Magic Cape

The Magic Cape can be crafted in survival using a red carpet, seven gold ingots, and one lapis. The red carpet should be placed in the center of the crafting grid, and the gold ingots should be placed in an upside-down U shape, as if crafting leggings. The lapis should be placed below the carpet.

Uses

The Magic Cape provides an accessible way to obtain invisibility in early Minecraft, and in that regard it's extremely useful. While its functionality can be helpful, its biggest detriment is that it has to equipped in the chest slot in order to use.

Survival

Regardless of armor slot, the Magic Cape can be useful at any point in survival. Although the chestplate may be the most protective piece of armor, the Magic Cape allows players to completely avoid fights thanks to invisibility, and players should be able to fight off any remaining mobs that see them thanks to experience fighting with elytra.

PVP

While arguably not as helpful in PVP, the Magic Cape does have one thing over invisibility potions in that it doesn't leave particle effects behind. This means that players can stay within an opponent's sight while remaining undetected, leaving plenty of opportunities to strike when they're not looking. Additionally, the Magic Cape has some extra invisibility time after the player stops crouching, so it is possible for players to crouch to become invisible, stop crouching to attack, then continue crouching to keep hiding.

Trivia

The Magic Cape was the first armor item created for the Junkbox.
The Magic Cape is the first item to utilize crouch detection.

Origin

The Magic Cape was taken from the Legend of Zelda series of games, where it performs the same vanishing function. In its home series, however, the item consumes magic rather than restricting movement.