Ganax, Astral Hunter MTG Card
2022-06-10 - Number 504
2022-06-10 - Number 176
2022-06-10 - Number 398
2022-06-10 - Number 53
Key Takeaways
- Ganax offers board expansion through creature token generation, thus multiplying your battlefield presence significantly.
- It allows for mana ramp and strategic advantage with its instant-speed play, elevating your gameplay tactics.
- Despite its power, its specific mana needs and high cost require careful deck construction and strategy.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Ganax, Astral Hunter // Ganax, Astral Hunter MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Baldur's Gate Art Series and Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, 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 Ganax, Astral Hunter // Ganax, Astral Hunter 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
Text of card
Flying Whenever Ganax, Astral Hunter or another Dragon enters the battlefield under your control, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.") Choose a Background (You can have a Background as a second commander.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Ganax, Astral Hunter allows players to potentially summon multiple creature tokens, effectively building a sizeable board presence and providing card advantage without depleting your hand.
Resource Acceleration: This card can ramp up your mana resources by providing additional creatures that could be tapped for mana or sacrificed if synergies within your deck allow, thereby fueling more substantial spells or abilities in later turns.
Instant Speed: The ability to flash in Ganax, Astral Hunter endows you with the strategic advantage of surprising opponents. This can disrupt their plans and allow you to optimize the timing of your plays, all while maintaining the pacing and flow of your own game plan.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Ganax, Astral Hunter necessitates the discard of a creature card to harness its full potential. This prerequisite might prove to be a setback when your hand options are already limited or when the strategic timing to discard isn’t ideal.
Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Ganax requires a precise combination of mana, including two black mana symbols. This could pose a challenge for decks running more than two colors or those that heavily focus on other colors.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, including two that are color-specific, Ganax’s cost is on the higher side. This could hamper your early to mid-game tempo, especially when competing against decks that put pressure on through low-cost, high-value cards.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Ganax, Astral Hunter integrates seamlessly into a variety of deck archetypes. Its ability to fetch constellation cards can bolster enchantment-heavy builds or synergize with devotion strategies.
Combo Potential: With the right board state, Ganax’s constellation-fetching mechanic can be part of powerful combos, consistently finding the pieces you need for game-winning interactions.
Meta-Relevance: Given the card’s adaptability in a shifting meta, having Ganax, Astral Hunter in your arsenal ensures you have a robust card that can adjust to the ebb and flow of the competitive landscape.
How to beat
Ganax, Astral Hunter presents a unique challenge on the battlefield with its ability to fetch constellation cards, enhancing its position in Magic the Gathering decks infused with enchantments. When facing this celestial adversary, consider using spells that push for non-targeted removal, such as board wipes, that can clear the field without singling out Ganax directly. This sidesteps Ganax’s protection from monocolored spells, rendering its defensive capability less effective.
Control strategies become crucial when tackling Ganax. Prioritize counter spells to prevent its casting altogether or use instant-speed interactives that can manage the enchantments it relies on. This proactive approach can stifle the synergies your opponent is trying to establish. Keep an eagle eye on your opponent’s graveyard as well, employing cards that exile or shuffle it into the library, which disrupts the tactical advantage Ganax offers with its constellation-fetching ability.
Ultimately, adapting your strategy to reduce the effectiveness of Ganax, Astral Hunter, and prioritizing the neutralization of its enchantment-based synergies can turn the tide in your favor, ensuring this hunter becomes the hunted in your MTG sessions.
Cards like Ganax, Astral Hunter
Ganax, Astral Hunter introduces a compelling dynamic to creature-based strategies within MTG. It has an echelon of features akin to cards such as Circu, Dimir Lobotomist, where both can exile cards from the top of an opponent’s library. However, Ganax doesn’t just stop there; it brings the additional ability to play those exiled cards, significantly expanding a player’s options. Circu, meanwhile, does not grant the capacity to utilize the opponent’s exiled spells.
Another card that resonates with Ganax’s effect is Gonti, Lord of Luxury. Gonti allows a player to look at the top four cards of an opponent’s library upon entering the battlefield and exile one of them face down. Similar to Ganax, Gonti enables the player to cast the exiled card, and even spend mana as though it were any color to do so. However, Gonti’s influence is a one-time event, whereas Ganax can potentially exile multiple cards over the course of the game, offering a continuous potential threat.
Ultimately, Ganax, Astral Hunter distinguishes itself with its repetitive exile and play ability. It’s a versatile card that can potentially tilt the game in a player’s favor by utilizing an opponent’s library against them, making it a unique tool for any MTG player’s arsenal.
Cards similar to Ganax, Astral Hunter by color, type and mana cost
Printings
The Ganax, Astral Hunter // Ganax, Astral Hunter Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2022-06-10 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Battle for Baldur's Gate Art Series | ACLB | 53 | 2015 | Art series | Borderless | |||
| 2 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 504 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Aaron Miller | |
| 3 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 176 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Aaron Miller | |
| 4 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 398 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Justine Jones |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Ganax, Astral Hunter has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ganax, Astral Hunter card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2022-06-10 | An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders. |
| 2022-06-10 | Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library. |
| 2022-06-10 | Choose a Background is a variant of the partner ability. You may have two commanders if one of them is a legendary creature with the choose a background ability and the other is a legendary Background enchantment. Backgrounds and cards with choose a Background do not interact with cards which have any other partner ability. |
| 2022-06-10 | If a card refers to a commander creature you own, a Background won't usually be counted or included for that effect. If another spell or ability causes your Background to become a creature, however, it will be included. Any effect that refers to your commander or a commander you own or control without specifying creature will apply to a Background that is your commander, as appropriate. |
| 2022-06-10 | If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens. |
| 2022-06-10 | If you control a Background that grants an ability to commander creatures you own, and you own more than one commander creature, each of them will have that ability. |
| 2022-06-10 | If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can include only cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders’ combined color identities. |
| 2022-06-10 | If your commander loses the choose a Background ability or stops being a Background during the game, as appropriate, it is still your commander. |
| 2022-06-10 | Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won’t have to pay an additional the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 combat damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined (although your Background won’t usually be a creature anyway). |
| 2022-06-10 | You can choose two commanders that are the same color or colors. |