Spinerock Knoll MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 9 setsSee all
RarityRare
TypeLand
Abilities Hideaway

Key Takeaways

  1. Supplies card advantage by hiding a powerful spell until the hideaway condition triggers.
  2. Facilitates early deployment of high-cost cards, ramping up your resource game.
  3. Plays the exiled card akin to instant speed, which can unexpectedly alter games.

Text of card

Hideaway (This land comes into play tapped. When it does, look at the top four cards of your library, remove one from the game face down, then put the rest on the bottom of your library.) : Add to your mana pool. , : You may play the removed card without paying its mana cost if an opponent was dealt 7 or more damage this turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Spinerock Knoll enables a strategic advantage by hiding away a potentially game-changing card until the condition of an opponent losing 7 or more life in a turn is met. Once the activation requirement is satisfied, it allows you to play the exiled card without paying its mana cost, granting you a significant edge over your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: As a land, Spinerock Knoll contributes to your mana base. However, its real acceleration potential lies in its ability to bypass the mana cost of the exiled card. This effectively ramps up your resources, as you are able to deploy a high-cost card potentially much earlier than usual.

Instant Speed: While Spinerock Knoll’s ability isn’t an instant itself, it allows for the exiled card to be played at a timing similar to instant speed. This happens once the condition is met, typically after combat damage, catching opponents off-guard and allowing for surprising comebacks or instant board impact outside of the main phases.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Spinerock Knoll demands that a condition be met – specifically, an opponent losing 7 or more life in a single turn – before you can access the exiled card. This requirement can be restrictive and isn’t always within your control, potentially leaving you without access to that card when you need it most.

Specific Mana Cost: This land enters the battlefield tapped unless you’re meeting its specific conditions, which can slow down your momentum. Additionally, it provides red mana, which must be factored into your mana base and may not align with the color requirements of your other cards.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the hidden-away card can be cast without paying its mana cost, the preliminary hurdle of dealing 7 damage in one turn to unlock Spinerock Knoll’s ability can be a high barrier, especially against decks that are effective at life gain or damage mitigation.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Spinerock Knoll can be an asset across various deck archetypes due to its ability to hide away a valuable card until conditions are right for a game-changing play. Its capacity to store an extra spell without taking up space in your hand makes it adaptable and a strategic land choice for many red-based decks.

Combo Potential: With its hideaway feature, this land sets the stage for powerful combos. You can store a high-impact spell that may turn the tides when your opponent least expects it. Used in conjunction with damage spells or strategies that lower life totals quickly, Spinerock Knoll complements a tactical build-up to a surprise finisher.

Meta-Relevance: As the game fluctuates with different popular decks and strategies, having a card that can quietly turn the tables is invaluable. In a meta where games are prolonged or opponents are prone to dealing significant damage, Spinerock Knoll’s conditional requirement becomes easier to satisfy, providing consistent additional value to your plays.


How to beat

Spinerock Knoll is a land card in Magic the Gathering that offers a late-game advantage by allowing you to exile a card when certain conditions are met, then play it without paying its mana cost. Key to overturning the tide against this card is a strategy that curbs your opponent’s ability to deal damage. If they can’t deal 7 damage in a single turn, Spinerock Knoll’s hideaway ability remains locked.

Using disruption tactics can effectively prevent your opponent from utilizing the exiled card. Counter spells, hand disruption, and removal spells are excellent at interrupting your opponent’s plans. Cards that force your opponent to play at a slower pace and ones that control the board state will mitigate the chances of them fulfilling the hideaway condition. Moreover, land destruction or cards that allow you to take control of or exchange control of lands can also serve as direct answers to Spinerock Knoll’s potential threat.

It’s crucial to be vigilant about your opponent’s damage output and to manage your removals wisely. Disrupt their tempo, keep pressure with your own threats, and Spinerock Knoll’s advantage can be efficiently neutralized, allowing you to maintain control over the flow of the game.


Cards like Spinerock Knoll

Spinerock Knoll is an intriguing land card in MTG that offers both mana acceleration and conditional card advantage. Its closest counterpart is perhaps Mosswort Bridge, which shares the hideaway ability, allowing you to play a card without paying its mana cost under certain conditions. While Spinerock Knoll requires you to deal 7 damage to an opponent in a single turn to unlock the hidden card, Mosswort Bridge looks for a creature with total power 10 or greater.

Looking at other similar cards, we come across Windbrisk Heights, which also harbors the hideaway trait. It activates when you attack with three or more creatures, catering to a more swarm-oriented strategy than the damage-centric trigger of Spinerock Knoll. On the other hand, there’s Howltooth Hollow, which is part of the same family with an unlocking condition dependent on players having no cards in hand.

Ultimately, while each land with hideaway caters to different strategies, Spinerock Knoll stands out for decks aiming to dish out considerable amounts of damage quickly. Its ability to provide an explosive play by revealing a potentially game-changing spell gives it a unique position among its peers in MTG.

Mosswort Bridge - MTG Card versions
Windbrisk Heights - MTG Card versions
Howltooth Hollow - MTG Card versions
Mosswort Bridge - Lorwyn (LRW)
Windbrisk Heights - Lorwyn (LRW)
Howltooth Hollow - Lorwyn (LRW)

Cards similar to Spinerock Knoll by color, type and mana cost

Mountain - MTG Card versions
Dwarven Ruins - MTG Card versions
Dormant Volcano - MTG Card versions
Sandstone Needle - MTG Card versions
Smoldering Crater - MTG Card versions
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - MTG Card versions
Ghitu Encampment - MTG Card versions
Teetering Peaks - MTG Card versions
Vivid Crag - MTG Card versions
Blighted Gorge - MTG Card versions
Memorial to War - MTG Card versions
Snow-Covered Mountain - MTG Card versions
Forgotten Cave - MTG Card versions
Castle Embereth - MTG Card versions
Desert of the Fervent - MTG Card versions
Kazuul's Fury // Kazuul's Cliffs - MTG Card versions
Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge - MTG Card versions
Spikefield Hazard // Spikefield Cave - MTG Card versions
Shivan Gorge - MTG Card versions
Flamekin Village - MTG Card versions
Mountain - Bloomburrow (BLB)
Dwarven Ruins - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Dormant Volcano - Visions (VIS)
Sandstone Needle - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Smoldering Crater - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Ghitu Encampment - Tenth Edition (10E)
Teetering Peaks - Premium Deck Series: Fire and Lightning (PD2)
Vivid Crag - Commander 2015 (C15)
Blighted Gorge - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Memorial to War - Dominaria (DOM)
Snow-Covered Mountain - Kaldheim (KHM)
Forgotten Cave - Modern Horizons (MH1)
Castle Embereth - Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB)
Desert of the Fervent - Commander 2020 (C20)
Kazuul's Fury // Kazuul's Cliffs - Zendikar Rising (ZNR)
Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge - Zendikar Rising (ZNR)
Spikefield Hazard // Spikefield Cave - Zendikar Rising (ZNR)
Shivan Gorge - The List (PLST)
Flamekin Village - The List (PLST)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Spinerock Knoll MTG card by a specific set like Lorwyn and Commander 2015, 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 Spinerock Knoll and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Spinerock Knoll Magic the Gathering card was released in 9 different sets between 2007-10-12 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12007-10-12LorwynLRW 2742003normalblackSteve Prescott
22015-11-13Commander 2015C15 3092015normalblackSteve Prescott
32016-11-11Commander 2016C16 3272015normalblackSteve Prescott
42019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 4392015normalblackNagano
52020-04-17Commander 2020C20 3162015normalblackSteve Prescott
62020-09-26The ListPLST C20-3162015normalblackSteve Prescott
72021-07-23Forgotten Realms CommanderAFC 2632015normalblackSteve Prescott
82022-04-29New Capenna CommanderNCC 4292015normalblackSteve Prescott
92022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 9162015normalblackSteve Prescott

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Spinerock Knoll has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2007-10-01 At the time the last ability resolves, you'll get to play the card if a player who is currently your opponent, or a player who was your opponent at the time they left the game, has been dealt 7 damage over the course of the turn.
2007-10-01 It doesn't matter how the opponent was dealt damage or by whom, as long as the total damage is 7 or more. You don't specify an opponent when you activate the ability.
2007-10-01 You'll get to play the card even if Spinerock Knoll wasn't on the battlefield at the time some or all of the 7 damage was dealt.
2022-04-29 Any player who has controlled a permanent with a hideaway ability since a card was exiled with it may look at that card.
2022-04-29 Hideaway now causes you to put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your library in a random order instead of any order.
2022-04-29 Previously, permanents with hideaway entered the battlefield tapped. This ability has been removed from the definition of hideaway. Older cards have received errata to have an additional paragraph that reads “
-his permanent] enters the battlefield tapped,” and they now have hideaway 4.
2022-04-29 “Hideaway N” means “When this permanent enters the battlefield, look at the top N cards of your library. Exile one of them face down and put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. The exiled card gains ‘The player who controls the permanent that exiled this card may look at this card in the exile zone.'”

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks