Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Color balance metrics in Un-Sets: a closer look through Tarrian's Soulcleaver
Un-Sets have long challenged the idea that color balance in Magic: The Gathering must be a neat, purist wheel. They orbit the same rules but then bend them with jokes, self-reference, and silver borders that scream “fun first.” In this playful context, color balance metrics take on a different flavor—one where chaos, humor, and clever design all coexist with actual strategy. 🧙♂️🔥💎 The card we’re exploring today acts as a surprisingly sober counterpoint to that whimsy: a colorless artifact from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan that quietly embodies how an unassuming card can impact color dynamics and deck building in meaningful ways. ⚔️🎨
Tarrian's Soulcleaver: a quick spec sheet
- Name: Tarrian's Soulcleaver
- Type: Legendary Artifact — Equipment
- Mana cost: {1}
- Rarity: Rare
- Set: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (The LCI set)
- Illustrator: Nereida
- Oracle text: Equipped creature has vigilance. Whenever another artifact or creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature. Equip {2}.
- Flavor text: "Tarrian's holy weapon still holds a fragment of his dark power... and his hunger."
- Legalities: Standard, Modern, Commander, Vintage and many others are all formats where it’s playable; colorless and artifact-focused decks especially love it.
Notice a few things right away: the mana cost is friendly, the aura of vigilance can be a subtle yet powerful protection on offense, and the graveyard trigger creates a nice interaction loop with artifact or creature deaths. It’s a rare that wears its power lightly, while still offering the kind of incremental growth that belongs in thoughtful deck design. The art by Nereida, and that flavor text, remind us that Ixalan’s lore still lingers—hungry, holy, and a touch toasty in the right leverage. 🎨
Color balance in a colorless world
Un-sets push the envelope on color balance by testing whether players can make nontraditional color choices sing. Tarrian’s Soulcleaver is colorless, which already gives it a broad field of applicability. In a typical multicolor deck, a colorless artifact might seem out of place, but in the right builds it can act as a stabilizing backbone that doesn’t compete with colored mana bases. The “color balance” metric here isn’t about which colors get more powerful; it’s about how a card can function across color identities without pushing any one color too far ahead in a casual, high-variance format. 🧙♂️ The Soulcleaver’s activated ability and its +1/+1 counter mechanism reward you for playing threats that die or are sacrificed—common in Un-sets where tabletop chaos often becomes a shared feature rather than a bug.
From a design perspective, a colorless, low-cost artifact that scales with graveyard activity is a great way to test the “colorless parity” idea: it remains useful across a spectrum of strategies—artifact-centric decks, creature-heavy strategies, and even token themes. The set's own peculiarities aside, the card demonstrates that color balance metrics can be more about synergy curves and resilient value than about a strict manacost-to-color ratio. In practice, your colorless behemoth can slot into green, white, blue, or any mix and still feel like it belongs, because vigilance is a universally appreciated asset and the counter-pumping growth is a universal language. ⚔️🧭
How it plays in practice
In a game, Tarrian’s Soulcleaver invites you to build around death triggers—think artifact sacrifice, ETB (enter-the-battlefield) effects, and creatures with natural demise synergies. Equip it to a sturdy beater, and every time something hits the graveyard, your equipped creature quietly grows with +1/+1 counters. The vigilance granted by the equip makes the creature a reliable threat on both offense and defense, which is exactly the kind of balance that Un-Sets love to reward: a card that supplies tempo, value, and a touch of tactical greed all at once. And if your deck thrives on artifacts that tend to sacrificial plays, this equipment becomes not just a tool, but a narrative engine—Tarrian’s weapon growing stronger as the battlefield recedes into memories and discard piles. 🔥💎
Strategically, you can pair Tarrian’s Soulcleaver with cards that encourage artifact or creature deaths, or you can simply leverage the evergreen appeal of a resilient equipment that scales with the board state. It’s a great example of how Un-Set design can still reward strategic foresight: you’re not relying on flashy, color-drenched spells; you’re leaning into robust, reliable mechanics that scale with the game’s natural rhythm. The result is a card that feels both clever and approachable—a hallmark of well-balanced colorless design in a world where color sometimes steals the spotlight. 🧙♂️🎲
Flavor, art, and collector appeal
The flavor text anchors Tarrian’s Soulcleaver within Ixalan’s mythic past, hinting at a power that lingers and gnaws. This blends well with the thematic play of the Lost Caverns and the artifact-centric lore that Un-sets fans often savor. The art’s detail invites close inspection—Nereida’s illustration captures the weapon’s menacing grace in a way that translates well to a card that remains on the table for longer than a single turn. For collectors, the card’s rarity (rare) and its foil presence add a tactile thrill to the hunt. Even the card’s market data lines up with a measured collectors’ approach: around a dollar or two in non-foil form, a touch more for a foil, modest yet meaningful in an era where value swings can be dramatic. 💎
Practically, players who enjoy deck-building variety will appreciate how Tarrian’s Soulcleaver fits into a broad category of artifact or creature-based strategies. It doesn’t demand a specific color identity, which makes it a useful addition for “splash-light” builds or for players who love the flavor of Ixalan’s relics. And for fans who enjoy cross-promo opportunities, there’s an easy parallel to the everyday gadgets and gear that keep MTG fans organized and on the go—like a neon phone case with card holder that matches the card-nerd lifestyle in a tangible way. 🎨
Collectibility, pricing, and where to go next
As of the latest data, Tarrian’s Soulcleaver sits in a sensible niche: not a slam dunk investment, but a solid, playable rare with a dependable price floor and decent foil upside. It’s the kind of card that can find a home in casual Commander tables, where its resilience and utility shine across varied color identities and creature sets. For players who want to explore more Ixalan lore alongside modern mechanics, this release offers a compact glimpse into how a single artifact can influence a game’s tempo and board state. The market numbers at Scryfall reflect a steady interest, with foil and nonfoil variants enriching the card’s appeal for collectors and players alike. 🧙♂️🔥
And if you’re enjoying the crossover between MTG strategy and real-world gear, consider picking up a neon phone case with card holder—perfect for slipping a few tokens or a quick decklist into your pocket on game night. This little bit of life-in-the-loop design mirrors the way a card like Tarrian’s Soulcleaver loops value from graveyard triggers into a growing threat on the battlefield. It’s the kind of synergy that makes our hobby feel interconnected and joyful rather than purely competitive. 🎲