Briarpack Alpha MTG Card

Dark Ascension (DKA)
2012-02-03 - Number 108

Magic 2014 (M14)
2013-07-19 - Number 166

Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
2022-12-02 - Number 634

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Wolf
Abilities	Flash
Power	3
Toughness	3

Key Takeaways

Indirect card advantage through strategic creature combat and elimination without loss.
Provides tempo through surprise combat boosts, balancing lack of mana acceleration.
Flash ability offers versatile play, maintaining element of surprise and strategic depth.

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.) When Briarpack Alpha enters the battlefield, target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

"The wolves turned on us and a chill swept over me. The pack had a new leader." —Alena, trapper of Kessig

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Briarpack Alpha doesn’t allow direct drawing of cards, it packs an on-cast surprise that can turn the tides of creature combat. This can lead to indirect card advantage by outmaneuvering opponents and potentially removing their creatures without losing your own.

Resource Acceleration: While not a direct resource accelerator in terms of mana, Briarpack Alpha offers a different kind of tempo boost. By flashing in a creature with a power boost during combat, you can surprise your opponent, which can be just as advantageous as having more mana resources available.

Instant Speed: The strength of Briarpack Alpha lies in its instant-speed flash ability. This allows players to keep up the element of surprise, keeping mana open for either Briarpack Alpha or other instant spells, thus providing flexibility and strategic depth during the course of the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Briarpack Alpha doesn’t require you to discard a card outright, its benefit upon entering the battlefield might not offset the potential loss of not having an extra creature or spell in hand to deal with other threats.

Specific Mana Cost: Briarpack Alpha commands a precise mana cost that includes both green mana and generic mana. This requirement can be restrictive and can dictate the structure of your deck, potentially limiting its flexibility and making it challenging to cast in multi-color decks that aren’t heavily green.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including three that must be green, Briarpack Alpha can be seen as costly for its abilities. When considering its impact on the game, players may find other creatures or spells that provide more value or have a more immediate effect on the board state for the same, or even a lower, mana investment.

Reasons to Include Briarpack Alpha in Your Collection

Versatility: Briarpack Alpha offers flexibility in both offensive and defensive situations. As a surprise blocker or an instant buff during your attack, it adds unpredictable value on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: The card’s enter-the-battlefield ability pairs well with strategies centered around creature ETB effects. This makes it a potential combo piece in decks that exploit these synergies for greater impact.

Meta-Relevance: With creature-based strategies often at the forefront of the MTG meta, Briarpack Alpha’s ability to disrupt combat maths makes it a handy tool in many matchups, particularly those unfavorable for smaller creatures.

How to beat

Briarpack Alpha may catch opponents off guard with its efficient flash ability, which makes it a formidable surprise blocker or an instant end-of-turn addition to your creature army. As a 3/3 creature that brings an additional +2/+2 boost to another creature when it enters the battlefield, the key to handling this card is preparedness and instant removal. The moment your opponent casts Briarpack Alpha, you have a window of opportunity to respond before the +2/+2 buff is settled.

Considering cards such as Shock, which can deliver 2 damage instantly, or Fatal Push, a quick way to remove creatures that have been powered up or newly played, can effectively deal with Briarpack Alpha’s buff before it becomes a problem. Alternatively, the use of counterspells like Essence Scatter can negate the creature spell entirely, ensuring the Alpha never even hits the board. It’s crucial to conserve mana for such spells when playing against a deck that could contain Briarpack Alpha, to maintain control of the game tempo and prevent your opponent’s creature base from becoming too overwhelming.

Ultimately, thwarting Briarpack Alpha effectively requires instant-speed interaction, whether through direct removal or counterspells, and a strategic mindset to anticipate and neutralize your opponent’s threats in time.

Cards like Briarpack Alpha

Briarpack Alpha is an interesting creature card in MTG that offers more than just a green beast on the battlefield. Similar to Briarpack Alpha, Visionary Augmenter provides a bump in creature numbers upon entering the battlefield. Though the Augmenter lacks the element of surprise and the buff that Briarpack Alpha awards to a target creature, it compensates for this by creating two 1/1 Servo artifact creature tokens.

Another card that mirrors the flash ability of Briarpack Alpha is Boon Satyr. Boon Satyr may be cast at similar unexpected moments, potentially disrupting opponent strategies. However, Boon Satyr also brings the bestowed mechanic to the table, offering versatility in how it’s used—either as a creature or an aura. Where Briarpack Alpha gives a one-time power and toughness enhancement, Boon Satyr can be a persistent threat as long as it’s on the field.

In sum, each creature card provides value in different aspects of gameplay. Briarpack Alpha specifically shines by offering a blend of versatility with its flash ability and tactical advantage through its power-boosting effect, making it a unique choice among green creature spells in MTG.

Cards similar to Briarpack Alpha by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Briarpack Alpha MTG card by a specific set like Dark Ascension and Magic 2014, 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 Briarpack Alpha and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Briarpack Alpha Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2012-02-03 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Daarken.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2012-02-03	Dark Ascension	DKA	108	2003	Normal	Black	Daarken
2	2013-07-19	Magic 2014	M14	166	2003	Normal	Black	Daarken
3	2022-12-02	Jumpstart 2022	J22	634	2015	Normal	Black	Daarken