Gaea's Bounty MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Released | 1998-10-12 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Urza's Saga |
| Set code | USG |
| Number | 254 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Stephen Daniele |
Text of card
Search your library for up to two forest cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Shuffle your library afterward.
The forest grew back so quickly that lumbering machines were suspended in the treetops.
Cards like Gaea's Bounty
In the vast repertoire of land fetching mechanics within Magic: The Gathering, Gaea’s Bounty presents a unique approach. It stands alongside other land search cards such as Cultivate and Kodama’s Reach, both of which allow players to put a land onto the battlefield and another into their hand. While these two cards offer instant value with their land ramp, Gaea’s Bounty edges forward by fetching up to three forests straight to your hand, ensuring land drops in subsequent turns.
Exploration is another card that synergizes well with Gaea’s Bounty, allowing multiple land plays in a single turn. However, unlike Gaea’s Bounty, Exploration is an enchantment, not a spell, and lacks the direct land tutoring ability. Ramping up with Gaea’s Bounty sets the stage for powerful plays, especially when paired with cards that benefit from landfall triggers or the sheer volume of lands in hand.
When considering efficiency and potential for creating a strong mana base, Gaea’s Bounty holds a solid position among MTG cards that elevate a player’s land game. Comparably, it provides a bountiful land grab that can be strategically pivotal for decks that thrive on forest-based synergy and land count.
Cards similar to Gaea's Bounty by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Gaea’s Bounty ensures a steady flow of land cards, bolstering your hand and allowing you to reliably make land drops each turn.
Resource Acceleration: This essential card efficiently boosts your mana pool by putting two land cards into your hand directly from your library, setting you up for powerful plays and giving you an edge over opponents who might be struggling with mana consistency.
Instant Speed: Gaea’s Bounty’s ability to operate at instant speed is a significant advantage, enabling flexible gameplay as you can wait for the most opportune moment—perhaps the end of an opponent’s turn—to utilize it, keeping your other mana options open and maintaining the element of surprise.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One downside to Gaea’s Bounty is that it necessitates the discarding of another card, making it less ideal when your hand is already stretched thin. This means you’ll have to weigh the benefits of the additional land against the potential value of the cards you’re losing.
Specific Mana Cost: This card requires a specific green mana to play, which can be restrictive for multi-color decks that may not always have the necessary type or amount of green mana available when it’s needed.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a need for substantial mana investment upfront, Gaea’s Bounty might be considered a hefty commitment for the land acceleration it provides. There are other options in the same mana range which could potentially offer more immediate or diverse benefits, making the card less appealing in certain strategic contexts.
Reasons to Include Gaea’s Bounty in Your Collection
Versatility: Gaea’s Bounty, as a spell enabling potent mana acceleration and land retrieval, is a boon for decks that strive for quick growth and resource dominance. Its capability to secure lands ensures smoother plays irrespective of your deck’s color scheme or strategy.
Combo Potential: For enthusiasts keen on intricate interactions, Gaea’s Bounty can be a lynchpin in combinations that unlock massive plays. It harmonizes with landfall mechanics and supports strategies that revolve around proliferating your lands on the battlefield.
Meta-Relevance: In a game that rewards strategy and adaptability, Gaea’s Bounty maintains relevance by aligning with the changing dynamics of gameplays. It is particularly useful in metas where ramping up to big creatures or decisive spells a turn earlier can be pivotal for victory.
How to beat Gaea’s Bounty
The allure of Gaea’s Bounty in the realm of Magic: The Gathering lies in its ability to ramp up a player’s mana resources substantially. As an enchantment that both draws and plays additional lands, it can quickly turn the tide of a match by providing its controller with an overwhelming mana advantage. It’s akin to explosive mana accelerators like Exploration and Burgeoning, yet unique with its persistent land drop capability.
To effectively counter Gaea’s Bounty, players should consider employing land destruction cards such as Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin, disrupting the opponent’s mana base and keeping them off balance. Counterspells like Negate can also be strategic, preventing Gaea’s Bounty from ever hitting the field. Creatures with abilities to destroy enchantments, such as Reclamation Sage, offer another angle of attack, directly targeting the troublesome enchantment. Managing to resolve these spells against Gaea’s Bounty is key in preventing a game from swinging in the bounty holder’s favor.
Ultimately, dealing with Gaea’s Bounty requires a proactive approach to disrupting your opponent’s mana strategy and keeping enchantment removal or counterspells at the ready. Doing so ensures that you maintain control over the game’s pace and prevent your opponent from capitalizing on their ramp potential.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Gaea's Bounty MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga, 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 Gaea's Bounty 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
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Gaea's Bounty has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gaea's Bounty card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | Because the “search” requires you to find a card with certain characteristics, you don’t have to find the card if you don’t want to. |