Hamza, Guardian of Arashin MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityUncommon
TypeLegendary Creature — Elephant Warrior
Power 5
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Hamza offers cost reduction for creatures, enabling earlier and more powerful plays.
  2. Requires careful resource management to avoid potential discard downsides.
  3. Strategies to beat Hamza include board wipes and targeted removal.

Text of card

This spell costs less to cast for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it. Creature spells you cast cost less to cast for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it.

"I stand with every member of my clan, and they stand with me."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Hamza, Guardian of Arashin shines by creating a card advantage through cost reduction. By having creatures with +1/+1 counters on them, you get to reduce the casting cost of creature spells, allowing you to play bigger creatures much earlier in the game.

Resource Acceleration: Hamza can provide a significant resource acceleration. His ability aids in accelerating the casting of your creature spells faster, and at a considerably discounted cost provided the conditions are met. This helps in building a strong board presence early on in the game. Springboarding into larger creatures sooner can often tilt the game in your favor.

Instant Speed: While Hamza does not offer instant speed interactions itself, it synergizes well with instant speed counter mechanics, supplementing your plays during opponents’ turns. Using your combat tricks and instant spells to add counters to your creatures while Hamza is on board can give you sudden and surprising mana cost reductions for creature spells in your hand.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Players should consider that Hamza, Guardian of Arashin, implicates a potential downside in its gameplay. This card enforces a requirement to discard other cards, creating an extra cost that may put you in a tight spot, particularly when your deck is running low on resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Another limitation of Hamza, Guardian of Arashin is its specific mana cost. The intricacies lie in the necessity of green and white mana types. These color restrictions can limit its application to certain kinds of decks, demanding a particular kind of mana base that may confine your deck construction and strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: This creature card bears a notable weight in terms of mana cost. Valued at six mana, there are other alternatives with lower cost or more potent abilities that could provide more value. Assessing whether Hamza, Guardian of Arashin aligns with your deck composition and can justify its high cost is a crucial factor to consider during the deckbuilding process.


Reasons to Include Hamza, Guardian of Arashin in Your Collection

Versatility: Hamza, Guardian of Arashin is a powerful card that is optimal for both aggressive and control strategies. This card’s ability to reduce creature spells cost can be highly advantageous in any deck that primarily features creature cards.

Combo Potential: Hamza’s ability works wonders in combination with decks that operate on counters, scaling excellently with +1/+1 counters. This card can act as a fulcrum in +1/+1 combo decks, providing immense value.

Meta-Relevance: Depending on the meta-game landscape, Hamza, Guardian of Arashin could prove to be a strategic card. Its counter manipulation mechanism and creature-based cost reduction greatly amplify its relevance in a meta-game that normatively features counter and creature-heavy decks.


How to Beat

Hamza, Guardian of Arashin is a distinctive card in MTG, deservedly drawing the attention of versatile deck builders. An aggressive elephant warrior from the plane of Tarkir, it allows you to cast creature spells for less, dependent on +1/+1 counters in play. The challenge, therefore, lies in tackling its potential to reduce cost and command a formidable creature presence.

To counter this, you can engage immunity spells such as Counterspell and send Hamza back to the command zone, disrupting the opposing player’s strategies. Alternatively, consider exploiting cards like Wrath of God which clears the battlefield, eliminating all creatures, henceforth diminishing the strength of Hamza.

Cards such as Pacifism effectively immobilize Hamza, rendering it harmless without altering player’s counter accumulation. Cards like Canopy Vista can also be used to keep your life points buffered, undermining Hamza’s attacking strength.

Ultimately, tackling Hamza, Guardian of Arashin boils down to swift, strategic moves which disrupt the opposing player’s creature control, effectively mitigating the threat posed by this unique card in Magic: The Gathering.


BurnMana Recommendations

Diving into the depths of MTG gameplay offers an endless journey of strategy, finesse, and the thrill of collecting. Hamza, Guardian of Arashin stands as a beacon for decks capitalizing on +1/+1 counters, offering a key advantage with its cost reduction ability. Does the allure of deploying formidable creatures at a discount resonate with your game plan? Its synergy with counter mechanics could be the lever to catapult your deck performance at your next event. Let’s dive deeper together into optimizing your MTG tactics and collection, ensuring Hamza helps you outpace opponents with strategic plays and resource acceleration. Discover with us how Hamza can be your ally in the art of victory.


Cards like Hamza, Guardian of Arashin

It’s undeniable that Hamza, Guardian of Arashin is a unique and fascinating creature card in Magic: The Gathering. We can draw comparisons to other cards like Rishkar, Peema Renegade, which similarly provides counters to other creatures. Although, Hamza is distinguished by decreasing the casting cost of creature spells for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter.

Parallelly, there’s Renata, Called to the Hunt that can be taken into account. Although she doesn’t decrease casting costs like Hamza, she does put a +1/+1 counter on other creatures that enter the battlefield, which makes her an influential enchantment creature. Simplified, Hamza turns the presence of counters into a monetary advantage, while Renata ensures more creatures benefit from +1/+1 counters.

Another comparative card is Hardened Scales, which doesn’t grant counters but interacts with them, bolstering their increase.

Conclusively, when we compare and contrast the potent creature abilities, Hamza, Guardian of Arashin proves to be a significant competitor in Magic: The Gathering. This is mainly due to its ability to diminish creature spell costs through the efficient use of +1/+1 counters.

Rishkar, Peema Renegade - MTG Card versions
Renata, Called to the Hunt - MTG Card versions
Hardened Scales - MTG Card versions
Rishkar, Peema Renegade - Aether Revolt Promos (PAER)
Renata, Called to the Hunt - Theros Beyond Death (THB)
Hardened Scales - Khans of Tarkir (KTK)

Cards similar to Hamza, Guardian of Arashin by color, type and mana cost

Sir Shandlar of Eberyn - MTG Card versions
Lord Magnus - MTG Card versions
Torsten Von Ursus - MTG Card versions
Sabertooth Nishoba - MTG Card versions
Steel Leaf Paladin - MTG Card versions
Dragonlord Dromoka - MTG Card versions
Arctic Nishoba - MTG Card versions
Tolsimir Wolfblood - MTG Card versions
Pale Recluse - MTG Card versions
Enlisted Wurm - MTG Card versions
Sigiled Behemoth - MTG Card versions
Krond the Dawn-Clad - MTG Card versions
Armada Wurm - MTG Card versions
Woodvine Elemental - MTG Card versions
Enduring Scalelord - MTG Card versions
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith - MTG Card versions
Archon of Valor's Reach - MTG Card versions
Skanos, White Dragon Vassal - MTG Card versions
Aragorn and Arwen, Wed - MTG Card versions
Vernal Sovereign - MTG Card versions
Sir Shandlar of Eberyn - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Lord Magnus - Legends (LEG)
Torsten Von Ursus - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Sabertooth Nishoba - Invasion (INV)
Steel Leaf Paladin - Planeshift (PLS)
Dragonlord Dromoka - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Arctic Nishoba - Coldsnap (CSP)
Tolsimir Wolfblood - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Pale Recluse - Archenemy (ARC)
Enlisted Wurm - The List (PLST)
Sigiled Behemoth - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Krond the Dawn-Clad - Planechase Anthology (PCA)
Armada Wurm - GRN Guild Kit (GK1)
Woodvine Elemental - Conspiracy (CNS)
Enduring Scalelord - March of the Machine Commander (MOC)
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith - Commander 2017 (C17)
Archon of Valor's Reach - Commander 2020 (C20)
Skanos, White Dragon Vassal - Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate (HBG)
Aragorn and Arwen, Wed - The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR)
Vernal Sovereign - Ravnica: Clue Edition (CLU)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hamza, Guardian of Arashin MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Commander Legends, 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 Hamza, Guardian of Arashin and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Hamza, Guardian of Arashin Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2020-11-20 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by Wisnu Tan.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 863242015normalblackWisnu Tan
22020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 2782015normalblackWisnu Tan
32020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 5982015normalblackWisnu Tan
42023-04-21March of the Machine CommanderMOC 3272015normalblackWisnu Tan
52023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 3392015normalblackWisnu Tan

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hamza, Guardian of Arashin has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-11-10 Hamza's first ability affects only generic mana costs. It can't reduce the total cost to cast the spell below .
2020-11-10 Once you announce you're casting a creature spell, no player may take actions until the spell has been paid for. Notably, opponents can't try to change the number of creatures you control with +1/+1 counters.
2020-11-10 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions (such as that of Hamza, Guardian of Arashin). The total cost is locked in before any costs are paid. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks