Profaner of the Dead MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Naga Wizard
Abilities Exploit
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Profaner of the Dead excels in control decks with its ability to bounce multiple creatures and gain board advantage.
  2. Instant speed and exploit flexibility make it a tactical choice during gameplay, adjusting to various situations.
  3. Versatile against swarm decks, it remains meta-relevant and an essential part of any blue magician’s arsenal.

Text of card

Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a creature.) When Profaner of the Dead exploits a creature, return to their owners' hands all creatures your opponents control with toughness less than the exploited creature's toughness.


Card Pros

In the realm of blue spells in MTG, Profaner of the Dead stands out as a utility card that can turn the tides of gameplay through its multifaceted benefits. Combining tactical supremacy with reactive capabilities, this card is a key player in many control and tempo strategies. Delving into the specifics:

Card Advantage: Profaner of the Dead can potentially clear multiple opponents’ creatures off the board with its exploit ability. This creates a significant swing in the number of creatures present on the battlefield, often leading to card advantage as your opponent may lose more resources than you do.

Resource Acceleration: While Profaner of the Dead itself doesn’t directly provide mana, it effectively sets your opponents back by bouncing their creatures to their hands. This indirect resource acceleration stems from the fact that your opponents will have to spend their turns and mana replaying their creatures, allowing you to stay ahead in the race for board presence and mana efficiency.

Instant Speed: Profaner of the Dead’s ability to be activated at instant speed thanks to the exploit mechanic is a strategic asset. It grants you the flexibility to respond to opponents’ threats on their turn or after they’ve committed to an unfavourable attack, which can drastically alter the course of a match. It embodies the control archetype’s philosophy of playing on the opponent’s turn and disrupting their game plan.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the case of Profaner of the Dead, you do not have to discard, but rather, you need to sacrifice another creature as part of its exploit ability. This can be a high price to pay, especially if your board presence is already weak.

Specific Mana Cost: Profaner of the Dead requires both blue mana and generic mana to cast. Its specific blue mana cost makes it less flexible, requiring a dedicated blue manabase which might not fit into all deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, Profaner of the Dead is not the most mana-efficient creature when you’re looking to establish or maintain board control. There are alternatives that could potentially provide greater impact for the same or lower mana investment.


Reasons to Include Profaner of the Dead in Your Collection

Versatility: Profaner of the Dead has a flexibility that cannot be overstated. As a card that can fit into blue-based control or midrange decks, it offers a way to clear the battlefield of pesky creatures without touching your side of the table. Its ability to exploit itself or another creature adds an extra layer of decision-making to the game, enhancing its strategic depth.

Combo Potential: This card has the ability to synergize with graveyard mechanics or deck strategies that revolve around bouncing creatures back to the hand. It can act as a reset button, allowing you to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects or save your creatures from unfavorable board states. This makes it a multipurpose tool, especially in combination-focused decks.

Meta-Relevance: Considering the ever-changing landscape of competitive play, Profaner of the Dead can be particularly useful against strategies that flood the board with tokens or low-toughness creatures. Its utility in disrupting opponent’s plans cannot be underestimated, thereby ensuring its place in decks to combat certain meta environments.


How to beat

Confronting Profaner of the Dead in a game of Magic: The Gathering presents a unique strategic challenge. This card is noted for its capacity to return all creatures your opponents control with toughness less than Profaner of the Dead’s to their hands. To circumvent this, the key to overcoming this creature lies in maintaining a strong board presence with robust creatures. Ensuring that your creatures have a toughness higher than the power of Profaner of the Dead is crucial, thus rendering its ability ineffective.

Moreover, instant-speed removal spells can disrupt your opponent’s plans by eliminating Profaner of the Dead before its exploit ability can be activated. Countermeasures like Negate or Counterspell can also be employed to directly counter Profaner of the Dead, denying your enemy the opportunity to tip the scales. Additionally, including cards that grant your creatures indestructible for the turn can be a pivotal move, safeguarding your board from being bounced and maintaining your position. In essence, a blend of sturdy creatures and reactive spells equips you with the resources to effectively neutralize the threat posed by Profaner of the Dead and continue your pursuit of victory.


Cards like Profaner of the Dead

Profaner of the Dead commands attention in the realm of creature bouncing in Magic: The Gathering. Echoing the mechanics of cards like Evacuation, Profaner of the Dead offers a selective creature bounce based on its exploit feature. Unlike Evacuation’s blanket return of all creatures to their owners’ hands, Profaner of the Dead targets creatures with toughness less than the exploited creature, affording more strategic control over the state of the board.

Cyclonic Rift shares a similar bounce concept but carries the flexibility of being cast for its overload cost, impacting all nonland permanents opponents control. Although not as targeted as Profaner of the Dead, the Rift proves invaluable for reshaping the entire battlefield to its caster’s advantage in a late-game push. Engulf the Shore is another comparable card that bounces creatures based on the number of Islands you control. This can be both a limitation and an advantage, depending on your deck’s land composition. Yet it lacks the finesse provided by Profaner’s exploit strategy.

Crucially, in an environment teeming with varied bounce spells, Profaner of the Dead stands out for the exploitable and targeted nature of its effect, giving players a potent tool for managing opponents’ threats on a congested battlefield.

Evacuation - MTG Card versions
Cyclonic Rift - MTG Card versions
Engulf the Shore - MTG Card versions
Evacuation - Stronghold (STH)
Cyclonic Rift - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Engulf the Shore - Shadows over Innistrad Promos (PSOI)

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Laboratory Drudge - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
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Hisoka, Minamo Sensei - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
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Dream Prowler - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Clone - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Cytoplast Manipulator - Dissension (DIS)
Crookclaw Transmuter - Time Spiral (TSP)
Dreamborn Muse - Tenth Edition (10E)
Turtleshell Changeling - Lorwyn (LRW)
Sower of Temptation - Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC)
Glen Elendra Archmage - Eventide (EVE)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Profaner of the Dead MTG card by a specific set like Dragons of Tarkir and Dragons of Tarkir Promos, 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 Profaner of the Dead and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Profaner of the Dead Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2015-03-27 and 2015-03-28. Illustrated by Vincent Proce.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-03-27Dragons of TarkirDTK 702015normalblackVincent Proce
22015-03-28Dragons of Tarkir PromosPDTK 70s2015normalblackVincent Proce
32020-09-26The ListPLST DTK-702015normalblackVincent Proce

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Profaner of the Dead has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-02-25 A creature with exploit “exploits a creature” when the controller of the exploit ability sacrifices a creature as that ability resolves.
2015-02-25 If the creature with exploit isn’t on the battlefield as the exploit ability resolves, you won’t get any bonus from the creature with exploit, even if you sacrifice a creature. Because the creature with exploit isn’t on the battlefield, its other triggered ability won’t trigger.
2015-02-25 Use the toughness of the exploited creature as it last existed on the battlefield to determine which creatures to return to their owners’ hands.
2015-02-25 You can sacrifice the creature with exploit if it’s still on the battlefield. This will cause its other ability to trigger.
2015-02-25 You can’t sacrifice more than one creature to any one exploit ability.
2015-02-25 You choose whether to sacrifice a creature and which creature to sacrifice as the exploit ability resolves.

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