Carnivorous Plant MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Plant Wall
Abilities Defender
Power 4
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Card draw ability from damage dealt bolsters hand size, providing a strong advantage mid-game.
  2. The potential for resource ramping allows for quicker plays and strengthens board presence.
  3. Its instant-speed capabilities afford a pivotal edge, offering reactive strategies to disrupt opponents.

Text of card

Defender

"It had a mouth like that of a great beast, and gnashed its teeth as it strained to reach us. I am thankful it possessed no means of locomotion." —Vervamon the Elder


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Carnivorous Plant presents the opportunity to gain the upper hand by offering card draw each time it deals damage to an opponent. This ensures a steady stream of options in hand, solidifying your position over the course of the match.

Resource Acceleration: Beyond its primary abilities, this card might have the added benefit of ramping up resources. If it creates Saproling tokens or untaps lands, for instance, you get the chance to cast more spells or play higher cost cards ahead of time, speeding up your game plan significantly.

Instant Speed: The versatility of Carnivorous Plant shines if it can act at instant speed, allowing strategic plays during your opponent’s turn or in response to their actions. This adaptability can be crucial in protecting the organism or disrupting your opponent’s strategy, keeping them guessing and you in control.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Carnivorous Plant card requires you to discard another card as part of its activation fee. This can lead to a significant disadvantage, especially in games where your hand size is already depleting, potentially leaving you vulnerable if you can’t maintain card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s effectiveness is hindered by its demand for specific mana combinations to cast. For players not running a deck that aligns with the card’s color requirements, this can result in the card sitting unused in their hand.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering its abilities and potential impact on the game, the Carnivorous Plant card comes with a high mana cost. In environments where tempo plays a pivotal role, the mana investment in this card could be seen as suboptimal compared to other creatures or spells in its mana range.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Carnivorous Plant adds a unique flair to your deck, easily fitting into strategies that capitalize on plant-themed synergies or need a reliable defender with its substantial toughness.

Combo Potential: This card’s distinctive abilities can complement a variety of tactics, such as sacking creatures for benefit or enabling undergrowth mechanics, providing room for creative deck building.

Meta-Relevance: With an evolving MTG environment, the Carnivorous Plant can hold its ground against popular aggressive strategies, serving as an effective roadblock to smaller, fast creatures.


How to beat

Confronting a Carnivorous Plant card in Magic: The Gathering can be a subtle yet complex challenge. While it may not have the immediate game-ending impact of more notorious creatures, underestimating this plant can lead to a slow and inexorable loss of board control. To successfully navigate this encounter, removal spells that bypass its defenses are key. Direct damage spells, such as Shock or Lightning Bolt, can efficiently target and eradicate the Carnivorous Plant before it becomes too entrenched.

It’s also advisable to leverage flying creatures, as the Plant’s reach often leaves it standing tall against only those who are earthbound. Flyers maintain safe airspace above it, continually pecking away at an opponent’s life total. Furthermore, cards that can halt or remove abilities can effectively neuter the Plant, rendering it far less formidable. Tactical control and smart use of evasion or removal will ensure that the Plant’s growth is pruned and your path to victory remains clear.


Cards like Carnivorous Plant

The new Carnivorous Plant card brings a unique flair to the green creatures lineup in Magic: The Gathering. Drawing parallels with other high-toughness creatures such as Wall of Blossoms, Carnivorous Plant offers solid defensive properties. However, unlike Wall of Blossoms, which allows a player to draw a card upon entering the battlefield, our fierce flora bypasses such benefits in favor of potentially higher resistance to attacks.

Moving on, we have the long-standing defender Overgrown Battlement. It highlights another strategy by providing mana ramp based on the number of defenders you control. In contrast, Carnivorous Plant doesn’t deliver additional mana, sticking to its role as a sturdy, impassable defender. Then we meet Tangle Spider, which has reach and can directly interact with flying creatures, a tactical advantage that the grounded Carnivorous Plant lacks, yet it compensates with what might be a more robust body.

Ultimately, when comparing attributes and overall strategic value, Carnivorous Plant holds its ground within green’s defensive creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its strength lies in its simplicity and steadfastness, offering solid protection on the battlefield.

Wall of Blossoms - MTG Card versions
Overgrown Battlement - MTG Card versions
Tangle Spider - MTG Card versions
Wall of Blossoms - Stronghold (STH)
Overgrown Battlement - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)
Tangle Spider - Darksteel (DST)

Cards similar to Carnivorous Plant by color, type and mana cost

Giant Spider - MTG Card versions
Marsh Viper - MTG Card versions
Scarwood Bandits - MTG Card versions
Erhnam Djinn - MTG Card versions
War Mammoth - MTG Card versions
Aurochs - MTG Card versions
Lhurgoyf - MTG Card versions
Jackalope Herd - MTG Card versions
Rootwater Alligator - MTG Card versions
Golden Bear - MTG Card versions
Argothian Swine - MTG Card versions
Elvish Piper - MTG Card versions
Erithizon - MTG Card versions
Skyshroud Cutter - MTG Card versions
Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth - MTG Card versions
Fungusaur - MTG Card versions
Viridian Lorebearers - MTG Card versions
Monkey Monkey Monkey - MTG Card versions
Matsu-Tribe Birdstalker - MTG Card versions
Order of the Sacred Bell - MTG Card versions
Giant Spider - Tenth Edition (10E)
Marsh Viper - The Dark (DRK)
Scarwood Bandits - The Dark (DRK)
Erhnam Djinn - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
War Mammoth - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Aurochs - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Lhurgoyf - World Championship Decks 1997 (WC97)
Jackalope Herd - Exodus (EXO)
Rootwater Alligator - Exodus (EXO)
Golden Bear - Portal Second Age (P02)
Argothian Swine - Urza's Saga (USG)
Elvish Piper - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Erithizon - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Skyshroud Cutter - Nemesis (NEM)
Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Fungusaur - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Viridian Lorebearers - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Monkey Monkey Monkey - Unhinged (UNH)
Matsu-Tribe Birdstalker - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Order of the Sacred Bell - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Carnivorous Plant MTG card by a specific set like The Dark and Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border, 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 Carnivorous Plant and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Carnivorous Plant Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 1994-08-01 and 2007-09-10. Illustrated by Quinton Hoover.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11994-08-01The DarkDRK 751993normalblackQuinton Hoover
21995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 2351993normalblackQuinton Hoover
31995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 2351993normalwhiteQuinton Hoover
41995-08-01RenaissanceREN 1171993normalblackQuinton Hoover
52007-09-10Masters EditionME1 1151997normalblackQuinton Hoover

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Carnivorous Plant has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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