Taigam's Strike MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Rebound |
| Released | 2015-03-27 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Dragons of Tarkir |
| Set code | DTK |
| Number | 81 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | David Gaillet |
Key Takeaways
- Boosts card economy with a rebound, granting two uses for the price of one.
- Enables key creatures to hit opponents unblocked, enhancing combat damage triggers.
- Requiring specific mana and a card to discard can limit deck versatility.
Text of card
Target creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn. Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Taigam’s Strike shines in its ability to initiate a rebound effect, allowing you to cast the spell again on your next turn without paying its mana cost. This two-for-one deal effectively nets you an extra card and a repeated effect, keeping you ahead in the card economy game.
Resource Acceleration: While Taigam’s Strike itself doesn’t directly generate additional resources, by making a creature unblockable, it ensures that any combat damage triggers—like drawing a card or generating mana upon dealing damage to a player—will likely occur uncontested.
Instant Speed: As a sorcery, Taigam’s Strike focuses on planning your turn for a decisive attack. While it doesn’t have the flexibility of instant speed, the rebound effect compensates by creating an expected value for the next turn and further strategizing opportunities.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One aspect of Taigam’s Strike that can be seen as a downside is the requirement to discard a card. This can create a difficult decision in a game where maintaining card advantage is often crucial to victory. Being forced to discard a card can be particularly punishing when your hand is already limited.
Specific Mana Cost: Taigam’s Strike requires a specific combination of blue and generic mana to cast. This may not be an issue in decks that are heavily blue, but it could be a stumbling block in multicolored decks where mana flexibility is key. Not being able to cast it when needed can hinder your game strategy.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes two mana of any color and one blue, Taigam’s Strike may not be as mana-efficient as other options. In faster-paced games or in decks that aim to be highly efficient with mana use, the cost of Taigam’s Strike might outweigh its potential benefits, reducing its playability in these scenarios.
Reasons to Include Taigam’s Strike in Your Collection
Versatility: Taigam’s Strike can be a key addition to blue-centric decks, capable of fitting in both aggressive and tempo-based strategies by allowing creatures to swing without fear of being blocked.
Combo Potential: With its rebound ability, this card provides an opportunity for two unblockable attacks, making it a perfect pair with creatures that have hit-triggered abilities, amplifying their impact on the board.
Meta-Relevance: Amidst a meta where creatures often dictate the pace of play, being able to ensure your critical creatures can connect with the opponent provides a significant edge. The ability to bypass defenders and pressure life totals or planeswalkers is consistently valuable.
How to beat
Taigam’s Strike is a unique card in MTG that provides creatures with a temporary boost and can make them virtually untouchable with rebound, potentially changing the dynamics of the game. It’s key to understand this can be a double-edged sword, granting your opponent’s creature unblockable status, not once, but possibly twice. Combat strategies that rely on blocking are rendered ineffective against it.
Countering this spell is essential, and cards with counter abilities work well. Remember, once Taigam’s Strike has been rebounded, the ability is on the stack at the beginning of the player’s next upkeep, providing another window to disrupt it. Efficient removal spells or effects that strip away abilities from a creature also undermine the card’s effectiveness. By quickly eliminating the targeted creature before the spell resolves or removing the unblockable ability, the benefit of Taigam’s Strike is nullified, keeping your defensive lines strong.
In essence, maintaining a diverse arsenal of counter spells and quick removal options in your deck can be critical in neutralizing the impact of Taigam’s Strike, ensuring your opponent’s clever strategies are met with prepared defenses.
Cards like Taigam's Strike
In the realm of combat tricks, Taigam’s Strike stands out as a unique choice among Magic: The Gathering spells. Its kinship with the likes of Artful Dodge is evident, both offering the ability to make a creature unblockable for the turn. But Taigam’s Strike elevates the strategy with its rebound effect, allowing a second usage without additional mana investment on the subsequent turn. Artful Dodge, though cheaper, lacks this repeatable impact.
Distortion Strike is another spell that resonates with Taigam’s Strike’s approach to evasion. It too grants unblockability and rebounds, but its lack of the power-boosting +1/+1 that Taigam’s Strike provides makes it less effective in bolstering a creature’s immediate threat level. However, Distortion Strike’s lower mana cost can make it more appealing for early game tempo plays.
Comparatively, Slip Through Space draws a card in addition to rendering a creature unblockable, which offers immediate card advantage. While it doesn’t have the rebound or power-increasing features of Taigam’s Strike, the draw effect sustains hand resources, potentially granting a more subtle but lasting advantage.
Examining these options, Taigam’s Strike offers a blend of unblockability and sustained threat enhancement, making it a potent choice for MTG decks looking to deliver decisive blows over multiple turns.
Cards similar to Taigam's Strike by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Taigam's Strike MTG card by a specific set like Dragons of Tarkir, 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 Taigam's Strike and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Taigam's Strike has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Taigam's Strike card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2015-02-25 | As long as you cast a spell with rebound from your hand, rebound will work regardless of whether you paid its mana cost or an alternative cost you were permitted to pay. |
| 2015-02-25 | At the beginning of your upkeep, all delayed triggered abilities created by rebound effects trigger. You may handle them in any order. If you want to cast a card this way, you do so as part of the resolution of its delayed triggered ability. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type (if it’s a sorcery) are ignored. Other restrictions, such as “Cast -his spell] only during combat,” must be followed. |
| 2015-02-25 | Casting the card again due to the delayed triggered ability is optional. If you choose not to cast the card, or if you can’t (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the card will stay exiled. You won’t get another chance to cast it on a future turn. |
| 2015-02-25 | If a replacement effect (such as the one created by Rest in Peace) would cause a spell with rebound that you cast from your hand to be put somewhere other than into your graveyard as it resolves, you can choose whether to apply the rebound effect or the other effect as the spell resolves. |
| 2015-02-25 | If a spell with rebound that you cast from your hand doesn’t resolve for any reason (either because another spell or ability counters it or because all its targets are illegal as it tries to resolve), none of its effects will happen, including rebound. The spell will be put into its owner’s graveyard and you won’t get to cast it again on your next turn. |
| 2015-02-25 | If you cast a card from exile this way, it will go to its owner’s graveyard when it resolves, fails to resolve, or is countered. It won’t go back to exile. |
| 2015-02-25 | If you cast a spell with rebound from any zone other than your hand (including your opponent’s hand), rebound will have no effect. |
| 2015-02-25 | Rebound will have no effect on copies of spells because you don’t cast them from your hand. |
