Orchard Elemental MTG Card

Orchard Elemental - Conspiracy: Take the Crown

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Elemental
Abilities	Council's dilemma
Released	2016-08-26
Set symbol
Set name	Conspiracy: Take the Crown
Set code	CN2
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	68
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Christine Choi

Key Takeaways

Orchard Elemental offers card advantage and can be a game-changer in multiplayer scenarios.
Flexible in its casting, it’s useable in various strategies, particularly those focused on ramping.
Careful deck building counters Orchard Elemental, emphasizing the need for versatile removals.

Text of card

Council's dilemma — When Orchard Elemental enters the battlefield, starting with you, each player votes for sprout or harvest. Put two +1/+1 counters on Orchard Elemental for each sprout vote. You gain 3 life for each harvest vote.

Fruits for friends, fists for foes.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Orchard Elemental can contribute to card advantage in multiplayer formats. When you cast it with conspire, you potentially get two creatures for the price of one, replenishing your board and maintaining hand resources.

Resource Acceleration: The mana cost of Orchard Elemental can benefit from resource acceleration strategies. It’s possible to deploy this creature ahead of the curve in ramp decks, making it a sizable presence earlier in the game.

Instant Speed: While Orchard Elemental itself is not an instant, its conspire ability can be utilized at instant speed, providing flexibility in your play. This lets you tap creatures as though they were casting an instant, providing an unexpected way to make the most of your turn and potentially leading to surprising combat tricks.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Orchard Elemental can be a boon in terms of board presence and life gain, it comes with a potential downside. Its council’s dilemma ability requires a vote that could either give you more creatures or more life. This makes it a somewhat unpredictable play, and in situations where you’re behind, it may not provide the reliable boost you need.

Specific Mana Cost: Another aspect to consider is the elemental’s specific mana requirement. It costs six mana with a combination of green and generic mana, which means it slots into green-centric or multicolored decks, but might be hard to cast on curve in a deck that’s not heavily invested in green mana production.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana cost is also relatively steep. Other creatures or spells at this cost may offer immediate impact on the game or have evasion abilities, making Orchard Elemental seem less efficient in comparison. In fast-paced games, it might arrive too late to turn the tides in your favor.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Orchard Elemental’s flexibility to function as an early blocker or a late-game threat makes it a useful addition to a variety of Green decks. Its scalability with the conspire mechanic allows it to adapt to the evolving board state.

Combo Potential: With the ability to use its conspire ability, Orchard Elemental can synergize with decks that capitalize on casting multiple spells in a turn or that have a focus on tapping and untapping creatures for value.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that prizes creature-based strategies, Orchard Elemental can shine as both an offensive and defensive asset. Its capacity to grow via mana investment means it can match the pace of the most common deck archetypes.

How to Beat Orchard Elemental

Orchard Elemental is a card that brings an interesting twist to creature-based strategies in Magic: The Gathering. When playing against this six-mana creature, the key is to remember its Council’s Dilemma ability, where it can potentially become quite large depending on the number of votes for grace. Dealing with this card effectively requires a bit of foresight; removal spells are your best bet – particularly those that can handle creatures regardless of their size.

Direct damage spells, while useful in certain cases, might not scale effectively against a sizeable Orchard Elemental, especially if it has accumulated a significant number of +1/+1 counters. Instant-speed removal such as Path to Exile or Murderous Rider provides a solution by eliminating it before the counters become overwhelming. If your strategy includes counter-magic, keeping mana open to counter Orchard Elemental as it’s cast can prevent any voting scenarios altogether, safeguarding your control over the game’s pace and minimizing threats on the board.

Ultimately, consistent control over the battlefield and timely disruption are your best strategies when facing the flexible power of Orchard Elemental. Consider adjusting your deck to include versatile removal options that can keep you a step ahead of creatures that scale based on in-game decisions.

Understanding Orchard Elemental’s Place in the Meta

Orchard Elemental, a card often overlooked in Magic: The Gathering, offers players a unique form of board presence and late-game advantage. This creature is akin to others with the “council’s dilemma” mechanic, which allows opponents to influence its power level, such as Expropriate. While Expropriate can have a game-ending impact, Orchard Elemental’s strength lies in its flexibility and the capacity to blend significant life gain with the potential for a substantial body on the field.

Cards like Orchard Elemental

Orchard Elemental often draws parallels to other creatures that can either grow in size or provide life gain based on opponent interactions. Cards like Loxodon Hierarch also provide a dual benefit, with a predetermined body and life gain upon entering the battlefield. However, Orchard Elemental’s uniqueness comes from the variability and potential of its “council’s dilemma” ability, unlike the Hierarch’s static gains.

Comparably, Selvala, Explorer Returned offers a differently angled take on the group choice dynamic, generating mana and card advantage instead. While heterogeneous in their exact offerings, Orchard Elemental and Selvala share the trait of utilizing opponent choices to derive their power.

Each MTG card carries its own niche, and Orchard Elemental stands out for its ability to either become a massive threat or a remedy to stabilize health totals, depending on how the council votes.

Selvala, Explorer Returned - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Orchard Elemental MTG card by a specific set like Conspiracy: Take the Crown, 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 Orchard Elemental and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Orchard Elemental has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2016-08-23	Because the votes are made in turn order, each player will know the votes of players who voted beforehand.
2016-08-23	If a creature with an enters-the-battlefield council’s dilemma ability leaves the battlefield before that ability resolves, players can still vote for any option that would put +1/+1 counters on that creature, even though—or perhaps especially because—those votes won’t generate an effect.
2016-08-23	No player votes until the spell or ability resolves. Any responses to that spell or ability must be made without knowing the outcome of the vote.
2016-08-23	Players can’t do anything between voting and finishing the resolution of the spell or ability that included the vote.
2016-08-23	The effects of each council’s dilemma ability happen in the stated order. First the vote occurs, then the first effect, and finally the second effect.
2016-08-23	Unlike the will of the council cards from the original Conspiracy set, where a majority of votes determined what happened, each vote made for a council’s dilemma card adds to the ultimate effect.
2016-08-23	You must vote for one of the available options. You can’t abstain.