Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Merfolk Ally
Power 4
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Noyan Dar transforms instants and sorceries into threats, reshaping the battlefield dynamics with land animation.
  2. Strategically cast spells at instant speed to utilize Noyan Dar’s abilities, turning lands into unexpected combatants.
  3. Due to its specific mana cost and activation setup, Noyan Dar requires a well-planned Azorius mana base and strategy.

Text of card

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may put three +1/+1 counters on target land you control. If you do, that land becomes a 0/0 Elemental creature with haste that's still a land.

After many years as a lullmage, Noyan Dar turned his talents from allaying Zendikar's fury to the considerably easier task of rousing it.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper at the helm of your deck, every instant and sorcery you cast promises to simultaneously strengthen your board presence. By turning lands into formidable creatures, you not only keep your hand filled but apply pressure on your opponents with each spell.

Resource Acceleration: Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper excels in transforming your lands into potential threats. This unique ability can ramp up your resource pool as it allows lands to serve a dual purpose — still tapping for mana while being a combat-ready force on the battlefield.

Instant Speed: The fact that Noyan Dar triggers on cast gives you the strategic advantage to create and buff land creatures at instant speed. Play around with combat tricks and surprise blocks, or even dodge removals by maximizing the value of each instant or sorcery spell, making Noyan Dar a formidable adversary on the battlefield.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper requires careful planning around your hand management. While there is no direct discard involved, each spell cast effectively ripples into your land base, potentially forcing you to make hard decisions about sequence and resource allocation that could feel like a discard in terms of opportunity cost.

Specific Mana Cost:Noyan Dar’s specific mana requirement of three blue and two white mana makes it a card that is ideally fitted for two-colored Azorius decks. This limitation can narrow deckbuilding options, as it needs a dedicated mana base and might not easily slot into more diversified or multi-colored strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, Noyan Dar enters the battlefield at a stage where games could be nearing their culmination. Its initial investment may be quite steep considering you may need additional spells to start benefiting from its land animation ability, especially when compared with other five-mana-cost cards that can have an immediate impact on the game.


Reasons to Include Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper in Your Collection

Versatility: Noyan Dar offers a unique playstyle by turning lands into potential threats. This ability allows for creative builds around land animation, fitting into control or combo decks that capitalize on spellcasting.

Combo Potential: With Noyan Dar, casting instant and sorcery spells not only progresses your game plan but also builds your battlefield presence by empowering lands. Combined with cards enabling lands to have vigilance or indestructible, this can lead to formidable board states.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that leans towards creature-based strategies, having lands that double as creatures provides an advantage. Noyan Dar’s ability to make lands 3/3 creatures can turn seemingly benign land drops into significant threats that evade most sorcery-speed removal.


How to beat

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper introduces a unique twist to land management in the game of Magic: The Gathering. This legendary creature enables players to animate lands, turning them into potent creatures whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell. To effectively counter this strategy, one must consider removal spells that can address multiple targets or sweep the board, such as Wrath of God or Damnation. Additionally, spells that strip the opponent’s ability to cast spells or that can exile Noyan Dar before it activates its ability are crucial. Cards like Silence or Path to Exile play a significant role in thwarting your opponent’s plans.

Another angle of attack involves limiting the resources your opponent can use to fuel Noyan Dar’s abilities. Land destruction effects or cards that control spell casting, like Blood Moon or Damping Sphere, can hinder your opponent’s momentum. Lastly, keeping a keen eye on instant speed removal or abilities that can disrupt play during your opponent’s turn, such as Fatal Push or Swords to Plowshares, ensures that the animated lands never get a chance to attack or block.

By preparing your deck with these types of answers, you’ll improve your likelihood of dismantling the strategies centered around Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper and keeping the board state in your favor.


Cards like Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper stands out in the arsenal of creature spells within MTG. This card not only brings a creature to the battlefield but also has the unique ability to animate lands into formidable 3/3 Elementals with each cast of an instant or sorcery. This offers a dual utility unmatched by many. Comparable cards include Awaken cards like Clutch of Currents, which also turns lands into creatures, but Noyan Dar does this recurrently, offering more potential over time.

Another analog is Inkmoth Nexus, which similarly animates lands, turning them into creatures, albeit temporarily and without the recurring nature of Noyan Dar’s ability. While the Nexus excels at creating surprise attackers, particularly with its infect ability, Noyan Dar’s consistent land animation could lead to a stout army far-reaching in games. Then, there’s Celestial Colonnade, a creature-land itself that offers an offensive and defensive option repeatedly, but it requires a significant mana investment each time, unlike the one-time cost of deploying Noyan Dar, which then continues to reap benefits.

Evaluating their utilities in gameplay, Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper claims a distinct position, affording strategic depth and a transformative impact on land management that can influence the tide of the game significantly.

Clutch of Currents - MTG Card versions
Inkmoth Nexus - MTG Card versions
Celestial Colonnade - MTG Card versions
Clutch of Currents - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Inkmoth Nexus - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Celestial Colonnade - Worldwake (WWK)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Zendikar and Battle for Zendikar Promos, 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 Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-10-02 and 2015-10-02. Illustrated by Karl Kopinski.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-10-02Battle for ZendikarBFZ 2162015normalblackKarl Kopinski
22015-10-02Battle for Zendikar PromosPBFZ 216s2015normalblackKarl Kopinski

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-08-25 Although Noyan Dar’s ability is very similar to awaken, it is not the same ability. Any card that refers to a “card with awaken” doesn’t include Noyan Dar.
2015-08-25 The ability will resolve before the instant or sorcery spell that caused it to trigger.

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