Fog Bank MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 11 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Wall
Abilities Defender,Flying
Power 0
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Fog Bank acts as a deterrent, effectively preserving player life totals and other creatures.
  2. Its defensive presence affords players more liberty in allocating mana and shaping strategy.
  3. Despite its strong defense, Fog Bank remains vulnerable to non-damage based removals.

Text of card

(Walls cannot attack.) Flying Fog Bank does not deal or receive combat damage.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Fog Bank offers strategic defense, effectively nullifying combat damage dealt to it each turn. This dissuasion against attacks can protect your life total and other valuable creatures on the board, maintaining your card presence while potentially forcing your opponent to overcommit.

Resource Acceleration: While Fog Bank itself doesn’t directly produce mana or accelerate resources, its mere presence allows you to allocate mana towards more aggressive or diverse plays. By saving on defensive spells and creatures thanks to Fog Bank’s durability, you’re free to channel resources into further developing your board state or strategy.

Instant Speed: Though Fog Bank is a creature and not an instant, its impact is felt immediately upon entering the battlefield due to its defensive capabilities. It provides a formidable obstacle at any stage of the game, forcing opponents to rethink their attack phase and adapt their strategy. Just as with an instant, the timing of playing Fog Bank can significantly influence the flow of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Fog Bank lacks a discard requirement, its susceptibility to spells that force card discards leaves it unprotected. This can be particularly disruptive if Fog Bank is a key component of your defensive strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Fog Bank demands both blue mana for casting, making it less flexible for multicolor decks that may struggle with mana consistency.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although a two-mana defender card might seem cost-effective, other creatures offered at the same cost can provide additional abilities or offensive potential, arguably giving you more value for the mana spent.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Fog Bank serves as an excellent defensive unit in any deck requiring protection against powerful creatures. Its ability to prevent all combat damage makes it a reliable guardian for your life points.

Combo Potential: It pairs well with cards that leverage defenders or benefit from surviving multiple combat phases, potentially activating abilities or unlocking synergy with other cards.

Meta-Relevance: As aggressive creature-based strategies often populate the meta, Fog Bank becomes a valuable asset, efficiently halting assaults and maintaining board stability without high investment.


How to beat

Fog Bank is a unique wall creature in Magic: The Gathering, renowned for its defensive capabilities. This two-mana cost card possesses flying and can prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to and by it. It’s a staple in decks that aim to stall the game, making it an obstacle for many beatdown strategies. Despite its resilience in combat, Fog Bank is still vulnerable to spells that don’t deal damage but rather destroy, exile, or force sacrifices such as “Murder,” “Path to Exile,” and “Diabolic Edict.”

Playing around Fog Bank effectively requires a shift in strategy. Instead of attacking, consider using direct removal to clear the path. You could also bypass the wall entirely with cards that target your opponent directly or creatures with abilities that ignore defender creatures, like cards with the intimidate or unblockable abilities. Enchantment removals like “Naturalize” help as well, disposing of potential enhancements on Fog Bank that could make it more of a nuisance.

While Fog Bank can be a challenge to face down, understanding its weaknesses and adjusting your tactics accordingly can turn this once formidable defender into a mere stepping stone to victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Fog Bank is a card that exemplifies strategic defense in MTG, providing a cost-effective barrier against onslaughts. Its ability to stop combat damage dead in its tracks makes it an undoubted asset in controlling the board and maintaining your stance. While Fog Bank shines in halting attacks, it’s essential to recognize its vulnerabilities to non-damage removals. If you’re looking to reinforce your gameplay with this wall of deterrence or find ways to overcome it, step into the vast world of MTG with us. Discover how Fog Bank can elevate your deck or how best to dismantle its defenses. Immerse yourself in strategy and learning with BurnMana and ensure your next duel is a showcase of skillful play.


Cards like Fog Bank

Fog Bank is a unique defender in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, offering unparalleled protection from combat damage with its ability to negate damage from both combat and trample effects. A solid counterpart to consider is Guard Gomazoa, which shares Fog Bank’s prevention of combat damage with its jellyfish-like resilience. While Guard Gomazoa cannot intercept trample damage, it compensates with its higher toughness, giving it a slight edge in durability.

Another similar protector is Wall of Denial. Though it arrives at a higher casting cost, Wall of Denial boasts not just immunity to combat damage but also the formidable shroud ability, making it untouchable by targeted spells. This card elevates defense in the game to another level compared to Fog Bank, which while reliable, lacks such an evasion characteristic. Perimeter Captain also serves a similar purpose on a different axis. While it doesn’t have Fog Bank’s immunity to damage, it fortifies a player’s life total directly whenever it blocks, adding a sustenance aspect to the defensive strategy.

In essence, while Fog Bank serves as a paragon of creature defense in Magic: The Gathering, each card’s unique traits offer varied approaches to safeguarding a player’s life total and influencing the board state.

Guard Gomazoa - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)
Wall of Denial - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Perimeter Captain - Worldwake (WWK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Fog Bank MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga and Commander 2011, 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 Fog Bank and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Fog Bank Magic the Gathering card was released in 11 different sets between 1998-10-12 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-10-12Urza's SagaUSG 751997normalblackScott Kirschner
22011-06-17Commander 2011CMD 472003normalblackScott Kirschner
32012-07-13Magic 2013M13 522003normalblackHoward Lyon
42013-11-01Commander 2013C13 442003normalblackHoward Lyon
52014-11-07Commander 2014C14 1102015normalblackHoward Lyon
62017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 562015normalblackHoward Lyon
72018-06-08BattlebondBBD 1172015normalblackHoward Lyon
82019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 3822015normalblackHoward Lyon
92020-09-26The ListPLST BBD-1172015normalblackHoward Lyon
102022-10-14Game Night: Free-for-AllGN3 282015normalblackHoward Lyon
112023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 8482015normalblackHoward Lyon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Fog Bank has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-11-17 Fog Bank’s prevention effect isn’t considered while assigning combat damage from a creature with trample. For example, if it blocks a 5/5 creature with trample, that creature’s controller must assign 2 of that creature’s combat damage to Fog Bank and the remainder can be assigned to the defending player or planeswalker.

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