Generous Patron MTG Card


Generous Patron - Battlebond
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Elf Advisor
Abilities Support
Released2018-06-08
Set symbol
Set nameBattlebond
Set codeBBD
Power 1
Toughness 4
Number70
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byLucas Graciano

Key Takeaways

  1. Generous Patron provides card advantage by allowing card draw while placing counters on creatures.
  2. Its support abilities can also significantly accelerate your resource generation, shaping your strategic options.
  3. Instantaneous utility from its abilities can surprise opponents and optimize your board state efficiently.

Text of card

When Generous Patron enters the battlefield, support 2. (Put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to two other target creatures.) Whenever you put one or more counters on a creature you don't control, draw a card.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Generous Patron offers a unique way to place +1/+1 counters on creatures you don’t control and rewarding you with card draw. This nuanced dynamic can provide a consistent stream of new cards while influencing the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Cards drawn from the effect of Generous Patron can lead to a variety of strategic advantages such as finding lands for resource acceleration, revealing key spells for your game plan, or simply maintaining pressure on opponents by developing your board presence faster.

Instant Speed: Despite being a creature, Generous Patron facilitates plays at instant speed through its support abilities. This enables strategic decisions during the end step of your opponent’s turn, allowing you to optimize the timing of your plays and maintain the element of surprise.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Generous Patron offers a beneficial support ability, it holds the condition of needing to discard a card. Players must weigh their hand’s value before committing to this trade-off, as discarding crucial spells may hinder their overall strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Generous Patron’s casting cost demands two specific types of mana (green and colorless). This requirement can be a limiting factor, primarily if your deck runs on a diverse mana base, confining its smooth inclusion only to color-committed decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that competes with other three-mana staples, Generous Patron’s impact on the board could be deemed less influential than other creatures or spells that offer immediate value or possess inherently stronger abilities.


Reasons to Include Generous Patron in Your Collection

Versatility: Generous Patron offers flexibility due to its ability to interact with any type of permanent you and your opponents control. This dynamic can support a wide array of strategic archetypes, from enhancing your own battlefield presence to interfering with your opponent’s plans.

Combo Potential: With its capacity to distribute +1/+1 counters, Generous Patron can easily become a key piece in combos or synergies that revolve around counter manipulation. It’s particularly potent in decks revolving around proliferate mechanics or those that capitalize on creatures growing stronger with each counter.

Meta-Relevance: As metagames often shift towards creature-based strategies, Generous Patron can be a timely addition to counter dominant decks. By providing the flexibility to strengthen your creatures or strategically support your gameplay, it remains relevant and can provide a critical edge in various matchups.


How to beat

Generous Patron presents a unique challenge within the battlefield of Magic: The Gathering. It shines as a utility creature that thrives on distributing +1/+1 counters, enhancing your creatures while simultaneously offering the boon of card draw. Its ability to support the player’s board state and hand resources concurrently makes it a compact powerhouse within green-centered strategies.

To outmaneuver this multifaceted threat, focus on removal spells that can bypass its potential to generate card advantage. Targeted removal such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile can efficiently dispatch the Patron before the card draw ability is triggered. Alternatively, sweepers like Wrath of God or Damnation handle the task with broader strokes, clearing Generous Patron alongside other threats. Deploying these spells at the right moment is key; aim to minimize the Patron’s impact by timing your removal to prevent the opponent from drawing additional cards. Moreover, leveraging graveyard recursion or exile effects can prevent the Patron from returning to the fray, ensuring that the advantage it provides remains a one-time affair.

In sum, disrupting the Generous Patron’s value engine requires precise timing and strategic use of removal. This will preserve the balance of the game, keeping the Patron’s generous contributions strictly to a minimum.


BurnMana Recommendations

For MTG players looking to the synergy between +1/+1 counter mechanics and card draw, Generous Patron could be a valuable addition to your deck. Alternating between being a friend or a foe on the battlefield, Generous Patron provides clever tactical options that can be turned into card advantage. As the meta evolves, including cards with versatility like Generous Patron might just be the trick to outmaneuvering opponents. Harness the card’s combo potentials and its ability to adapt to various matchups. Ready to amplify your strategic plays with Generous Patron? Dive in with us for deeper insights and ways to optimize your deck with this curious card.


Cards like Generous Patron

Generous Patron weaves into the tapestry of support cards in MTG with a unique twist. It holds a resemblance to cards like Benefactor’s Draught, as both cards provide a boost to your creatures and draw you cards. What makes Generous Patron stand out is its capability of placing +1/+1 counters on not just your own creatures, but also your opponent’s, which in turn lets you draw a card for each creature you’ve supported. This feature creates a delicate balance between aiding your adversary and advancing your own board state.

Another card akin to Generous Patron is Zameck Guildmage. While Zameck also exploits +1/+1 counters, it does so with an ongoing effect and gives you the freedom to transform those counters into additional card draw. It, however, requires an activation cost for each card drawn, unlike Generous Patron’s upfront and potentially sizable card advantage. Encounter with the Infinite shares a similar card advantage objective, offering a significant amount of cards in exchange for the immediate end of your turn—an impressive trade-off but one that’s markedly different than the incremental value Generous Patron offers.

Ultimately, in the realm of counter-based card advantage, Generous Patron brings a quid pro quo element to the table that can skillfully be leveraged for both tactical gains and beneficial alliances within MTG games.

Benefactor's Draught - MTG Card versions
Zameck Guildmage - MTG Card versions
Benefactor's Draught - Commander 2016 (C16)
Zameck Guildmage - Gatecrash Promos (PGTC)

Cards similar to Generous Patron by color, type and mana cost

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Cat Warriors - Legends (LEG)
Rysorian Badger - Homelands (HML)
Sabertooth Cobra - Mirage (MIR)
Quirion Druid - Visions (VIS)
Spike Feeder - Stronghold (STH)
Hungry Hungry Heifer - Unglued (UGL)
Titania's Chosen - Urza's Saga (USG)
Taoist Mystic - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Femeref Archers - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Lydari Druid - Sega Dreamcast Cards (PSDG)
Steel Leaf Champion - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Realmwalker - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Topiary Stomper - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Territorial Scythecat - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Wirewood Savage - Onslaught (ONS)
Shizuko, Caller of Autumn - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Reki, the History of Kamigawa - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Timberwatch Elf - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Leatherback Baloth - DCI Promos (PDCI)
Pincher Beetles - Tenth Edition (10E)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Generous Patron MTG card by a specific set like 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 Generous Patron and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Generous Patron has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-06-08 Generous Patron’s last ability triggers even if the counters you put on another player’s creatures aren’t +1/+1 counters.
2018-06-08 If a creature enters the battlefield with counters under another player’s control, that player is the player who puts those counters on it, even if you control the spell or ability putting that creature onto the battlefield.
2018-06-08 If a spell with support has other abilities that target creatures, those abilities and the support ability can target the same creature.
2018-06-08 If some, but not all, targets for a spell become illegal, the remaining targets are affected as appropriate. If all of a spell’s targets become illegal, that spell doesn’t resolve.
2018-06-08 If you put one or more counters on multiple creatures you don’t control at the same time, such as by supporting two different creatures you don’t control, Generous Patron’s last ability triggers for each of those creatures.
2018-06-08 Support can target a creature another player controls.
2018-06-08 You can’t put more than one +1/+1 counter on any one target using the support action.

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