Benthic Giant MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Giant
Abilities Hexproof
Power 4
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. With hexproof, Benthic Giant stands strong on the board, potentially saving you multiple resources.
  2. Its cost demands a strategic mana pool, primarily favoring blue-centric deck strategies.
  3. In the right deck, Benthic Giant can be a game-changing, untargetable force against opponents.

Text of card

Hexproof (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)

"Some fates you can see coming for you, plain as day, and there's nothing you can do about them." —Callaphe the mariner


Card Pros

Card Advantage: One key strength of Benthic Giant is its built-in protection from spells, ensuring it stays on the board to keep delivering hits. This resilience contributes to card advantage by potentially requiring opponents to expend multiple resources to deal with it.

Resource Acceleration: While Benthic Giant itself doesn’t directly provide resource acceleration, its robust presence on the battlefield can help maintain your other mana investments. This enables more extensive plays and investment in other spells without the worry of losing board presence.

Instant Speed: Benthic Giant’s Hexproof ability synergizes well with decks utilizing instant speed spells and effects. It serves as a reliable recipient for buffs and auras applied at instant speed, without fear of being the target of your opponent’s instant speed removals.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Benthic Giant doesn’t come with a strict discard requirement, but it’s pivotal to note how this card interacts in formats where discarding is a heavy element of gameplay. Players typically won’t be forced to discard when casting this creature, yet still need to manage their hands wisely to safeguard their undersea titan from disruption.

Specific Mana Cost: A blend of specific mana is necessary to get the Benthic Giant into play. The requirement for both generic and blue mana can create limitations, tying the card’s full potential primarily to blue-centric or two-color decks that can reliably meet this demand.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a creature whose presence on the board is substantial, the Benthic Giant’s mana cost is on the high side. This could potentially delay your game tempo as you marshal enough resources to deploy this hexproof leviathan while opponents may advance their board state with less resource-intensive options.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Benthic Giant offers a reliable presence in blue-based decks, fitting snugly into control or midrange strategies with its inherent protection from targeted spells, making it a durable threat on the board.

Combo Potential: Given its hexproof ability, Benthic Giant serves as an ideal candidate for auras and equipment, allowing players to build a formidable creature without fear of it being easily removed by opponents’ targeted effects.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where removal spells are prevalent, Benthic Giant’s resilience to such tactics ensures it remains a relevant choice for maintaining a persistent board state, especially useful in matchups where outlasting the opponent is key.


How to Beat

Benthic Giant can be a formidable presence on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering, largely due to its hexproof ability, which shields it from targeted spells or abilities your opponents control. This towering sea creature stands tall with a solid body, making it a stable force within the blue creature lineup.

To effectively counter Benthic Giant, consider using board wipes that don’t target individual creatures, such as Wrath of God or Damnation, which can sweep the Giant away irrespective of its hexproof. Alternatively, forcing your opponent to sacrifice creatures can be an effective strategy through cards like Diabolic Edict or Liliana of the Veil’s edict effect. Lastly, you can also employ the use of counterspells when Benthic Giant is on the stack, negating its casting altogether, a perfect window given hexproof doesn’t protect spells on the stack.

Utilizing these strategies will help you maintain control over the game by ensuring that Benthic Giant’s advantage doesn’t tilt the scales in your opponent’s favor, keeping your path to victory clear.


Cards like Benthic Giant

Within the depths of the Magic: The Gathering card pool, Benthic Giant serves as a steadfast protector in blue deck builds. It bears comparison to other creatures that offer the hexproof ability, ensuring they remain untargeted by an opponent’s spells or abilities. A notable comparison is with Invisible Stalker, which not only has hexproof but is also unblockable, making it a formidable threat despite its smaller size.

Another similar creature in terms of resilience is Aegis Turtle, a creature with a high defense attribute, making it a valuable defensive asset, although it lacks the hexproof ability of the Benthic Giant. On the flip side, cards like Slippery Bogbonder provide hexproof but with an additional benefit, transferring its hexproof ability to another target creature when entering the battlefield, adding an extra layer of strategic depth to gameplay.

In assessing the Benthic Giant’s role, we see its value in providing a shield against control strategies and creating a reliable creature on the board. While it doesn’t have the extra bells and whistles some comparable cards do, its blend of power, toughness, and innate protection makes it a solid choice in many builds.

Invisible Stalker - MTG Card versions
Aegis Turtle - MTG Card versions
Slippery Bogbonder - MTG Card versions
Invisible Stalker - Innistrad (ISD)
Aegis Turtle - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)
Slippery Bogbonder - Commander 2020 (C20)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Benthic Giant MTG card by a specific set like Theros and Battlebond, 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 Benthic Giant and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Benthic Giant Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2013-09-27 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Jaime Jones.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12013-09-27TherosTHS 412003normalblackJaime Jones
22018-06-08BattlebondBBD 1132015normalblackJaime Jones
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 2962015normalblackJaime Jones
42020-09-26The ListPLST BBD-1132015normalblackJaime Jones

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Benthic Giant has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks