Canyon Lurkers MTG Card
2014-09-26 - Number 105
2019-11-07 - Number 880
2020-09-26 - Number KTK-105
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Human Rogue |
| Abilities | Morph |
| Power | 5 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Text of card
Morph (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for . Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
The broken Qal Sisma foothills make poor terrain for cavalry, but a perfect setting for ambushes.
Cards like Canyon Lurkers
Canyon Lurkers join the ranks of powerful creature cards in Magic: The Gathering, evoking comparisons with its kin such as Hill Giant. Both share the essence of a hefty four-power creature, which can make a big impact on the game’s board state. Yet, Canyon Lurkers introduces a twist with its morph ability, allowing players to lay the card face-down for a lower cost and then flip it for a surprise attack. Hill Giant, while a solid staple of red’s force, doesn’t provide the element of surprise that morph offers.
Other counterparts in the red creature line-up include Goblinslide and Summit Prowler. Goblinslide, much like Canyon Lurkers, takes advantage of the morph strategy but adds flexibility, letting players create 1/1 tokens. Summit Prowler, on the other hand, provides reliable strength without morph but comes with a double color mana requirement, making it less flexible in a multicolor deck.
Overall, Canyon Lurkers finds its unique position among red creatures with its morph option, altering how and when a player might choose to reveal their threat on the battlefield. This card stands out by presenting an extra layer of strategy, especially in limited format games.
Cards similar to Canyon Lurkers by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While Canyon Lurkers may not offer direct card draw, it has the potential to outclass smaller creatures, which can indirectly lead to card advantage by forcing unfavorable trades from your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: Although Canyon Lurkers doesn’t accelerate your resources in the traditional sense, its morph ability allows for a flexible deployment of resources, ensuring you can adapt to the state of the game without falling behind.
Instant Speed: The morph feature of Canyon Lurkers offers a veil of mystery and the tactical advantage of instant-speed-like surprise when flipping it face up, potentially unsettling your opponent’s strategy at a critical moment.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Engaging in the dusty duels of Magic often comes with a cost. Canyon Lurkers ask you to part with another card from your hand to unleash its full potential. This discard condition might strain your hand, especially when you’re striving to maintain card advantage over your opponent.
Specific Mana Cost: If your lands are as varied as the multicolor tapestry of a commander’s battlefield, Canyon Lurkers’ demand for red mana could be tricky. Locked into a color-specific cost, it meshes best with mono-red or red-centric decks, potentially narrowing its playability across the diverse landscape of MTG formats.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a myriad of creatures lurking in the vast card pool of MTG, the mana investment to summon Canyon Lurkers is substantial. For five mana, other creatures offer not only strength but additional abilities or lower summoning costs, positioning Canyon Lurkers as a less efficient choice when building an optimized deck.
Reasons to Include Canyon Lurkers in Your Collection
Versatility: Canyon Lurkers offers flexibility in gameplay, easily sliding into decks crafted around aggression or morph mechanics. The card’s ability to hit the board as a surprise can shake up your opponents’ calculations.
Combo Potential: With its morph ability, Canyon Lurkers harmonizes with strategies aiming to manipulate face-down cards or surprise tactics. Unmorphing also allows for various interactions with cards that care about creatures turning face-up.
Meta-Relevance: As the competitive environment shifts, having creatures that can adapt to various play styles is valuable. Canyon Lurkers can be particularly efficient in a meta where players least expect a high-powered creature morphing mid-game.
How to beat
Canyon Lurkers, from the Magic: The Gathering vast array of creatures, present a challenge due to its morph ability, allowing it to turn facedown for a mere three mana. When flipped face up for its morph cost of five mana, this creature turns into a 5/2, potentially catching opponents off guard. Its strength lies in the surprise element and the sudden burst of damage it can deliver.
To counter Canyon Lurkers, instant-speed removal spells are key. Holding up mana to cast spells like Doom Blade or Path to Exile when the Lurkers turn face up can neutralize them before they inflict substantial damage. Playing creatures with toughness higher than two can also deter attacks, as the Lurkers won’t survive the combat. Board sweepers such as Wrath of God or Blasphemous Act can reset the board, negating the advantage gained by its morphing capabilities. Awareness of when your opponent has enough mana to morph and strategically planning your turns can ensure that the Canyon Lurkers never leap out from behind the rocks to ambush you.
Understanding and anticipating the flow of the game while maintaining control over the board state, therefore, are the keys to ensure that the Canyon Lurkers doesn’t dominate the battlefield.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Canyon Lurkers MTG card by a specific set like Khans of Tarkir and Mystery Booster, 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 Canyon Lurkers and other MTG cards:
BUY NOW BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer
- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Canyon Lurkers Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2014-09-26 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Cynthia Sheppard.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2014-09-26 | Khans of Tarkir | KTK | 105 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Cynthia Sheppard | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 880 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Cynthia Sheppard | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | KTK-105 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Cynthia Sheppard |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Canyon Lurkers has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Canyon Lurkers card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-09-20 | A permanent that turns face up or face down changes characteristics but is otherwise the same permanent. Spells and abilities that were targeting that permanent, as well as Auras and Equipment that were attached to the permanent, aren’t affected. |
| 2014-09-20 | Any time you have priority, you may turn the face-down creature face up by revealing what its morph cost is and paying that cost. This is a special action. It doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. Only a face-down permanent can be turned face up this way; a face-down spell cannot. |
| 2014-09-20 | At any time, you can look at a face-down spell or permanent you control. You can’t look at face-down spells or permanents you don’t control unless an effect instructs you to do so. |
| 2014-09-20 | Because the permanent is on the battlefield both before and after it’s turned face up, turning a permanent face up doesn’t cause any enters-the-battlefield abilities to trigger. |
| 2014-09-20 | If a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or if the game ends. |
| 2014-09-20 | Morph lets you cast a card face down by paying , and lets you turn the face-down permanent face up any time you have priority by paying its morph cost. |
| 2014-09-20 | The face-down spell has no mana cost and has a mana value of 0. When you cast a face-down spell, put it on the stack face down so no other player knows what it is, and pay . This is an alternative cost. |
| 2014-09-20 | When the spell resolves, it enters the battlefield as a 2/2 creature with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. It’s colorless and has a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the creature can still grant it any of these characteristics. |
| 2014-09-20 | You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can easily be differentiated from each other. You’re not allowed to mix up the cards that represent them on the battlefield in order to confuse other players. The order they entered the battlefield should remain clear. Common methods for doing this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield. |