Fourth Edition · 1995
Market Prices
Priced for the Fourth Edition printing — select another in “Printings & Editions” below to re-price.
Indicative cached prices, not a live quote.
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Details
Legality
Bronze Tablet
Artifact
Printings & Editions
Premodern-legal editions of Bronze Tablet — old-border printings plus any period-appropriate foil promos (Arena/Judge, through Scourge). Hover to preview an edition on the card; click to select it.
Old-border editions + pre-Scourge promo foils (Arena/Judge). Modern-frame reprints (8th Edition onward) exist but are not period-appropriate printings.
Why It's Banned
Bronze Tablet lets players trade cards through ante, a mechanic banned from sanctioned Magic. Premodern excludes it alongside every other ante card.
One of a small set of early ante artifacts that organized play retired once playing for ante was prohibited.
Banned: ante mechanics are not legal in tournament Magic.
Trivia & Lore
- Bronze Tablet is one of only nine cards ever printed that use the ante mechanic (the 'Ante Nine'): the others are Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney, Jeweled Bird, Rebirth, Tempest Efreet, Amulet of Quoz, and Timmerian Fiends.
- Among the nine ante cards, Bronze Tablet is the only one whose ability targets and swaps a permanent already on the battlefield: '{4}, {T}: Exile this artifact and target nontoken permanent an opponent owns' (so it can even take a land), letting you choose exactly what you want.
- Bronze Tablet first appeared in Antiquities (released March 4, 1994) as a rare, illustrated by Tom Wanerstrand, one of the original 25 artists who painted cards for Alpha and Beta (also known for Royal Assassin and Blood Moon).
- Bronze Tablet was reprinted in the white-bordered Fourth Edition (April 1995) as one of only three ante cards in that core set, alongside Rebirth and Tempest Efreet.
- The Portuguese printing of Fourth Edition (made primarily for the Brazilian market) omitted all three ante cards because they constituted illegal gambling in Brazil; on the print sheet, Bronze Tablet's slot was filled with an extra copy of Coral Helm (Rebirth was replaced by Sylvan Library and Tempest Efreet by Crimson Manticore).
- Bronze Tablet also appeared in the 1995 black-bordered reprint sets Renaissance (German and French) and the Italian Rinascimento, both released August 1, 1995, where it was an uncommon rather than a rare.
Critical Rulings
"If using a copy of the Tablet, you must trade the copy card to your opponent just like you would have traded the Tablet."
— 2004-10-04
"You can take control of your opponent's Tablet and in the trade you only have to give them back their Tablet."
— 2004-10-04
"You can't choose to pay 10 life if you have less than 10 life, but you may choose to give up the game immediately. This has roughly the same effect."
— 2004-10-04
"If the card being targeted by the Bronze Tablet is removed before Tablet takes effect, then the Tablet ability doesn't resolve and it remains tapped."
— 2004-10-04
"If the tablet is not still on the battlefield when the ability resolves, it is not exiled. The other player still has the choice to pay 10 life, and you still become the owner of their card if they choose not to do so."
— 2008-08-01
Price History
91d · USDTracks this card’s preferred printing: the old-border edition shown by default (block-expansion printings first, e.g. Urza’s, Tempest, Mirage). It doesn’t re-price when you select a different edition above. Per-edition history is planned.
Decks playing Bronze Tablet (0)
Bronze Tablet is banned in sanctioned Premodern — these are Unchained and historic (legal-when-played) appearances.
No mainboard decks match.