Let's be real. Magic: The Gathering players have a weird obsession with "dead" cards. We’ve all been there, staring at a binder of old cardboard from the early 2000s, wondering if that one obscure rare is actually a hidden masterpiece or just a victim of massive power creep. Might of the Ancients is the poster child for this specific kind of nostalgia. It’s an artifact from the Odyssey block, released back in 2001, and honestly? It’s kind of a mess. But it’s a fascinating mess that tells us exactly how the game’s design philosophy has shifted over the last two decades.
It costs seven mana. Seven.
In today’s Commander-driven world, seven mana usually gets you an Elder Dinosaur that wipes the board or a spell that basically wins the game on the spot. But back in the Odyssey era, the designers at Wizards of the Coast were experimenting with some truly bizarre mechanics. Might of the Ancients provides a +1/+1 buff to a creature for every other creature on the battlefield that shares a color with it. It’s a massive, clunky "anthem" effect that relies entirely on your opponent’s board state as much as your own. If you’re playing a mono-green deck and your opponent is on mono-black, this card is a seven-mana paperweight. It does literally nothing.
The Odyssey Context: Why This Even Exists
To understand why anyone thought Might of the Ancients was a good idea, you have to look at the environment it was born into. Odyssey was the "graveyard matters" block. It introduced Threshold and Flashback, shifting the focus of the game from the hand to the discard pile. It was a time of experimentation. The designers were trying to find new ways to make board states dynamic.
Richard Garfield’s original vision for Magic involved a lot of these "swingy" artifacts. Might of the Ancients was designed to be the ultimate payoff for "mirror matches." Imagine two players both playing Goblins or White Weenie. In that specific, narrow context, this artifact turns a single 1/1 token into a 15/15 behemoth. It’s a math-heavy nightmare for the person on the receiving end.
But here is the kicker.
The card counts all creatures. Not just yours. This is a double-edged sword that modern design has largely moved away from. Most modern cards like Coat of Arms or Door of Destinies are much more refined. They reward you for your own synergy. Might of the Ancients is chaotic. It’s "fair" in a way that modern Magic rarely is anymore. It doesn't care whose side the creatures are on; it only cares about the spectrum of light they reflect.
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Breaking Down the Mechanic: Math vs. Flavor
Actually playing Might of the Ancients feels like doing high school algebra in the middle of a fistfight. You cast it, and then everyone has to stop and count. "Okay, I have three green creatures. You have two. That’s five. My Llanowar Elf is now a 6/6." Then someone plays a multicolored creature, and the headache starts all over again.
Rules-wise, it’s a continuous effect. It doesn't use the stack once it’s on the board. The power and toughness shift instantly as creatures enter or leave the battlefield. This leads to some "gotcha" moments that can be pretty funny in a casual setting. If an opponent plays a board wipe that kills everything except the creature wearing the Might, your giant monster suddenly shrinks back down to a puny weakling before damage even happens.
- It checks the creature’s colors.
- It checks the colors of every other creature.
- It updates dynamically.
There is a certain beauty in that simplicity, even if the mana cost is prohibitive. It’s a very "Timmy" card—a term coined by Mark Rosewater to describe players who love big, splashy effects regardless of how "optimal" they are. If you want a giant creature, this gives it to you. You just have to pay a premium for it.
Why Nobody Plays It in 2026
The harsh truth is that Might of the Ancients has been left in the dust by cards that do the same thing for half the price. Look at Stoneforge Masterwork. It’s a one-mana equipment that gives a buff based on shared creature types. While it’s not exactly the same as color-based buffing, the efficiency difference is staggering.
Seven mana is "I win" territory now. If you spend seven mana on an artifact that doesn't have an immediate impact on the board (like Portal to Phyrexia), you’re probably going to lose the game. The game has gotten faster. Creatures have gotten better. Artifacts have gotten cheaper.
Also, the "color matters" theme has been overshadowed by "type matters." Most players would rather run a tribal synergy deck than a color-synergy deck because types like Elves, Dragons, or Vampires offer much more utility. Might of the Ancients feels like a relic from a time when the color pie was the only thing that defined a deck's identity.
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The Weird Financial History
You’d think a "bad" rare from 2001 would be worth pennies. For a long time, it was. But the secondary market for Magic cards is a strange beast. Collectors often hunt for specific printings from the Odyssey block because of the nostalgic card frame and the specific aesthetic of the art.
The art for Might of the Ancients, done by Donato Giancola, is actually quite stunning. It depicts a glowing, intricate sphere held aloft by stone hands. It feels ancient. It feels powerful. Sometimes, people buy these cards just because they look incredible in a binder. There’s a segment of the player base that builds "Old Frame Only" Commander decks. In those circles, Might of the Ancients actually sees a tiny bit of play. It’s a flavor win, even if it’s a mechanical loss.
Is There Any Way to Make It Good?
If you’re stubborn like me and want to actually win a game with this thing, you have to get creative. You can't just play it "fairly."
One way is through "cheat into play" effects. Using something like Daretti, Scrap Savant or Goblin Welder to swap a cheap artifact for the Might of the Ancients can bypass that seven-mana ward. Suddenly, you’re getting a massive power boost on turn three or four.
Another strategy involves cards that change colors. If you use Painter's Servant to name "Green," every single creature on the battlefield becomes green. Now, Might of the Ancients is looking at every single creature in the game to calculate the buff. In a four-player Commander game, that could easily turn a creature into a 40/40 or larger. That’s the kind of janky combo that makes Magic fun. It’s not "good" in a competitive sense, but it’s legendary at a kitchen table.
Common Misconceptions About the Card
I've seen a lot of players misinterpret how this card works during games.
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First, it doesn't give a buff to every creature you control. It’s a "choose one" style effect that applies to a single creature you control as long as you control the artifact. It’s not a global anthem like Glorious Anthem.
Second, it counts itself—well, sort of. It doesn't count the artifact, but if the creature you choose is multi-colored, it gets the bonus from any other creature that shares at least one of those colors. If you pick a Red/Green creature, it gets +1/+1 for every other Red creature AND every other Green creature. It doesn't double dip if a creature is both Red and Green, though.
Nuance matters here.
People also forget that it’s an artifact, not an enchantment. This makes it vulnerable to a whole different set of removal spells. In a world full of Vandalblasts and Haywire Mites, a seven-mana artifact is a very fragile investment.
Actionable Steps for the Modern Player
So, what do you do with this information? Whether you're a collector or a deck builder, here is how to handle a card like Might of the Ancients:
- Check your bulk bins: If you find a foil version of this card, keep it. Odyssey foils are notoriously hard to find in good condition because of the old foiling process, and they carry a significant premium for "pimping out" retro decks.
- Use it for "Old Frame" Commander: If you’re building a deck restricted to the pre-2003 card frame, this is a legitimate (if expensive) way to create a massive threat. It pairs well with high-creature-count decks like Goblins or Soldiers.
- The "Painter's Servant" Combo: If you want to troll your local game store, build a deck around Painter's Servant and Might of the Ancients. It’s a two-card combo that turns any tiny creature into a one-hit-kill machine.
- Value the Art: Don’t sleep on the aesthetic. Sometimes Magic is about the vibe, not the win rate. If you love the Donato Giancola style, frame it.
- Identify Power Creep: Use this card as a benchmark. When you look at a new card and think, "Is this good?", compare it to the Might. If the new card costs less and does more, you're seeing the evolution of game design in real-time.
Magic: The Gathering is a game of layers. Might of the Ancients is a deep, dusty layer from a time when the game didn't quite know what it wanted to be yet. It's clunky, it's overcosted, and it's beautiful. It reminds us that the "might" of the ancients wasn't always efficient—but it was definitely loud.
Moving Forward with Retro Cards
If you're looking to integrate more older cards into your playstyle, start by looking at cards with unique "static" abilities that haven't been reprinted. The Odyssey and Onslaught blocks are goldmines for these kinds of effects. While many are "bad" by modern standards, they offer a level of unpredictability that modern, streamlined cards lack. Sometimes, the best way to win is to play something your opponent has to read three times just to understand what's happening to them.