Rotcrown Ghoul MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Zombie
Abilities	Mill
Released	2012-05-04
Set symbol
Set name	Avacyn Restored
Set code	AVR
Power	3
Toughness	3
Number	72
Frame	2003
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Dave Kendall

Key Takeaways

Rotcrown Ghoul provides card draw and milling upon dying, ideal for blue and graveyard-centric decks.
Exiling from the graveyard as a cost can restrict broader strategic plays within certain decks.
Despite mana considerations, it offers tactical advantages in graveyard manipulation and synergy.

Text of card

When Rotcrown Ghoul dies, target player puts the top five cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

"Don't look into its eyes. It's thinking things no dead thing should think." —Captain Eberhart

Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Rotcrown Ghoul makes its way to the graveyard from the battlefield, it permits the controller to draw a card, reinforcing hand options and maintaining momentum within the game. This ability aligns well with decks that capitalize on graveyard mechanics and are looking to establish a steady flow of cards.

Resource Acceleration: The secondary ability of Rotcrown Ghoul to mill a card offers indirect acceleration. It potentially places additional resource cards in the graveyard, which can be recouped or used to your advantage if your strategy includes revival or graveyard synergies.

Instant Speed: While not itself an instant, the innate ability of Rotcrown Ghoul to trigger its card draw effect can be exploited at instant speed in combination with sacrificial effects or cards that require you to send a creature to the graveyard. This synergy offers flexibility, enabling you to adapt to the board state as it unfolds and maximize the value received from the ghoul’s presence and eventual demise.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Rotcrown Ghoul’s ongoing benefit is tethered to a stipulation where you need to exile it from your graveyard, which could limit your strategic options, especially considering graveyard interaction is a key component in some MTG deck frameworks.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature card has a specific mana requirement that necessitates one blue mana, which could restrict deck-building flexibility, requiring you to build around a blue-centric strategy or include mana-fixing measures to accommodate it.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three generic and one blue mana to summon Rotcrown Ghoul, this card may contest for a spot with other lower cost creatures or spells while offering less immediate impact on the game state, potentially slowing down your tempo in fast-paced matches.

Reasons to Include Rotcrown Ghoul in Your Collection

Versatility: Rotcrown Ghoul offers a flexible role in various blue or zombie-themed decks. As a creature with a relevant tribal type, it can be easily incorporated into synergistic strategies that reward you for playing with creatures from its tribe.

Combo Potential: This creature’s ability to draw you a card when it dies can be exploited with cards that require creature sacrifices, thus fueling graveyard strategies or enabling you to draw more cards for advantage.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where graveyards are a battlefield extension, Rotcrown Ghoul fits right in. It acts as a resilient threat that provides value even after leaving the field, making it a smart choice for decks that thrive on incremental advantages.

How to beat

Rotcrown Ghoul finds its niche in the aquatic depths of MTG as an intriguing undead denizen. Its ability to synergize with a mill strategy by putting the top four cards of a player’s library into their graveyard upon death can lead to some unexpected game swings. However, players can navigate this slippery ghoul through a few effective countermeasures.

The key is prevention and control. For starters, immediate and direct removal spells that exile rather than destroy, such as Path to Exile or Silkwrap, can prevent the ghoul’s ability from triggering. This approach not only removes the threatening creature but also ensures your opponent’s graveyard doesn’t get any new cards to work with.

Another efficient tactic involves graveyard hate cards such as Relic of Progenitus or Leyline of the Void. These utilities can stop the ghoul’s mill ability dead in the water by either continually clearing the graveyard or denying cards from ever reaching it. By understanding the ghoul’s nature and preparing the right answers, players can easily turn the tide against Rotcrown Ghoul and keep their libraries safe from its watery grasp.

Cards like Rotcrown Ghoul

Rotcrown Ghoul makes for an interesting point of comparison among blue creatures in Magic: The Gathering that work from the graveyard. Like Rotcrown Ghoul, Stitched Drake requires a creature card be exiled from your graveyard to cast it, but in return, it offers more power. While both creatures follow a theme of leveraging the graveyard, the Drake presents a more formidable presence on the battlefield immediately.

Another counterpart is Armored Skaab, which comes with the benefit of self-milling to populate your graveyard, a strategy that can synergize well with Rotcrown Ghoul’s ability. Although it doesn’t have an immediate impact when it goes to the graveyard from the battlefield, the Skaab helps set up future plays. Moreover, there is Wight of Precinct Six which gains strength from the number of creature cards in your opponent’s graveyard, hinting at a different strategic pathway centered around controlling the opponent’s graveyard instead of utilizing your own.

Comparing these cards, Rotcrown Ghoul represents a solid choice within the blue creature card roster that gravitates towards graveyard tactics. It might not always have the raw power of its peers, but the intricacy of its ability can create advantageous situations for players who capitalize on graveyard interactions.

Wight of Precinct Six - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Rotcrown Ghoul by color, type and mana cost

Vesuvan Doppelganger - MTG Card versions

Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - MTG Card versions

Timin, Youthful Geist - MTG Card versions

Meloku the Clouded Mirror - MTG Card versions

Azami, Lady of Scrolls - MTG Card versions

Vesuvan Doppelganger - Foreign Black Border (FBB)

Water Elemental - Masters Edition IV (ME4)

Sandbar Crocodile - Media Inserts (PMEI)

Segovian Leviathan - Fourth Edition (4ED)

Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)

Wu Admiral - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)

Timin, Youthful Geist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Geology Enthusiast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Meloku the Clouded Mirror - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)

Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Commander Masters (CMM)

Cloudhoof Kirin - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Rotcrown Ghoul MTG card by a specific set like Avacyn Restored, 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 Rotcrown Ghoul and other MTG cards: