Ravenous Gigantotherium MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 7 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Beast |
| Abilities | Devour |
| Released | 2020-04-17 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Commander 2020 |
| Set code | C20 |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 63 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Bartłomiej Gaweł |
Key Takeaways
- Delivers immediate board impact by devouring creatures and potentially clearing multiple threats at once.
- Can hit the battlefield ahead of schedule in decks with ample ramp, altering the resource dynamic favorably.
- Combines with instant-speed creatures for unexpected gameplay twists and substantial state changes.
Text of card
Devour 3 (As this enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature enters the battlefield with three times that many +1/+1 counters on it.) When Ravenous Gigantotherium enters the battlefield, it deals X damage divided as you choose among up to X target creatures, where X is its power. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to Ravenous Gigantotherium.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Ravenous Gigantotherium provides immediate impact by allowing its controller to potentially eliminate several creatures upon entering the battlefield. This ability can shift the state of the game, clearing the way for attacks or reducing the opponent’s board presence significantly.
Resource Acceleration: Despite the initial high casting cost, playing Ravenous Gigantotherium in a deck with ample ramp spells or mana dorks can lead to an earlier than expected play. Plus, its descent onto the battlefield may free up your other resources to deploy the rest of your hand by taking care of potential threats.
Instant Speed: Although Ravenous Gigantotherium itself isn’t an instant, its devour ability can interact synergistically with creatures that can be cast at instant speed. This allows for strategic flexibility in gameplay, as you can surprise an opponent by playing smaller creatures at the end of their turn and then following up with the Gigantotherium for a potentially game-shifting play.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Ravenous Gigantotherium demands a card to be discarded upon casting, which poses a challenge when your hand is sparse, potentially setting you back in card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Its casting requirements not only ask for a hefty seven mana but also require a precise combination of green mana, which can be cumbersome for multi-colored decks not heavily focused on green.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Requiring seven mana makes it a late-game play, and in fast-paced games or those rife with mana disruption, summoning Ravenous Gigantotherium could prove unwieldy and less competitive compared to lower-cost creatures with similar or better board impact.
Reasons to Include Ravenous Gigantotherium in Your Collection
Versatility: Ravenous Gigantotherium offers a flexible solution for decks that hinge on creature control and reap benefits from devouring creatures for growth. As a late-game drop, it adapts to various board states, turning your small creatures into a significant threat.
Combo Potential: This card thrives in combos with token generation strategies. By converting a swarm of tokens into a massive power boost, Ravenous Gigantotherium not only becomes a formidable force but also enables enter-the-battlefield or death triggers that synergize with other cards in your deck.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where board presence dictates victory, Ravenous Gigantotherium can serve as both a game-ending threat and a way to regain control. Its capability to swing games by removing opponent’s threats or providing a substantial creature advantage makes it a strategic choice for various meta scenarios.
How to Beat Ravenous Gigantotherium
Ravenous Gigantotherium can be a challenging card to face in a game of Magic: The Gathering. With its potential to overpower the board by devouring creatures, players must strategize effectively to counter this behemoth. To mitigate its impact, consider using removal spells like Path to Exile or Murder, which can eliminate it before the devour ability triggers, preventing swarms of 3/3 green Saproling creature tokens from overwhelming you.
Another viable strategy includes counterplay cards, like Negate or Counterspell, to disrupt its casting directly from your opponent’s hand. If Ravenous Gigantotherium does hit the battlefield, controlling the number of creatures your opponent has available to sacrifice can limit the Gigantotherium’s growth and potential damage output. Board wipes like Wrath of God can also be effective both before and after it devours creatures. Additionally, cards like Grafdigger’s Cage can restrain creatures coming out of the graveyard, curbing the Gigantotherium’s threat substantially.
Remembering the importance of timing and the specific properties of spells and abilities in your deck can lead to effective counters against Ravenous Gigantotherium, ensuring you maintain control over the game state.
Cards like Ravenous Gigantotherium
For enthusiasts diving into the green mana realm of Magic: The Gathering, Ravenous Gigantotherium offers a unique angle to creature-based strategies. It sits among a family of large green creatures, like the well-known Gigantosaurus, celebrated for its colossal power and toughness. However, Ravenous Gigantotherium provides an additional benefit that sets it apart – upon devouring creatures, it branches out its utility by destroying an opponent’s creatures, which Gigantosaurus cannot do.
Exploring further parallels, we encounter Bane of Progress, which shares the theme of converting board presence into impactful effects. While Bane of Progress erases artifacts and enchantments and grows in strength, Ravenous Gigantotherium requires a sacrifice of creatures for a chance to wipe opposing threats. Apex Altisaur is another similar card that also triggers destruction when it enters the battlefield or is dealt damage, offering persistent board control.
What sets Ravenous Gigantotherium apart is its devour ability, promising potential for a sweeping advantage through careful planning and timing. Thus, within the realm of hefty green creatures in Magic: The Gathering, Ravenous Gigantotherium stands out as a tactical option for players who enjoy interactive and transformative gameplay.
Cards similar to Ravenous Gigantotherium by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Ravenous Gigantotherium MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2020, 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 Ravenous Gigantotherium and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Ravenous Gigantotherium has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ravenous Gigantotherium card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2020-04-17 | If some of the targets become illegal for Ravenous Gigantotherium’s ability, the original division of damage still applies, but the damage that would have been dealt to illegal targets isn’t dealt at all. |
| 2020-04-17 | Ravenous Gigantotherium can’t devour creatures entering the battlefield at the same time as it. |
| 2020-04-17 | Static abilities, such as that of Glorious Anthem, modify Ravenous Gigantotherium’s power before its triggered ability is put onto the stack. Spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities can’t raise its power in time to change the value of X. |
| 2020-04-17 | The creatures targeted by Ravenous Gigantotherium’s ability deal damage back to Ravenous Gigantotherium before dying if they’re dealt lethal damage. |
| 2020-04-17 | The value of X is locked in as you divide the damage while putting Ravenous Gigantotherium’s ability onto the stack. Changing Ravenous Gigantotherium’s power after that time won’t change how much damage is dealt. |
| 2020-04-17 | You divide the damage as Ravenous Gigantotherium’s triggered ability is put onto the stack, not as it resolves. Each target must be assigned at least 1 damage. You can’t choose more than X targets and assign 0 damage to a target. |
| 2020-04-17 | You may choose zero targets. If you do, Ravenous Gigantotherium deals no damage and is dealt no damage. |
