Golbez wants a deck that removes its creatures and brings them right back to reuse them. It also suits a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life.
Mana cost
Blue, Black ()
Power / toughness1 / 4
RarityRare
Whenever an artifact you control enters, surveil 1.
At the beginning of your end step, if you control four or more artifacts, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Then if you control eight or more artifacts, each opponent loses life equal to that card's power.
Picked for what they do in Golbez's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Golbez's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
explain how Golbez works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast6 Jun 2025
Golbez, Crystal Collector's last ability checks at the moment it would trigger to see if you control four or more artifacts. If you don't, the ability won't trigger at all. If it does trigger, the ability will check again as it tries to resolve. If you don't control four or more artifacts at that time, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen.
Wizards of the Coast6 Jun 2025
If the target creature card is an illegal target as Golbez, Crystal Collector's last ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. Opponents won't lose life even if you control eight or more artifacts.
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUBPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Blink/FlickerBlink decks briefly remove their own creatures from play and return them at once, so every 'when this enters' ability happens again. The move is called a flicker, and it can also rescue a creature from a spell aimed at it.Open the Blink/Flicker pageETB PayoffRewards you whenever your permanents enter the battlefield. It either gives you something for each arrival or makes their 'when this enters' abilities happen twice. Impact Tremors, PanharmoniconOpen the ETB Payoff pageArtifact PayoffRewards you for having artifacts: counting them, triggering off them, or getting cheaper as you play more. Urza's Saga, Mox OpalOpen the Artifact Payoff pageRecursionBrings cards back from the graveyard: to your hand, to the battlefield, or letting them be cast again from where they lie. Eternal Witness, Reanimate, VictimizeOpen the Recursion pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageLife DrainAn opponent loses life and you gain that life from the same effect. Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat. It lets Aristocrats decks win without ever attacking. Every drain card is also tagged Life Gain; this tag is the part where the life comes out of somebody.Open the Life Drain pageArtifactsAn artifacts deck fills the battlefield with artifacts, cards like Sol Ring that stay in play and keep working turn after turn. Played together, they give you extra mana and extra cards. A handful of keywords turn up on artifacts again and again. Equip means you pay a cost to attach an Equipment such as Swiftfoot Boots to one of your creatures. If that creature dies, the Equipment does not go to your graveyard with it. It stays on the battlefield, and you can pay the cost again to attach it to another creature. Crew means you tap your own creatures with enough total power between them to turn a Vehicle such as Smuggler's Copter into a creature until the end of the turn. A Treasure is a token you can sacrifice (put into your graveyard on purpose) for one mana of any color. A token is a game piece that a card makes, not a card from your deck, and Pitiless Plunderer is one card that makes Treasures. Affinity makes a spell like Frogmite cheaper for each artifact you control. Unearth brings a card like Combat Courier back from your graveyard for one turn, and then it is exiled. Modular creatures like Arcbound Ravager enter with +1/+1 counters and pass them to another artifact creature when they die.Open the Artifacts page
Send Us Feedback
What works, what's confusing, what you wish the site did. We read every one.
Not signed in? That is fine. We only keep what you write.
Optional. We only use it to reply to you.
Can we use Google Analytics cookies?
They show us which pages help people. No ads.
Privacy Policy
Open the full glossary
