Urza's Saga

The card Urza's Saga debuted in Modern Horizons 2 on 18 June 2021. MH2 #259 is a rare illustrated by Titus Lunter, available in nonfoil and traditional foil. It is not a card first printed in the older expansion with the same name.

Collector references: MH2 #380 is the sketch version. Store Championships SCH #29 is Eytan Zana's foil-only textless promo. Secret Lair Countdown SLC #21 uses Sadboi's art in ordinary finishes, with halo foil separately recorded as #48.

Urza's Saga is an enchantment land, so you play it as a land rather than cast it as a spell. Its first chapter gives it the ability to tap for colourless mana. The second gives it an activated ability costing {2} and a tap to make a Construct that grows with the number of artifacts you control.

The first two chapters grant abilities that it keeps while it remains on the battlefield. Chapter III searches for an artifact with the actual mana cost {0} or {1}, not merely mana value zero or one. Chrome Mox and Sol Ring match those respective costs; an artifact costing {X}, or a coloured one-mana artifact, does not qualify just because of its mana value.

The land is still a Saga and is sacrificed after its final chapter resolves. Its Urza's land type also does not make it work as another Urza's Tower, Mine or Power Plant for their mana abilities. These are among the distinctions Wizards documents in the Modern Horizons 2 release notes. Keep that rules reference useful if choosing a textless copy.

Modern Horizons 2 supplies both standard #259 and showcase sketch #380 in June 2021. Both credit Lunter and offer nonfoil and traditional foil. The sketch is part of the debut release's treatment range, not a later reprint that introduced a different artist.

Mystery Booster 2 MB2 #114 is a 2024 nonfoil reprint credited to Lunter. It is a separate set-and-number reference even though the artist remains the same. Do not identify every Lunter copy as MH2 #259 without checking the edition.

The 2024 Bloomburrow Store Championship season adds SCH #29, illustrated by Eytan Zana. Wizards identifies the full-art, textless card as the winner's prize in Where and How to Play Bloomburrow. Its foil-only catalogue record makes it a specific event collectible rather than an ordinary nonfoil alternative.

Secret Lair Countdown Kit: An Encyclopedia of Magic in November 2025 adds Sadboi's SLC #21. The same artist also has a separate halo-foil entry, #48. Wizards confirms the kit's mixture of ordinary foils and occasional halo foils in its Countdown Kit announcement.

MH2 #259 presents Lunter's illustration within the Saga layout, while #380 uses the showcase sketch treatment. Wizards explains the sketch family in Collecting Modern Horizons 2. This pair suits a collection interested in contrasting a finished presentation with the sketch direction while retaining the credited artist.

Zana's SCH #29 removes the printed rules and foregrounds the illustration. Its attraction is both the separate image and the connection to a Store Championship win. For regular play, decide whether a visible chapter reference is more useful to your table before selecting it over a text-bearing version.

Sadboi's SLC entries introduce another illustration through An Encyclopedia of Magic. Comparing #21 with #48 holds that image constant and isolates the finish choice. Comparing either with the textless promo instead changes both artist and presentation, so it answers a different collecting question.

Both MH2 #259 and sketch #380 can be nonfoil or traditional foil. MB2 #114 is nonfoil only, while the textless SCH #29 is foil only. The presence of foils in a product range does not add a foil finish to every reprint record.

SLC #21 has nonfoil and ordinary foil copies. SLC #48 is the halo-foil record, not another label for every reflective copy of Sadboi's art. Keep the collector number in the comparison if a seller's title says only Secret Lair foil Urza's Saga.

A still image can show the illustration but cannot settle the appeal of a halo surface or the condition of a physical promo. ManaScout's shimmer is illustrative. Compare actual photographs, finish labels and edition details before assigning a premium to a particular treatment.

For the original release: MH2 #259 gives the debut's standard presentation. Add #380 if collecting both versions from that release is the aim.

For a playing budget: compare available nonfoil MH2, MB2 and SLC entries in comparable condition and language. No version is assumed to remain the cheapest; use current listings and choose a rules presentation you find comfortable.

For artist or process interest: compare Lunter's standard and sketch versions directly. For another illustrator with the rules removed, consider Zana's textless SCH #29 and its tournament-prize context.

For a finish-focused collection: compare Sadboi's SLC #21 ordinary foil with halo #48. The textless promo is also a foil option, but it changes the image and layout as well as the edition.

Begin with MH2 #259 beside #380, then compare Zana's and Sadboi's illustrations. If the Secret Lair image is the preference, only then add halo #48. That keeps the unusual Saga layout, your preferred artist and the physical finish as three deliberate choices.

The live explorer may highlight a ManaScout Pick. Treat it as a visual starting point and compare the exact printing, finish and available price data before deciding.

Chrome Mox — Explore an artifact with actual mana cost zero that the third chapter can find.

Sol Ring — Compare a one-mana artifact that fits the third chapter's exact-cost requirement.

Mana Vault — Explore another actual one-mana artifact and a long history of premium printings.

Demonic Tutor — Contrast a restricted artifact search with a spell that can find any card.

Printing details reviewed on 2 November 2026. The shortlist links to individual MTG.wtf catalogue records; official Wizards sources support the rules and product treatments. The live explorer retrieves its records and price fields from Scryfall.

MTG.wtf: original printing and catalogue.

Wizards: land, chapter and exact-mana-cost rulings.

Wizards: Modern Horizons 2 treatment families.

Wizards: textless Store Championship winner promo.

MTG.wtf: Zana's foil-only promo record.

Wizards: Countdown Kit and halo foils.

MTG.wtf: Sadboi's separate halo-foil entry.