Timothar, Baron of Bats MTG Card


Timothar excels in card advantage and resource acceleration, enriching your board with Bat tokens. Demands careful play due to discard requirements and specific mana costs that can restrict flexibility. Its versatility and meta relevance make it a worthy addition to decks focused on flying creatures.
Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Creature — Vampire Noble
Abilities Ward
Power 4
Toughness 4

Text of card

Ward— Discard a card. Whenever another nontoken Vampire you control dies, you may pay and exile it. If you do, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying. It gains "When this creature deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice it and return the exiled card to the battlefield tapped."


Cards like Timothar, Baron of Bats

Timothar, Baron of Bats, emerges as an intriguing card in the realm of creature-based strategies in Magic: The Gathering. It draws parallels with Vampire Nighthawk, a well-known card offering a combination of flying, deathtouch, and lifelink. However, Timothar steps up with its unique ability to create Bat tokens, enhancing its value by bolstering your board presence with each creature card you’ve cast from your graveyard.

Moving to another comparison, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet shares the theme of benefiting from creature deaths, but Kalitas excels with its ability to exile creatures and create Zombie tokens instead. Timothar takes a distinct path by focusing on leveraging the graveyard and aerial token generation. Bloodline Keeper is also a counterpart worth mentioning, with its vampire-theme and the capacity to generate flying tokens. Yet, Timothar brings additional flexibility by not restricting the token creation to an activation cost, unlike Bloodline Keeper.

In sum, Timothar, Baron of Bats holds a solid position among creature cards that influence the battlefield with token generation. Its graveyard synergies and autonomous token creation make it a potent option for players crafting decks around recurring creatures and overwhelming opponents with a winged-army.

Vampire Nighthawk - MTG Card versions
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - MTG Card versions
Vampire Nighthawk - MTG Card versions
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - MTG Card versions

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Dakmor Lancer - MTG Card versions
Face of Fear - MTG Card versions
Wire Surgeons - MTG Card versions
Grave Titan - MTG Card versions
Chittering Harvester - MTG Card versions
Crossway Troublemakers - MTG Card versions
Anurid Murkdiver - MTG Card versions
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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Timothar, Baron of Bats serves as a robust engine for card advantage in MTG. Upon entering the battlefield or attacking, his ability to summon Bat tokens can rapidly fill your board, setting you up for future plays and overwhelming your opponent with a swarming strategy.

Resource Acceleration: Each Bat token generated not only poses a threat but also represents potential for resource acceleration. Whether it’s through sacrifice synergies or boosting your creature count for other effects, Timothar can escalate your game presence significantly.

Instant Speed: While Timothar himself isn’t cast at instant speed, his token generation pairs exceptionally with cards that operate at instant speed. This synergy allows you to create Bats during the end step before your turn, leading to surprise blocks or tapping into abilities that count the number of creatures you control when it’s most beneficial.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Timothar, Baron of Bats equips you with a unique tactical edge, one caveat to its invocation is that you’ve got to discard a card. This effect can leave you in a bind, diminishing your hand when you might be counting on those cards for future moves.

Specific Mana Cost: This erstwhile noble demands a specific blend of mana to enter the fray—two black and two of any other. This specificity can clash with the fluidity of multicolor strategies, confining his allegiance to decks that are steeped in the swamps.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Brandishing a casting cost that’s on the higher spectrum, Timothar presents a challenge when considering the tempo of your game. There are alternative creatures or spells that may conjure up more immediate impact or mesh more harmoniously with your strategy for less mana.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Timothar, Baron of Bats proves its adaptability in various deck builds, particularly those that capitalize on flying creatures and vampire synergies. Its ability to work as both an offensive and a defensive asset makes it a valuable addition to black-aligned decks.

Combo Potential: Timothar’s innate ability to grant ward to other vampire creatures not only protects your key pieces but also opens up combo avenues with cards that benefit from or trigger upon activated abilities. It adds a layer of complexity and possibilities for dedicated vampire tribal or bat-themed decks.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state that favors creature-based strategies, Timothar fits the bill as a pertinent choice. Its capability to disrupt opponent’s plans while bolstering your aerial threats keeps it relevant against a wide array of opposing decks, ensuring it remains a competent contender in ever-shifting metas.


How to beat

Timothar, Baron of Bats, weaves a complex web of tricks with its vampire tribe synergy and tokens generating tactics in MTG. To gain an advantage, focus on silencing its ability to spawn bat tokens. Cards like Crippling Fear allow for selective creature removal without harming your board presence, naming a creature type not present on your side to sweep away bat tokens and potentially other vampire threats Timothar may commune with.

Another strategy is to shut down Timothar’s activated abilities. Incarcerate in the Moon or similar enchantments can transform the Baron into a land, nullifying his influence on the battlefield. Additionally, countering Timothar’s cast entirely with a well-timed counter spell ensures he never takes flight. Lastly, keep graveyard removal at hand; cards like Rest in Peace will prevent any recursion shenanigans, ensuring bats and their Baron remain a tale of the past.

Each game involving Timothar demands vigilance and smart preservation of answers to hinder the Baron’s batty barrage. React swiftly and deny the nocturnal noble any foothold; that is the key to triumph over this flighty adversary.


BurnMana Recommendations

Dive deeper into the MTG world with Timothar, Baron of Bats. This card can turn the tides in your favor with relentless Bat token generation and the potential for significant board control. Whether it’s your deck’s linchpin or an exceptional utility player, Timothar’s unique strengths in card advantage and resource acceleration make it a compelling pick. However, its specific disadvantages also demand strategic deck-building and careful gameplay. For players seeking to expand their collection with a multifaceted creature and to explore new deck archetypes, Timothar offers ample opportunities. Level up your game knowledge and strategies with us as we delve into the possibilities that Timothar unfolds.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Timothar, Baron of Bats MTG card by a specific set like Crimson Vow Commander and Crimson Vow Commander, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Timothar, Baron of Bats and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Timothar, Baron of Bats Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-11-19 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by Jason A. Engle.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12021-11-19Crimson Vow CommanderVOC 422015NormalBlackJason A. Engle
22021-11-19Crimson Vow CommanderVOC 42015NormalBlackJason A. Engle
32023-11-17The Lost Caverns of Ixalan CommanderLCC 2102015NormalBlackJason A. Engle

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Timothar, Baron of Bats has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Timothar, Baron of Bats card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2021-11-19 If another creature enters the battlefield as a copy of the Bat token or another effect creates a copy of the Bat token, it will not have the triggered ability granted by Timothar.
2021-11-19 If the exiled card is somehow no longer in exile when the Bat token's triggered ability resolves, you will still sacrifice the Bat token.
2021-11-19 If you can't exile the card, perhaps because another effect moved the card before the triggered ability started resolving, you can't pay and won't create a token.
2021-11-19 The ability of each Bat token you create refers only to the card you exile during the resolution of the ability that created that token. When it deals combat damage to a player, you return only that card to the battlefield, not any other card exiled by Timothar.
2021-11-19 The controller of the Bat token as it deals combat damage to a player will be the controller of its triggered ability, and the exiled card will be returned to the battlefield under that player's control.
2021-11-19 Timothar's last ability is linked to the ability it grants the Bat token. If a replacement effect causes you to create more than one Bat token with this effect, they will all have that linked ability, and the exiled card will be returned to the battlefield if any of them deals combat damage to a player.
2021-11-19 Timothar's last ability triggers when any nontoken Vampire you control dies, not just nontoken Vampires you own. If you control Timothar and another player's nontoken Vampire and that Vampire dies, you may pay to exile that card from their graveyard.