Frontier Guide MTG Card
2009-10-02 - Number 161
2015-08-28 - Number 12
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Elf Scout |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 1 |
Text of card
, : Search your library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
"The elders say Zendikar has no safe, peaceful places. How would they know? They've never looked."
Cards like Frontier Guide
Frontier Guide stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a unique tool for mana fixing and land acceleration. It’s akin to cards such as Sylvan Scrying, which allows a player to search their library for a land card. However, Frontier Guide offers a repeatable effect, though at the cost of additional mana and tapping. Sylvan Scrying is a one-time deal but gets any land directly into your hand.
Exploration is another card that lets players play an additional land each turn, facilitating faster resource deployment. But unlike Frontier Guide, Exploration can’t search for lands. Then we have Walking Atlas, a creature with a tap ability that allows you to put a land from your hand onto the battlefield. While Walking Atlas doesn’t look for lands, it can offer a comparable ramp effect without the mana cost Frontier Guide requires.
In essence, each of these cards has its own niche within land mechanics. Frontier Guide may not be as instantly gratifying as Sylvan Scrying or as consistent as Exploration, but its ability to repeatedly fetch lands can provide enduring value, especially in long-drawn-out games.
Cards similar to Frontier Guide by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Frontier Guide offers a repeatable way to search your deck for basic lands, helping ensure land drops and expanding your access to mana resources. Effective deck thinning like this increases your chances of drawing into non-land spells later in the game.
Resource Acceleration: By steadily increasing your land count on the battlefield with its activated ability, Frontier Guide facilitates resource acceleration. This can be critical for ramping into high-cost game-changers ahead of schedule, setting the stage for a powerful board presence.
Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Frontier Guide’s ability can be activated at instant speed. This versatility lets you pass the turn with mana available, keeping your options open to react to your opponent’s moves or to search for a land at the end of their turn, optimizing your mana efficiency.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Frontier Guide necessitates discarding a card, which may deplete your hand, especially when you’re in need of keeping as many options available as possible.
Specific Mana Cost: This card demands green mana to cast. This requirement can be restrictive and challenging to fulfill in a multicolored deck that may not always have green mana readily accessible.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Frontier Guide’s casting cost may be considered steep for its land-searching abilities. Other cards with lower mana costs could offer similar or more impactful board presence or card advantage.
Reasons to Include Frontier Guide in Your Collection
Versatility: Frontier Guide offers a unique set of skills that can be useful in a variety of deck builds. It excels in decks that prioritize land search and ramp strategies to consistently gain a mana advantage over the opponent.
Combo Potential: This elf scout’s ability to search for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield untapped pairs well with landfall mechanics or other abilities that trigger upon lands entering the battlefield, offering numerous combo possibilities.
Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where setting the pace is crucial, Frontier Guide helps maintain land drops and mana consistency. This is especially relevant in formats where the ability to outmaneuver your opponent’s resources can be a pivotal advantage.
How to Beat Frontier Guide
Frontier Guide is a card that can consistently fetch lands from your deck, thus enhancing your mana base and solidifying your late-game presence in MTG. To effectively counter Frontier Guide, disrupting your opponent’s mana and board state is crucial. Employ land destruction tactics or incorporate cards that restrict the ability to search for lands. Cards like Aven Mindcensor or Leonin Arbiter modify the rules of the game, making it harder for your opponent to utilize Frontier Guide’s ability effectively.
Utilizing instant-speed removals such as Path to Exile can be beneficial as well. These can be used in response to the activation of Frontier Guide’s ability, removing the creature before it can resolve its land tutoring effect. Moreover, countering key spells like Frontier Guide with cheaper counterspells ensures it doesn’t hit the field in the first place, preserving your advantage.
It’s also worth noting that Frontier Guide requires a significant mana investment to utilize its ability. Capitalizing on this can shift the game in your favor. Keep up the pressure with aggressive creatures and strategies, forcing your opponent to use mana defensively instead of for land tutoring. In essence, prioritizing board control and strategic disruptions can tip the scales against the benefits Frontier Guide brings to the table.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Frontier Guide MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar and Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi, 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 Frontier Guide and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
Printings
The Frontier Guide Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2009-10-02 and 2015-08-28. Illustrated by Wayne Reynolds.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009-10-02 | Zendikar | ZEN | 161 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Wayne Reynolds | |
| 2 | 2015-08-28 | Duel Decks: Zendikar vs. Eldrazi | DDP | 12 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Wayne Reynolds |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Frontier Guide has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |