Ghastly Gloomhunter MTG Card

Ghastly Gloomhunter provides excellent card advantage with its kick feature and lifelink token creation. Its flying ability and synergy with lifegain offers versatile plays in both early and late game. While potent, it requires careful board evaluation due to its discard or life payment for kicking.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Zombie Bat
Abilities	Flying,Kicker,Lifelink
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	103
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Zezhou Chen

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) Flying, lifelink If Ghastly Gloomhunter was kicked, it enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it.

Stinking, silent death.

Cards like Ghastly Gloomhunter

Ghastly Gloomhunter holds its ground in the realm of Magic: The Gathering as a hybrid of evasion and life-gain. It echoes the strengths seen in creatures like Vampire Nighthawk, which also combines flying with life-link to secure board position and health equity. However, Ghastly Gloomhunter is unique with its kicker ability allowing it to soar into the battlefield as a larger threat if the mana is invested.

Looking at Malakir Blood-Priest, we observe another card with a penchant for life manipulation but this one brings direct life reduction for opponents upon entering the battlefield, a different yet impactful tactical advantage. Skyblade of the Legion offers just vanilla flying compared to Ghastly Gloomhunter’s additional life-gain feature, yet it stands out with its cheaper mana cost making it a reliable early play.

In wrapping up, while there are several creatures in Magic: The Gathering that share some attributes with Ghastly Gloomhunter, none blend the accessibility and flexibility of kicker with flying and life-link in quite the same way. This card’s versatility solidifies its place within the black archetype’s strategy.

Malakir Blood-Priest - MTG Card versions

Skyblade of the Legion - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Ghastly Gloomhunter by color, type and mana cost

Order of the Ebon Hand - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Ghastly Gloomhunter offers a dual benefit as soon as it hits the battlefield. You get a creature on the field, and if it was kicked, you create a lifelink token. This effectively gives you two resources for the price of one, providing substantial card advantage in longer battles.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly generating mana or treasure tokens, Ghastly Gloomhunter enhances your resource acceleration by giving you the lifelink ability. This means every bit of damage it deals also bolsters your life total, helping you stay ahead and potentially utilize your life as a resource for other game mechanics.

Instant Speed: Although Ghastly Gloomhunter doesn’t operate at instant speed itself, its low cost and flying ability make it an excellent card to deploy in the early stages of the game. Its swift entry to the battlefield allows for fast, evasive attacks, keeping your opponents on their toes and ensuring you remain reactive with your mana for other instant speed spells in your arsenal.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ghastly Gloomhunter requires sacrificing another creature or paying 3 life to kick it, which can be detrimental in a dire board state or if life totals are a critical resource.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s casting cost includes black mana, making it less versatile for inclusion in multicolored decks that might have a demanding mana base, thus potentially affecting its playability across different deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its kicked cost reaching a total of six mana, Ghastly Gloomhunter’s ability to provide a significant board presence could be overshadowed by other creatures or spells that offer more immediate impact or longer-term value for a similar investment.

Reasons to Include Ghastly Gloomhunter in Your Collection

Versatility: Ghastly Gloomhunter offers dual utility as both an early-game blocker with flying and a late-game threat when kicked. Its adaptability allows it to be a valuable asset in various deck types, thriving in strategies that capitalize on life-gain or flying creatures.

Combo Potential: This card presents synergy when paired with cards that benefit from lifelink or flying, such as those that trigger off of life gain or those that enhance flying creatures. Ghastly Gloomhunter can become a key component in executing powerful life gain combos or aerial dominance.

Meta-Relevance: Given the right circumstances, Ghastly Gloomhunter aligns well with a meta that leans towards aggressive decks with small creatures. Its ability to contribute to life total stability while posing a threat in the air makes it an understated yet effective choice in the current gameplay environment.

How to beat

Ghastly Gloomhunter is a creature card with flying and lifelink that can outpace opponents in life totals when unchecked in a game of MTG. This bat comes with a kicker cost. When paid, it allows the Ghastly Gloomhunter to enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter, enhancing its survival and damage capacity.

To effectively counter Ghastly Gloomhunter, players should prioritize removal spells that can target creatures with flying. Common yet effective solutions include spells like Shatter the Sky or Bloodchief’s Thirst, which can dispatch the Gloomhunter before its lifelink ability tips the scales. Additionally, enchantments that restrict combat abilities, such as Pacifism, render the creature unable to attack or block, neutralizing the threat.

It’s also wise to maintain board control with creatures that can block flying creatures. Cards such as Plummets or creatures with reach provide defenses without having to resort to spell removal. When building your game strategy, remember to consider your mana curve and plan ahead for potential threats like Ghastly Gloomhunter.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ghastly Gloomhunter MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Ghastly Gloomhunter and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ghastly Gloomhunter 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 Ghastly Gloomhunter card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2020-09-25	An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25	If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that’s already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn’t kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25	If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can’t kick it.
2020-09-25	Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25	Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they’re kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren’t kicked, and you can’t kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won’t be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25	To determine a spell’s total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card’s effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25	You can’t pay a kicker cost more than once.