Chalice of the Void

A Big Cup of Nope

Chalice of the Void sees play in a variety of formats for different reasons, but of course always for its ability to disrupt an opponent’s plan. Most often seen in Vintage, where the card is restricted to a single copy per deck, the double X-costing artifact is a bit more of a niche card in Legacy and Modern. However, it still is on the top ten of most played artifacts in both formats.

Chalice on One – Chalice on Two

Chalice of the Void sees play in Modern decks such as Mono Red Prison where it is most often first played for two mana, making it among other things great against Ancient Stirrings and formerly also against Faithless Looting before that card was banned. But even Tron players have realized the power of harnessing the Chalice to their own advantage.

The most played card in Modern, Lightning Bolt, just happens to cost one mana. The same goes for popular creatures including Monastery Swiftspear, Noble Hierarch, Goblin Guide, and Death’s Shadow. Following a first Chalice of the Void on one by a second with X=2 is a one-two punch that will make most decks hit the canvas.

In Legacy, Chalice of the Void is also a favored card in that format’s variant of Mono Red Prison. In the format of Brainstorm, it is often cast for two mana (with X=1) shutting down important staples and popular cantrips. The chance of having access to two mana already on turn one, thanks to for example Ancient Tomb, can make the card a devastating first play deciding the course of a game before your opponent even takes their first turn. (Playing Chalice on one is of course also possible in Modern with a Simian Spirit Guide.)

Chalice of the Void at Nil – Zero – Naught

While Chalice of the Void can cripple a player in Legacy and Modern when played on one, it gets even worse in Vintage. Beginning your first turn by dropping some Moxen and a Black Lotus on the battlefield, then playing a Chalice at zero will completely lock your opponent out of the fast mana essential to the most powerful format in Magic: The Gathering.

The Chalice’s capacity to make format-defining cards dead in a player’s hand was an important reason cited when Wizards of the Coast decided to put the artifact on the Restricted List in 2015. And even while restricted, it is still one of the most played artifacts in the format – only surpassed in usage by Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Sol Ring, and Mana Crypt. All of which, except for Sol Ring, are the prime targets for a turn one Chalice.

When You Gaze Too Long into the Void

Chalice of the Void was originally printed in Mirrodin (October 2003) with reprints in Modern Masters (June 2013), Masters 25 (March 2018), and a masterpiece version from Kaladesh Inventions (September 2016). Being such a widely played card, this makes for a quite limited supply, especially considering the rarity of the Invention masterpieces and the fact that the Masters 25 version was at mythic rarity.

Due to this disparity between supply and demand, Chalice of the Void commands a healthy price averaging around 50,00 € for the normal versions, making it the second most expensive card in Masters 25 (only surpassed by Jace, the Mind Sculptor). Unsurprisingly, the Inventions version of the card is a lot more expensive, starting from 140 – 150,00 €. This version is also the one least likely to crash in price should the card see enough reprints to sate the hunger of the market.