God-Pharaoh's Faithful MTG Card

Provides life gain with spell casting, favoring control or multi-spell strategies. Demands color-specific casting, potentially restricting deck flexibility. Effectiveness depends on the meta and presence of long games.

God-Pharaoh's Faithful - Hour of Devastation (HOU)

Hour of Devastation (HOU)
2017-07-14 - Number 14

God-Pharaoh's Faithful - Mystery Booster (MB1)

Mystery Booster (MB1)
2019-11-07 - Number 124

God-Pharaoh's Faithful - The List (PLST)

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number HOU-14

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Wizard
Power	0
Toughness	4

Text of card

Whenever you cast a blue, black, or red spell, you gain 1 life.

"This is the final trial! Rejoice, for the God-Pharaoh soars among us!"

Cards like God-Pharaoh's Faithful

God-Pharaoh’s Faithful is a unique creature card in MTG which offers an intriguing benefit to players casting spells. This card gains life for you whenever you cast a blue, black, or red spell, a subtle yet potentially game-sustaining ability. It’s interesting to compare this to cards like Auriok Champion, which also grants life whenever a spell is cast, albeit with a focus on white spells, and has the added advantage of protection from black and from red.

Looking towards creatures with similar functions, we can highlight the Soulmender. Although this card doesn’t trigger from casting spells, it provides a consistent life gain mechanism during your upkeep. The incremental benefits of these life-gain cards can shift the balance over the course of a game. Another card to consider is Suture Priest, which offers life gain while your creatures enter the battlefield and simultaneously chips away at your opponent’s life total when their creatures come into play.

Ultimately, God-Pharaoh’s Faithful can play an essential role in decks built around casting numerous spells, particularly multicolored ones. Its unique life gain ability plays well with the strategies that involve casting multiple spells in a single turn. This serves as a defensive measure to outlast opponents, especially in formats that involve prolonged interactions and spellslinging.

Cards similar to God-Pharaoh's Faithful by color, type and mana cost

Faerie Guidemother // Gift of the Fae - MTG Card versions

Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful - MTG Card versions

Bushi Tenderfoot // Kenzo the Hardhearted - MTG Card versions

Decks using this card

MTG decks using God-Pharaoh's Faithful. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#	Name	Format	Archetype	Event
	Familiars	Pauper	Familiars	Pauper Challenge 32 2024-04-28
	UW Familiar	Pauper	Familiars	Monthly Tournament #38 @ Paper Pauper Magic Discord

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With the ability to profit from life gain, God-Pharaoh’s Faithful can be an unassuming powerhouse in matches. Every time you cast a blue, black, or red spell, you gain life, indirectly promoting card longevity. This effect offers a subtle edge, especially in drawn-out gameplay where incremental life gains can determine the victor.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly contributing to resource acceleration like ramp spells, God-Pharaoh’s Faithful indirectly supports such strategies. By maintaining higher life totals, you have more room to utilize life as a resource, be it through pain lands or other life-exchanging magic, giving you more freedom to accelerate your mana base at the cost of life without compromising your position.

Instant Speed: While God-Pharaoh’s Faithful itself is not an instant, its ability shines in an instant-rich environment. The life gain kicks in for every instant-speed spell you cast in your opponent’s turn, not only bolstering your health but also facilitating strategies that thrive on casting spells during opponents’ plays. This makes God-Pharaoh’s Faithful a fitting piece in decks with a heavy focus on interactions during the entire cycle of play.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing God-Pharaoh’s Faithful could mean you’re falling into a strict game routine. The card gains you life only when you cast a blue, black, or red spell, which essentially discards the flexibility of a dynamically changing gameplan and strictly dictates your spell casting to gain its benefits.

Specific Mana Cost: God-Pharaoh’s Faithful calls for a white mana to cast. This restriction requires either a dedicated white mana base or a mana-fixing strategy that can ensure its deployment, limiting the card’s utility in multi-color or colorless decks that may not prioritize white mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although its casting cost is just one white mana, the indirect cost of having to play specific spells to trigger its ability means the overall investment can be high. There are alternatives available which either provide life gain more consistently or contribute toward other aspects of gameplay without the need for such specific synergy.

Reasons to Include God-Pharaoh’s Faithful in Your Collection

Versatility: God-Pharaoh’s Faithful is a card that can find a home in various deck types. Its ability to gain you life whenever you cast a blue, black, or red spell means it synergizes well with multicolored decks and can be a valuable addition to life-gain strategies.

Combo Potential: This creature can be part of combos in decks that revolve around casting numerous spells in a single turn. Every spell cast not only advances your board state but also shores up your life total, giving you a cushion against aggressive decks.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where long games and control matchups are common, having a steady source of life gain can be pivotal. God-Pharaoh’s Faithful offers just that, acting as a deterrent against burn strategies and enabling you to survive until your late-game win conditions can be deployed.

How to beat

God-Pharaoh’s Faithful is an intriguing card often found in Magic: The Gathering control and life-gain decks. Its ability to provide incremental life gain can be a thorn in the side of aggressive decks aiming to reduce the opponent’s life total quickly. However, the card presents a specific challenge that players can strategize around to overcome.

Treating God-Pharaoh’s Faithful simply as a roadblock can be a misstep. Its true power lies in the consistency of life gain it offers, especially in decks that cast a lot of spells. To effectively beat this card, focus on removing it early in the game before its life gain becomes significant. Utilize direct removal spells or cards that can bypass its defense – think along the lines of flying creatures or those with unblockable abilities.

Moreover, consider strategies that minimize the life gain aspect, such as effects that prevent life gain altogether or deal damage in large chunks, overwhelming the incremental advantages. Cards with the ‘life loss’ mechanic can also be particularly effective since they circumvent life gain by directly subtracting from the opponent’s life total. In sum, while God-Pharaoh’s Faithful can be a nuisance, it can be managed with well-timed removal and an aggressive, decisive game plan.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase God-Pharaoh's Faithful MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation and Mystery Booster, 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 God-Pharaoh's Faithful and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The God-Pharaoh's Faithful Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2017-07-14 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Bastien L. Deharme.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2017-07-14	Hour of Devastation	HOU	14	2015	Normal	Black	Bastien L. Deharme
2	2019-11-07	Mystery Booster	MB1	124	2015	Normal	Black	Bastien L. Deharme
3	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	HOU-14	2015	Normal	Black	Bastien L. Deharme

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where God-Pharaoh's Faithful has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering God-Pharaoh's Faithful card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2017-07-14	If you cast a spell that’s two or more of these colors, you gain only 1 life.
2017-07-14	The triggered ability of God-Pharaoh’s Faithful will resolve before the spell that caused it to trigger. The ability will resolve even if that spell is countered.