Drannith Healer MTG Card

Drannith Healer’s cycling provides deck filtration and instant speed adaptability, enhancing gameplay strategy. Low cost and life gain combo potential make it a versatile pick for cycling-centric decks. Efficient removal spells and board pressure can effectively counteract Drannith Healer’s advantages.

Drannith Healer - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Cleric
Abilities	Cycling
Released	2020-04-24
Set symbol
Set name	Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Set code	IKO
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	10
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Scott Murphy

Text of card

Whenever you cycle another card, you gain 1 life. Cycling (, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

"The glowstones shine and dinosaurs roar to the south. Business will be brisk tonight."

Cards like Drannith Healer

Drannith Healer is a card that offers a multifaceted approach to gameplay in Magic: The Gathering. It shares similarities with cards like Lone Missionary, which also provides a life gain benefit upon entry to the battlefield. Unlike Lone Missionary, Drannith Healer has the added advantage of cycling, allowing players to draw a card at the cost of discarding it if it’s not needed at the moment.

Moreover, Oreskos Sun Guide is another comparable card that offers life gain, but through a different mechanism which triggers during your untap step, rather than a one-time event or a cycling ability. While Oreskos Sun Guide can potentially provide more life over time, Drannith Healer gives the player immediate access to life gain as well as maintaining card flow.

Comparing these alternatives highlights the versatility that Drannith Healer brings to a deck. It’s not just about gaining life but also about adapting to the changing state of play, making it a valuable card for players who need both immediate defenses and long-term strategies. Drannith Healer, with its cycling ability, stands out as a flexible option in the realm of life-gaining creatures.

Decks using this card

MTG decks using Drannith Healer. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#	Name	Format	Archetype	Event
	Cycle Storm	Pauper	Cycle Storm	Pauper Challenge 32 2024-04-06

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Drannith Healer offers a cycling ability, enabling you to draw a new card and replace it, essentially filtering your deck and helping you find the resources you need more quickly.

Resource Acceleration: As a low-cost creature, Drannith Healer permits you to ramp up your game by having more creatures on the battlefield early on, which can translate to swifter and more efficient board presence.

Instant Speed: The cycling ability mentioned can be activated at instant speed, offering the strategic choice of when to cycle for a new card during either your turn or your opponent’s, thus keeping your game plan flexible.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Drannith Healer demands a card discard when utilizing its cycling ability. While cycling can help you draw more cards, having to discard first can be detrimental, especially if your hand is already low on valuable cards.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost of Drannith Healer includes white mana, which might restrict its inclusion in multi-colored decks that don’t focus on white. This makes the card less flexible for players not committed to a white or cycling-centric strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a cost of two mana, Drannith Healer can be seen as a significant investment for its 2/2 body. In the landscape of MTG, there are creatures with more impactful abilities or larger stats at the same or lower mana cost, leading some players to consider other options for their deck builds.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Drannith Healer can seamlessly integrate into cycling decks, serving as both a life gain source and a creature. Its cycling ability also means it’s never a dead draw, making it a flexible addition to any collection.

Combo Potential: This card works exceptionally well with decks that leverage cycling for more significant effects. By cycling Drannith Healer, you can trigger various effects that benefit from cycling cards or when life is gained, enabling diverse synergistic plays.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where Aggro decks are prevalent, the incremental life gain from Drannith Healer can be crucial in maintaining your life total while you set up your board. Its low cost makes it an easily accessible tool in the early game to help stabilize against aggressive opponents.

How to beat

Drannith Healer is an intriguing creature card in the MTG universe. Often found in cycling decks, it provides players with a unique advantage by allowing them to gain life each time they cycle another card. While it may not seem like a significant threat at first glance, its ability can accumulate a substantial life buffer for your opponent, making it an element that shouldn’t be underestimated.

Overcoming a Drannith Healer requires a straightforward approach. Targeted removal spells are your best asset against this card. By using efficient removal such as Fatal Push or Bloodchief’s Thirst, you prevent the healer from becoming a recurring source of life gain that could otherwise tilt the match in your opponent’s favor. Similarly, board wipes like Shatter the Sky or Doomskar serve to clear the battlefield of Drannith Healer along with any other creatures, curtailing the life gain mechanism and resetting the board to your advantage.

A nuanced strategy against decks featuring Drannith Healer is to apply consistent pressure, forcing the opponent to choose between using their mana to cycle cards or to develop the board. This often leads to a situation where the healer’s presence becomes less impactful as the opponent falls behind on board presence. Hence, with the right strategy and tactical removals, you can ensure that Drannith Healer does not become a barrier to your victory.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Drannith Healer MTG card by a specific set like Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, 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 Drannith Healer and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Drannith Healer has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-04-17	Some cards with cycling have an ability that triggers when you cycle them, and some cards have an ability that triggers whenever you cycle any card. These triggered abilities resolve before you draw from the cycling ability.
2020-04-17	Triggered abilities from cycling a card and the cycling ability itself aren’t spells. Effects that interact with spells (such as that of Cancel) won’t affect them.
2020-04-17	You can cycle a card even if it has a triggered ability from cycling that won’t have a legal target. This is because the cycling ability and the triggered ability are separate. This also means that if either ability is countered (with Disallow, for example), the other ability will still resolve.