Lat-Nam's Legacy MTG Card


Lat-Nam’s Legacy excels in strategic deck sifting, enabling better draws and optimal hand management. Though it demands discarding and specific mana, the advantages in flexibility and card advantage can be substantial. Despite other cards providing immediate draws, Lat-Nam’s Legacy’s delayed effect bolsters long-term strategies.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Text of card

Choose a card from your hand and shuffle that card into your library to draw two cards at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.

"Lat-Nam has bequeathed us its secrets. With them we shall attain true enlightenment." —Gerda Äagesdotter, Archmage of the Unseen


Cards like Lat-Nam's Legacy

Lat-Nam’s Legacy is an intriguing blue spell enhancing players’ libraries in Magic: The Gathering. This card parallels other library manipulation spells like Ponder, which offers the player to look at the top three cards of their library and rearrange them or shuffle their library. While Ponder grants immediate knowledge and potential access to top deck cards, Lat-Nam’s Legacy provides a delayed draw, shuffling two cards into your library for future advantage.

Brainstorm is another noteworthy comparison. Like Lat-Nam’s Legacy, it centers around drawing cards, allowing the player to draw three cards and then put two back on top of their library. Brainstorm offers immediate card access, similar to Ponder, but without the option to shuffle unless another effect allows it. Lat-Nam’s Legacy is different, with its effect triggering on the next upkeep, offering a sort of delayed gratification for players and the unexpected shuffling, potentially suggesting strategic depth.

Assessing Lat-Nam’s Legacy among its counterparts reveals its strengths in delayed card advantage and the element of surprise from shuffling back into the library, offering a blend of immediate and long-term strategy for Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts.

Ponder - MTG Card versions
Brainstorm - MTG Card versions
Ponder - MTG Card versions
Brainstorm - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Lat-Nam's Legacy by color, type and mana cost

Counterspell - MTG Card versions
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Hypnotic Sprite // Mesmeric Glare - MTG Card versions
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Flash Counter - MTG Card versions
Echoing Truth - MTG Card versions
Early Frost - MTG Card versions
Counterspell - MTG Card versions
Hurkyl's Recall - MTG Card versions
Hypnotic Sprite // Mesmeric Glare - MTG Card versions
Flash - MTG Card versions
Boomerang - MTG Card versions
Updraft - MTG Card versions
Rebound - MTG Card versions
Memory Lapse - MTG Card versions
Hoodwink - MTG Card versions
Tidal Bore - MTG Card versions
Accumulated Knowledge - MTG Card versions
Teferi's Response - MTG Card versions
Aether Burst - MTG Card versions
Impulse - MTG Card versions
Cyclonic Rift - MTG Card versions
Thassa's Intervention - MTG Card versions
Metamorphose - MTG Card versions
Flash Counter - MTG Card versions
Echoing Truth - MTG Card versions
Early Frost - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lat-Nam’s Legacy offers the ability to shuffle two cards from your hand into your library and then draw that many cards on the following turn. This process potentially sifts through your deck for better options, helping maintain a strong hand throughout the match.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t produce mana or tokens directly, it facilitates strategic planning and hand management that can lead to more efficient use of resources. This can accelerate your game plan by ensuring you draw into the lands or spells you need.

Instant Speed: This card’s instant speed is a tactical asset, giving you the flexibility to react to your opponent’s moves. You can activate its effect during your opponent’s end step, thereby optimizing your turns and keeping your strategies hidden until the moment is right.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Lat-Nam’s Legacy mandates the player to discard a card to activate its ability. This cost could be cumbersome when your hand is already stretched thin, or each card you hold is crucial to your strategy. Discarding a potential game-changer might not be worth the future benefit.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands one blue and one colorless mana, which makes it exclusively viable for decks that can consistently generate blue mana. Decks without a reliable mana base for blue might find incorporating Lat-Nam’s Legacy more trouble than it’s worth.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing two mana for delayed card draw, Lat-Nam’s Legacy falls behind in the race for efficiency, especially when compared to other blue card draw spells. Players aiming for tempo might find the mana investment steep for an effect that doesn’t yield immediate returns.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lat-Nam’s Legacy offers a flexible deckbuilding option, syncing well with blue strategies that prioritize setting up optimal draws and maintaining a strong hand.

Combo Potential: This card smoothly integrates into chains that capitalize on casting spells from the graveyard, potentially enabling powerful plays as the game progresses.

Meta-Relevance: As decks evolve, latency assets like Lat-Nam’s Legacy retain importance for their ability to adapt to various opponents, ensuring longevity in your collection.


How to beat

Lat-Nam’s Legacy is a blue instant MTG card that offers players the chance to put a card from their hand on top of their library to then shuffle and draw two cards at the beginning of the next turn’s upkeep. It harkens back to the anticipatory card draw mechanics seen in other cards, where the benefit is delayed, rather than immediate like Think Twice which grants an instant card draw and potentially another through its flashback ability.

To effectively counter Lat-Nam’s Legacy, it is crucial to apply pressure that disrupts the player’s delayed gratification strategy. This could involve using cards like Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek, that allow you to take a peek at the opponent’s hand and remove potential threats or key pieces of their game plan. Alternatively, employing an aggressive approach to reduce the opponent’s life total can leave them little time to capitalize on the set-up Lat-Nam’s Legacy provides.

In essence, maintaining a proactive posture and keeping the opponent on their back foot ensures that the delayed advantage offered by Lat-Nam’s Legacy is outweighed by your immediate board presence and threats.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lat-Nam's Legacy MTG card by a specific set like Alliances and Alliances, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Lat-Nam's Legacy and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Lat-Nam's Legacy Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1996-06-10 and 2008-09-22. Illustrated by Tom Wänerstrand.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11996-06-10AlliancesALL 30a1993NormalBlackTom Wänerstrand
21996-06-10AlliancesALL 30b1993NormalBlackTom Wänerstrand
32006-07-21Coldsnap Theme DecksCST 30b2003NormalBlackTom Wänerstrand
42008-09-22Masters Edition IIME2 521997NormalBlackTom Wänerstrand

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Lat-Nam's Legacy has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Lat-Nam's Legacy card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2008-10-01 Shuffling a card from your hand into your library is mandatory. The effect says “if you do” because performing that action might have been impossible. If you fail to shuffle a card into your library because your hand was empty, you won’t draw any cards.