Brackish Trudge MTG Card

Brackish Trudge excels in repeated utility, emerging again from the graveyard post life gain. The card’s moderate cost and resurrection aid in resourceful deck strategies. Instant-speed return maximizes strategic plays, preserving mana for reactions.

Brackish Trudge - Strixhaven: School of Mages

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Fungus Beast
Released	2021-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Strixhaven: School of Mages
Set code	STX
Power	4
Toughness	2
Number	65
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Tomasz Jedruszek

Text of card

Brackish Trudge enters the battlefield tapped. : Return Brackish Trudge from your graveyard to your hand. Activate only if you gained life this turn.

Most trudges are covered with decaying plant matter, making them ideal breeding grounds for fungal spores.

Cards like Brackish Trudge

Brackish Trudge enters the playing field offering players a recurring creature card that can be a significant asset in the long game. Likening it to Dusk Legion Zealot, we can see that while the Zealot provides immediate card draw upon entering the battlefield, it lacks the resilience of Brackish Trudge which can return to the board. Death’s Duet grants two creature cards from your graveyard to your hand, a similar mechanic to what Brackish Trudge offers but without the inherent stickiness of a creature bound to the battlefield.

Another card that shares traits with Brackish Trudge is Gutterbones. Both creatures can return from the graveyard to the hand, providing lasting value across a match. However, Gutterbones hinges on an opponent having lost life in a turn, whereas Brackish Trudge requires you to gain life to spring it back into play. This difference in condition highlights Brackish Trudge’s potential synergy in life-gain decks.

Overall, Brackish Trudge stands out due to its capability to be a recurring threat in decks focused around life-gain strategies, ensuring a level of persistence that few other black creatures can match.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Brackish Trudge provides a recurring source of card advantage, especially in decks built around life gain mechanics. The ability to return it from your graveyard to your hand whenever you gain life means that it can repeatedly serve as a blocker or an attacker without expending additional cards from your hand.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly produce mana or treasure, Brackish Trudge’s modest casting cost makes it an efficient use of resources. Additionally, its potential for recurring from the graveyard can indirectly lead to resource acceleration by allowing you to deploy more threats without using up the cards in your hand.

Instant Speed: Even though Brackish Trudge itself isn’t an instant, its return-from-graveyard ability can be triggered during your end step after life gain, which allows you to optimize your plays and keep mana open for instant speed responses during your opponent’s turn before committing to bringing Brackish Trudge back to your hand.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Brackish Trudge’s return-to-the-battlefield ability is contingent on you gaining life. This could be challenging if your deck isn’t built to consistently provide life gain, making it less reliable for decks that don’t focus on that interaction.

Specific Mana Cost: Casting Brackish Trudge requires specific mana (black), which could restrict its inclusion in multicolored decks that might struggle with color fixing or prioritizing mana for other spells.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, including two black, Brackish Trudge might be considered a bit costly considering its stats and the conditional nature of its return-from-the-graveyard ability. There are creatures with comparable or lower costs that may provide more immediate or guaranteed effects.

Reasons to Include Brackish Trudge in Your Collection

Versatility: Brackish Trudge is a flexible addition to many black or multicolored decks, particularly those focused on life gain strategies. Its inherent ability to return from the graveyard offers recurring value throughout the game.

Combo Potential: The functional synergy of Brackish Trudge with sacrifice outlets and life gain enables intricate combos, making it a solid piece in engine decks or those revolving around graveyard interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where creature-heavy decks prevail, Brackish Trudge could serve as a resilient threat that persists beyond typical removal spells, aligning well with the enduring nature of such metas.

How to beat Brackish Trudge

Brackish Trudge is a unique creature card that can be a relentless headache for opponents in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield makes it a persistent threat. Unlike other creatures that require specific conditions or additional cost for their revival, Brackish Trudge simply requires you to gain life in order to trigger its return. This resilience can keep your enemies on their toes.

Confronting Brackish Trudge effectively requires a two-pronged strategy. Firstly, disrupting life gain mechanics can limit its chance to return. Cards that prevent life gain or remove the creature from the game entirely, like exile effects, are particularly potent. Ensnaring this trudge in a web of control spells, counterspells, and graveyard hate is crucial. Grafdigger’s Cage, for instance, can obstruct its return. Secondly, employing strategies to weaken its influence on the battlefield, such as reducing its power, deterring combat, or enacting substitutions that nullify combat damage, can diminish its impact.

To summarize, successfully managing Brackish Trudge requires a combination of strategic removal, prevention of life gain, and battlefield control. Adapting your play to handle these undead creatures ensures they spend more time in the graveyard than pestering you on the battlefield.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Brackish Trudge MTG card by a specific set like Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Brackish Trudge and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Brackish Trudge has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Timeless	Legal