Bartered Cow MTG Card
2019-10-04 - Number 6
2019-11-07 - Number 33
2020-09-26 - Number ELD-6
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Ox |
| Abilities | Food |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
Text of card
When Bartered Cow dies or when you discard it, create a Food token. (It's an artifact with ", , Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.")
At the market, no one heeded Hilda's frantic mooing. The fae curse was turning out even worse than she had feared.
Cards like Bartered Cow
Bartered Cow takes its place in the field of creature cards within Magic: The Gathering, aligning itself with others that have a death-triggered benefit. This humble bovine stands out with its unique ability to summon a Food token upon death, a feature that isn’t commonly found among its peers. It shares some similarities with cards like Doomed Traveler, which provides a different kind of value by creating a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying when it perishes.
Another card worth noting is Filigree Familiar, a creature that also lives within the space of death-triggered rewards. It provides a similar comfort by allowing you to draw a card when it dies. While this creates immediate card advantage rather than a Food token, the concept of garnering an extra benefit upon death is a shared trait. Additionally, Bartered Cow’s stipulation that it must be sacrificed after being discarded adds an extra layer of decision-making during gameplay, akin to the conditions found on cards like Perilous Myr which deals damage when it goes to the graveyard from the battlefield.
Considering their unique attributes and the varying forms of advantages they provide upon death, Bartered Cow represents a distinctive choice among creatures with death-triggered effects, offering strategic value in Magic: The Gathering through its Food token generation.
Cards similar to Bartered Cow by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Bartered Cow. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | WBR | Pauper | Pauper Challenge 32 2024-03-30 | |
 | Abzan Midrange | Pauper | Pauper Jungle |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Playing Bartered Cow can lead to significant card advantage in the right deck, especially when it’s used in conjunction with sacrifice mechanics. When Bartered Cow leaves the battlefield, its ability lets you draw a card and lose a life, ensuring you replace it in your hand and potentially draw into more powerful cards.
Resource Acceleration: While Bartered Cow itself doesn’t directly accelerate your resource pool, being a creature that can be easily converted into other resources, like food tokens through various synergistic interactions, can indirectly lead to an acceleration in your in-game resources. These tokens in turn can be essential. They help stabilize your life total, or can be used in conjunction with other cards for further strategic plays.
Instant Speed: Although Bartered Cow doesn’t operate at instant speed itself, its benefits can be maximized when combined with instant speed sacrifice effects. By utilizing these effects during an opponent’s turn, you can create surprise blocking scenarios or make advantageous trades, aligning well with the flexible and reactive nature of instant speed strategies.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Bartered Cow’s ability becomes active upon being discarded from your hand, which can be a strategic setback if you’re not prepared to lose other valuable cards or don’t have a reliable way to trigger the discard.
Specific Mana Cost: This card has a casting cost that includes white mana, which can potentially restrict it to decks that run Plains or produce white mana, therefore reducing its flexibility in multi-color decks that may not prioritize white.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three and one white mana, Bartered Cow might not be the most cost-efficient creature when considering its 3/3 stats. There are alternatives in the same mana range that might provide greater impact on the game state or offer additional abilities.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Bartered Cow boasts flexibility in various deck strategies, particularly those emphasizing creature sacrifice or graveyard synergies. Its ability to provide a food token when it dies offers multiple lines of gameplay.
Combo Potential: This bovine asset pairs well with cards that capitalize on artifacts or token generation. The food token created upon the cow’s demise can be a handy resource for decks that thrive on such mechanics.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where resource management is crucial, Bartered Cow can effectively function as both a creature and an artifact generator, providing players with a useful tool against a range of opposing strategies.
How to beat
Bartered Cow might not be the flashiest creature in Magic: The Gathering, but it operates as a resilient element in certain deck strategies. When faced with a Bartered Cow, an efficient method to overcome it involves managing your card removal resources. Cards like Shock and Pacifism are particularly effective as they disable Bartered Cow without triggering its death benefit, thereby preventing your opponent from capitalizing on the additional Food token that comes from its demise.
Another strategy includes using effects that force sacrifice without dealing damage or destroying, as seen with Liliana’s Triumph. This employs a bypass tactic, making the actual stats of Bartered Cow irrelevant. Alternatively, exile effects such as Path to Exile ensure that the Cow is permanently removed from the game, once again avoiding the creation of a Food token. These methods help neutralize the benefit your opponent would gain while maintaining tempo and board control in your favor.
In essence, beating Bartered Cow requires a mix of tactical removal and an understanding of how its death triggers can affect the game state. Keeping such strategies in hand will ensure you’re ready to face the resilient bovine without letting it tip the scales towards your opponent’s advantage.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Bartered Cow MTG card by a specific set like Throne of Eldraine and Mystery Booster, 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 Bartered Cow and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
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Printings
The Bartered Cow Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2019-10-04 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Deruchenko Alexander.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019-10-04 | Throne of Eldraine | ELD | 6 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Deruchenko Alexander | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 33 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Deruchenko Alexander | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | ELD-6 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Deruchenko Alexander |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Bartered Cow has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Bartered Cow card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2019-10-04 | Bartered Cow's ability is a triggered ability, not an activated ability. It doesn't allow you to discard it or sacrifice it whenever you want; rather, you need some other way of discarding it or causing it to die. |
| 2019-10-04 | Food is an artifact type. Even though it appears on some creatures (such as Gingerbrute), it's never a creature type. |
| 2019-10-04 | Whatever you do, don't eat the delicious cards. |
| 2019-10-04 | You can't sacrifice a Food token to pay multiple costs. For example, you can't sacrifice a Food token to activate its own ability and also to activate the ability of Tempting Witch. |