Crashing Footfalls MTG Card
2019-06-14 - Number 160
2023-11-17 - Number 25
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Suspend |
Text of card
Suspend 4— (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost.) Create two 4/4 green Rhino creature tokens with trample.
Understanding Crashing Footfalls
In the realm of Magic: The Gathering, Crashing Footfalls stands out as a suspending force to be reckoned with. Unlike immediate effects seen in spells that summon creatures, this card sits in a wait state. It’s unique in how it operates, letting anticipation build before a quartet of formidable 4/4 Rhinos charge onto the battlefield without a mana cost punched down the line.
While Crashing Footfalls asks for patience, the trade-off is a herd of creatures that can dominate the field, a boon for players who can manage the gap before they enter the fray. Companion pieces like Ancestral Vision draw parallels, swapping immediate board presence for a delayed yet potent wave of card draw, essentially translating time into tangible advantage.
Cards like Crashing Footfalls
When Crashing Footfalls thunders onto the scene, MTG players are reminded of its kin in delayed gratification such as Suspend cards. Glimpse the Unthinkable, while it deals with milling libraries, shares the same anticipation-building appeal. Both cards leverage time, shaping the tempo of the game as they ready their effects. Hypergenesis is another relative, albeit a broader and more unpredictable effect, as it throws the doors open for all players to put permanents into play.
Cascade mechanics, as seen in Bloodbraid Elf, offer a different yet related tempo play, chancing upon spells like Crashing Footfalls with a cast at no cost, an element of surprise that can tip the scales in a player’s favor. In the spaces between the structured delay of Suspend and the random chance of Cascade, Crashing Footfalls finds its home, an embodiment of strategic planning meeting unbridled potential.
As enthusiasts and strategists of MTG dissect the myriad of options within the compendium of spells, it’s evident that the synchronization of Crashing Footfalls with a player’s deck and playstyle heralds tremendous in-game value, provided that they can harness the rhythm of its delayed impact.
Cards similar to Crashing Footfalls by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Crashing Footfalls. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Crashing Footfalls | Modern | Crashing Footfalls | Modern Preliminary 2024-04-29 (1) |
 | Temur Cascade | Legacy | Temur Cascade | Legacy League 2024-04-29 |
 | Electrobalance | Modern | Electrobalance | Modern Preliminary 2024-05-03 |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Crashing Footfalls excels at creating card advantage by summoning multiple creature tokens without depleting your hand. Successfully resolving Crashing Footfalls can lead to a powerful presence on the battlefield that your opponent must answer, often requiring more than one card from them to counteract the threats you’ve generated.
Resource Acceleration: This card is all about efficiency. While it doesn’t directly accelerate your mana, it circumvents traditional casting costs. Through suspend, Crashing Footfalls offers a considerable boost in your resource deployment by bringing in two heavy-hitting 4/4 Rhino tokens that can quickly escalate the pressure on your opponent.
Instant Speed: Although Crashing Footfalls can’t be cast at instant speed, its suspend mechanic allows for strategic planning. You can set up future turns for a sudden surge of board presence, effectively keeping mana open during early turns for other instant-speed interactions, which is essential for maintaining tempo and controlling the flow of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Crashing Footfalls does not demand a card discard in the traditional sense, it is a suspend card, therefore not immediately impacting the board state. This delayed gratification requires players to plan several turns ahead, risking the loss of tempo or control of the game if not managed properly.
Specific Mana Cost: Crashing Footfalls is free of mana costs but comes with its own unique requirement—suspense for four turns. This can be particularly hindering in formats where speed is essential, and having to wait multiple turns before reaping its rewards can be a significant disadvantage.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: In a world of MTG where instant gratification can make or break a game, waiting four turns to create two 4/4 green Rhino creature tokens, although powerful, might be too slow. Fast-paced matches may conclude before the suspense concludes, overshadowing the potential benefits Crashing Footfalls might provide in a more prolonged encounter.
Reasons to Include Crashing Footfalls in Your Collection
Versatility: Crashing Footfalls shines in decks that leverage big creatures without the high mana cost. It’s a perfect fit for strategies focused on bypassing traditional summoning for a quicker board presence.
Combo Potential: This card synergizes with cascade mechanics, allowing you to cast it for free while executing powerful plays. The ripple effects it creates in combo decks can often be the turning point in a game.
Meta-Relevance: With a meta that fluctuates, having a card that consistently drops considerable threats on the board keeps opponents on the back foot. It’s well-suited to metas with a prevalence of control decks, as it operates from the exile zone, circumventing common removal spells.
How to beat
Overcoming Crashing Footfalls in MTG requires strategy and foresight. This suspend card is known for its ability to generate substantial board presence with two 4/4 Rhinos without paying any mana cost—after a delay. Timing is crucial when dealing with this threat; you’ll want to have removal ready or a way to counteract the tokens’ impact when they come crashing down.
Playing with bounce spells to return the Rhinos to the opponent’s hand is effective, as the tokens will cease to exist once they leave play. Enchantment removal can also target Crashing Footfalls directly while it’s suspended, eliminating the potential threat beforehand. Mass removal spells are valuable too, allowing you to clear the board post-token arrival, or you could employ graveyard manipulation to prevent the spell from ever resolving.
By planning ahead and having the right answers in hand, you can mitigate the impact of Crashing Footfalls. Understanding and anticipating your opponent’s moves is key to maintaining control of the game. Be ready to adapt your playstyle in response to this game-changing spell.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Crashing Footfalls MTG card by a specific set like Modern Horizons and Special Guests, 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 Crashing Footfalls and other MTG cards:
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Printings
The Crashing Footfalls Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019-06-14 | Modern Horizons | MH1 | 160 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Dan Scott | |
| 2 | 2023-11-17 | Special Guests | SPG | 25 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Uriah Voth |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Crashing Footfalls has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Crashing Footfalls card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2019-06-14 | After removing the last time counter, you must cast the card if able. Timing permissions based on the card’s type are ignored. If an effect prohibits you from casting the card, it remains exiled with no time counters on it, and it’s no longer suspended. |
| 2019-06-14 | Crashing Footfalls has no mana cost. You can’t cast it unless an effect (such as that of suspend) allows you to cast it for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost. Its mana value is 0. |
| 2019-06-14 | Exiling a card with suspend isn’t casting that card. This action doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. |
| 2019-06-14 | You can exile a card in your hand using suspend any time you could cast that card. Consider its card type, any effect that affects when you could cast it, and any other effects that could stop you from casting it to determine if and when you can do this. Whether or not you could actually complete all steps in casting the card is irrelevant. For example, you can exile a card with suspend that has no mana cost or requires a target even if no legal targets are available at that time. |
| 2021-06-18 | A card with no mana cost can’t be cast normally; you’ll need a way to cast it for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost, such as by suspending it. |
| 2021-06-18 | If a card with no mana cost is given an alternative cost equal to its mana cost (by Snapcaster Mage, for example), that cost cannot be paid and the card cannot be cast this way. |