Alora, Cheerful Mastermind MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Legendary Creature — Halfling Rogue |
| Released | 2022-07-07 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate |
| Set code | HBG |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 4 |
| Number | 5w |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Aaron Miller |
Key Takeaways
- Alora enhances hand flexibility with extra draws, key to maintaining strategic upper hand.
- Resource acceleration allows Alora players to cast impactful spells earlier than usual.
- Instant speed abilities of Alora provide real-time adaptability, crucial for winning.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Alora, Cheerful Mastermind MTG card by a specific set like Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate, 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 Alora, Cheerful Mastermind and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Text of card
Whenever you attack, up to one target attacking creature can't be blocked this turn. At the beginning of the next end step, return that creature to its owner's hand. If you do, create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Alora, Cheerful Mastermind is designed to optimize your hand by granting additional draws. This ability ensures you maintain a consistent flow of options, which is a crucial aspect of outmaneuvering opponents.
Resource Acceleration: Alora offers an effective way to ramp up your resources. By providing alternate means of resource generation, this card can significantly boost your capacity to deploy game-changing spells ahead of the usual mana curve.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of Alora’s abilities at instant speed cannot be overstated. This gives players the advantage of adaptability during gameplay, allowing them to react efficiently to the evolving state of the board and disrupting opponents’ strategies seamlessly.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Alora, Cheerful Mastermind mandates a card be discarded upon activation of certain abilities. This could potentially deplete valuable hand assets, making it a strategic drawback if your hand size is critically important.
Specific Mana Cost: Alora’s casting requirements include a diverse blend of mana colors. This specificity may impede integration into a deck with a singular or limited color scheme, thereby reducing its versatility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Boasting a mana curve that may be considered on the steeper end for its abilities, Alora could consume precious resources that might otherwise be allocated for more impactful plays or faster on-board presence.
Reasons to Include Alora, Cheerful Mastermind in Your Collection
Versatility: Alora, Cheerful Mastermind offers a wide array of synergies with various deck mechanics, fitting seamlessly into strategies that emphasize on creature abilities or incremental card advantage.
Combo Potential: Her ability to untap other nonland permanents not only facilitates combo plays but also empowers engines that rely on tapping and untapping repeatedly for value.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where adaptability is paramount, Alora’s capability to enhance multiple aspects of gameplay keeps decks relevant and competitive across various meta shifts.
How to beat
Alora, Cheerful Mastermind is a card that can quickly turn a good position into an overwhelming advantage for your opponent in MTG. It allows a player to get an extra turn if they cast a spell from their hand without paying its mana cost, which can be a game-changer.To counter this play, prioritize removal spells that can target Alora before her ability triggers. Spot removal like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can be effective, particularly in response to the spell that would trigger Alora’s effect. Keeping up mana for countermagic, such as Negate or Dovin’s Veto, can also prevent your opponent from successfully casting the key spell for free.
Graveyard disruption is another strategy to consider. Cards like Rest in Peace or Scavenging Ooze can help to keep Alora’s recurring threat at bay by removing key spells from the graveyard that your opponent might wish to cast for free. Ultimately, staying ahead of the game and timing your responses well can nullify the advantage Alora, Cheerful Mastermind presents, maintaining balance and keeping you in control of the match.
Cards like Alora, Cheerful Mastermind
Alora, Cheerful Mastermind emerges as an intriguing commander in Magic: The Gathering, with a strategy that combines card draw with providing player benefits for casting spells during opponents’ turns. Alora is reminiscent of Rashmi, Eternities Crafter, a card that also rewards players for casting spells on other players’ turns. Both cards have the potential to generate card advantage but do so through different mechanics. Where Rashmi allows you to reveal the top card of your library and potentially cast it without paying its mana cost, Alora specifies that you must draw a card during an opponent’s turn to trigger its effect.
Kykar, Wind’s Fury could also be seen as a contemporary, with its ability to generate a spirit token whenever a noncreature spell is cast. While Kykar favors a strategy proliferating tokens to either buff your board or fuel further spells, Alora emphasizes maximizing the card draw mechanic. This difference underlines Alora’s uniqueness in encouraging a more reactive playstyle compared to Kykar’s proactive approach.
Evaluating the strengths and strategic diversities, Alora, Cheerful Mastermind carves a niche within commander decks that seek to exploit the benefits of interaction during an opponent’s turn, bolstering versatility in a Magic: The Gathering match.
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