to untap for mana.
• Null Rod and Stony Silence: These are direct answers to artifact-heavy strategies. Null Rod prevents players from activating activated abilities of artifacts. Stony Silence does the same, but it’s an enchantment. They are potent hate pieces against artifact decks, but they don’t prevent opponents from casting spells or using non-artifact permanents. They simply shut down activated abilities of artifacts, which can be very effective without being a game-ending lock for all permanents.

These cards can lead to strategic, grindy games where players have to adapt, rather than being completely shut out. Rise

Powerful Artifact Engines & Commanders

Instead of a lock, why not build a powerful engine? Magic offers many commanders and key pieces that allow you to generate immense value from artifacts in a way that feels fair, even when highly optimized.

• Urza, Lord High Artificer: Urza is an absolute legend for artifact decks. He creates a token that gets bigger with your artifacts, turns your artifacts into mana sources, and lets you “dig” for free spells. He’s a one-card artifact engine that can take over games by generating huge value and tempo, and while he was part of the problematic Modern meta that led to the Lattice ban, he’s a fantastic and legal commander or value piece in many formats.
• Emry, Lurker of the Loch: This legendary Merfolk Wizard is an artifact recursion machine. She has affinity for artifacts herself, mills you to fill your graveyard with artifacts, and lets you cast artifacts directly from your graveyard. She’s incredibly powerful for artifact combo and value strategies, ensuring you always have resources and can chain spells together.
• Glissa, the Traitor: A classic Golgari black/green option, Glissa returns an artifact from your graveyard to your hand whenever an opponent’s creature dies. This encourages interaction and value generation, pairing well with sacrifice outlets and removal.
• Silas Renn, Seeker Adept: As a partner commander, Silas lets you cast an artifact from your graveyard whenever he deals combat damage to a player. This provides consistent artifact recursion and encourages attacking.

These commanders and engines provide powerful, synergistic gameplay that respects the opponent’s ability to play the game while still allowing for incredibly intricate and dominant artifact strategies.

Beyond the Lattice: Exploring Other Mycosynth Cards

While Mycosynth Lattice might be the most infamous, there are other cards in the “Mycosynth” family that play entirely different, often much fairer, roles in Magic. These cards lean into artifact themes in unique and interesting ways, without the problematic elements of the Lattice.

Mycosynth Golem: The Cost Reducer

Mycosynth Golem is an impressive artifact creature that truly shines in decks overflowing with artifacts. Its main ability is “Affinity for artifacts,” meaning it costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control. It also gives all other artifact creature spells you cast affinity for artifacts. This means if you have a lot of artifacts on the board, Mycosynth Golem itself can become incredibly cheap, sometimes even free! Then, all your other artifact creatures also get that sweet cost reduction. Black wood tea near me

This Golem is a cornerstone for artifact-heavy decks, especially those looking to deploy a large number of artifact creatures quickly. Think of decks running cards like Thopter tokens, Construct tokens, or other cheap artifacts to enable massive cost reductions. It’s fantastic in Commander decks focused on artifact creature tribal or simply trying to power out big threats. You can even find Mycosynth Golem Secret Lair editions with unique art, which collectors often love.

Mycosynth Gardens: The Duplicator

Mycosynth Gardens is a much newer addition to the Mycosynth family, appearing in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. This land offers a unique utility that artifact decks can really exploit. Beyond tapping for colorless mana or one mana of any color for {1} and tapping, its activated ability lets you pay {X} and tap it to have Mycosynth Gardens become a copy of target nontoken artifact you control with mana value X.

This ability has seen significant play, particularly in Modern with decks like Amulet Titan. In Amulet Titan, players can use Mycosynth Gardens to copy an Amulet of Vigor, leading to incredibly explosive mana turns. It offers a way to get extra copies of powerful artifacts, making combos more consistent or simply doubling down on valuable permanents. It’s a land with a high ceiling for strategic play, offering flexibility and powerful synergies without being overtly oppressive.

Mycosynth Wellspring: The Value Engine

Mycosynth Wellspring is probably the least flashy of the Mycosynth cards, but it’s a fantastic value engine in the right deck. For just two mana, this artifact has a crucial ability: “When Mycosynth Wellspring enters the battlefield or is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library”.

This means you get a basic land the moment it hits the battlefield and another basic land when it leaves the battlefield and goes to the graveyard. It’s a perfect card for artifact sacrifice strategies, often pairing with cards that let you sacrifice artifacts for value. Think of it in decks that want to repeatedly sacrifice artifacts for effects, or in Commander decks that can recur artifacts from the graveyard. It thins your deck, ensures you hit your land drops, and provides two “triggers” for your artifact-matters cards one on ETB, one on LTB/graveyard. It’s a humble but effective piece for consistent resource generation and synergy. Tonic green edisto beach

Building a Better Artifact Deck Without the “Scam”

So, you’ve seen the power and pitfalls of the Mycosynth cards. Now, let’s talk about building genuinely strong, fun, and interactive artifact decks without relying on the kind of “scam” lock that got Mycosynth Lattice banned. The key is to focus on synergy, resilience, and interaction, rather than simply trying to prevent your opponents from playing.

Here are some core principles and types of cards to consider for your next artifact masterpiece:

1. Consistent Card Advantage: Artifact decks thrive on drawing cards and generating value. Look for cards that replace themselves, like Thoughtcast or Reverse Engineer, or repeatable draw engines like Mystic Forge or Blightsteel Colossus which, while not draw, is a game-ender that demands answers. Many good artifact deck components can help you with this.
2. Efficient Mana Production: Artifacts are great at accelerating your mana. Cards like Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Arcane Signet, and Thran Dynamo are classics. Don’t forget artifact lands, which boost your artifact count for cards like Mycosynth Golem.
3. Powerful Synergies: This is the heart of an artifact deck. Look for cards that interact positively with artifacts:
   • Cost Reducers: Beyond Mycosynth Golem, consider Etherium Sculptor, Foundry Inspector, or Urza’s Saga.
   • Payoffs for Artifacts: Cards like Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer, or even large X-cost artifact creatures that get cheaper with affinity.
   • Sacrifice Outlets & Recursion: As seen with Mycosynth Wellspring, having ways to sacrifice artifacts for value e.g., Goblin Engineer, Ashnod’s Altar and then get them back Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Engineer’s Apprentice, Academy Ruins is crucial for grinding out games. You can find many powerful artifact recursion cards out there.
4. Interaction & Protection: Don’t forget to protect your own valuable artifacts and interact with your opponents. Counterspells, removal, and artifact-specific protection like Darksteel Forge or Padeem, Consul of Innovation are essential.
5. Commander Options: If you’re building for Commander, consider powerful artifact commanders like Urza, Lord High Artificer, Breya, Etherium Shaper, Sharuum the Hegemon, or Shorikai, Genesis Engine. Each offers unique ways to build around artifacts for fun and competitive play.

By focusing on these elements, you can create artifact decks that are not only powerful but also foster engaging games, allowing everyone to participate while you pursue your synergistic dreams.

The MTG Philosophy: Why Some Cards Get Banned

When we talk about cards like Mycosynth Lattice getting banned, it really touches on a core philosophy that Wizards of the Coast WotC has for Magic: The Gathering: maintaining a healthy and diverse play environment. It’s not just about a card being “too powerful”. it’s about how that power impacts the overall player experience and the metagame.

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Here’s a breakdown of why cards get banned:

• Dominant Strategies / Tier 0 Decks: If a single deck or strategy becomes so overwhelmingly powerful that it stifles diversity, forcing everyone to either play that deck or a deck specifically designed to beat it, it’s a problem. This creates a “Tier 0” environment where other strategies can’t realistically compete. The Modern Urza decks that utilized the Karn-Lattice combo contributed to this kind of dominance.
• “Unfun Play Patterns”: This was the explicit reason for the Mycosynth Lattice banned in Modern. The Karn-Lattice lock created games where one player was completely shut out, unable to make any meaningful plays. While some players enjoy “stax” or “prison” strategies that restrict opponents, a complete, hard lock that’s easily assembled often crosses the line into being “unfun” for the majority of players. WotC aims for a game where players can actually play the game, even if they’re losing.
• Reduced Diversity of Gameplay: Beyond just win rates, some cards lead to repetitive or uninteresting game states. If every game against a certain deck feels the same, or if certain cards make entire categories of other cards unplayable, it reduces the overall “fun” and strategic depth of the format.
• Metagame Health: Bans are a tool to “shake up” formats and prevent stagnation. Sometimes, even if a deck isn’t completely dominant, its consistent presence and efficiency can make the format feel stale. Banning a key piece can open up the metagame for new strategies to emerge and thrive.

It’s a delicate balance for WotC, and they constantly gather data and community feedback to make these decisions. While bans can be controversial and affect card values, they’re generally made with the long-term health and enjoyment of the game in mind. It’s about ensuring Magic remains an engaging and diverse experience for everyone, rather than being dominated by a few “scam” combos.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mycosynth Lattice and why is it problematic?

Mycosynth Lattice is an artifact from Magic: The Gathering that makes all permanents artifacts, all cards colorless, and allows players to spend mana as any color. It’s problematic because of its combo with Karn, the Great Creator. When both are on the battlefield, Karn’s ability prevents opponents from activating abilities of artifacts, and since Lattice makes all of their permanents including lands artifacts, they cannot tap for mana or activate any abilities, creating a complete game lock.

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Is Mycosynth Lattice banned in any Magic: The Gathering formats?

Yes, Mycosynth Lattice was banned in the Modern format on January 13, 2020. The primary reason cited by Wizards of the Coast was its “unfun play pattern” when combined with Karn, the Great Creator, which created a non-interactive lockout. It remains legal in formats like Commander EDH and Vintage, though its use in Commander can be controversial.

What are some good alternatives to Mycosynth Lattice for artifact synergy?

Instead of a lockout, you can use cards like Liquimetal Coating or Liquimetal Torque for targeted artifact conversion. For universal mana fixing, Chromatic Lantern or Dryad of the Ilysian Grove are excellent options. If you like resource denial, consider Winter Orb or Stony Silence, which offer more interactive gameplay. For powerful artifact value, commanders like Urza, Lord High Artificer and Emry, Lurker of the Loch provide strong engines without the hard lock.

How does Mycosynth Golem work in artifact decks?

Mycosynth Golem has “Affinity for artifacts,” meaning it costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control. It also grants this same ability to all other artifact creature spells you cast. This makes it a powerful cost reducer in artifact-heavy creature decks, allowing you to cast expensive artifact creatures for very little mana, or even for free if you have enough artifacts on the battlefield.

What makes Mycosynth Gardens unique among lands?

Mycosynth Gardens is a land that can tap for colorless mana, or for any color for {1} and tapping. Its unique activated ability allows you to pay {X} and tap it to make Mycosynth Gardens become a copy of a target nontoken artifact you control with mana value X. This is incredibly powerful for duplicating key artifacts, especially in decks like Modern Amulet Titan to copy Amulet of Vigor.

What is the purpose of Mycosynth Wellspring?

Mycosynth Wellspring is a low-cost artifact that provides consistent value. When it enters the battlefield or is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you get to search your library for a basic land card and put it into your hand. This makes it excellent for decks that want to trigger “enters the battlefield” or “leaves the battlefield” effects, or for artifact sacrifice strategies where you can repeatedly gain lands. Try fitspresso quick net

Why does Wizards of the Coast ban cards like Mycosynth Lattice?

Wizards of the Coast bans cards to maintain the health and diversity of their game formats. Cards are typically banned if they create overly dominant strategies, lead to “unfun play patterns” like non-interactive game locks, or reduce the overall diversity of playable decks and gameplay experiences. The ban of Mycosynth Lattice was specifically due to its “unfun” interaction with Karn, the Great Creator.