Golgari Grave-Troll MTG Card


Its dredge mechanic provides consistent card advantage, crucial for maintaining momentum in matches. Strength grows with graveyard creatures, turning losses into substantial offensive gains. Though lacking instant speed, regeneration offsets this, ensuring persistent board presence.
Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Troll Skeleton
Abilities Dredge,Mill
Power 0
Toughness 0

Text of card

Golgari Grave-Troll comes into play with a +1/+1 counter on it for each creature card in your graveyard. , Remove a +1/+1 counter from Golgari Grave-Troll: Regenerate Golgari Grave-Troll. Dredge 6


Cards like Golgari Grave-Troll

Within the vast card realm of Magic: The Gathering, Golgari Grave-Troll holds a unique position, renowned for its dredge mechanic and its intrinsic affinity with graveyard strategies. Its closest counterpart within the game is Stinkweed Imp. Similar to the Grave-Troll, Stinkweed too can be dredged up from the graveyard yet its lower casting cost and flying attribute set it apart. However, Grave-Troll gains one +1/+1 counter for each creature in your graveyard, providing a potentially more significant resource advantage and threat on board.

In the same vein, Life from the Loam is another card that performs well under burial conditions. Although not a creature, this sorcery card remarkably retrieves lands from the graveyard, supplying continuous resources and fueling long-term strategies. Nonetheless, it does not provide the same board presence as the Grave-Troll.

On reviewing the attributes, and considering the value of different options, Golgari Grave-Troll stands its ground by embodying a powerful dredge tool capable of being a substantial threat and resource exploiter on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering, owing to its innate potential to outscale its competitors.

Stinkweed Imp - MTG Card versions
Life from the Loam - MTG Card versions
Stinkweed Imp - MTG Card versions
Life from the Loam - MTG Card versions

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Thicket Basilisk - MTG Card versions
Cockatrice - MTG Card versions
Ironroot Treefolk - MTG Card versions
Elvish Bard - MTG Card versions
Durkwood Boars - MTG Card versions
Elven Riders - MTG Card versions
Redwood Treefolk - MTG Card versions
Spined Wurm - MTG Card versions
Rabid Wolverines - MTG Card versions
Deadly Insect - MTG Card versions
Vintara Elephant - MTG Card versions
Kavu Chameleon - MTG Card versions
Spring-Leaf Avenger - MTG Card versions
Okina Nightwatch - MTG Card versions
Consuming Blob - MTG Card versions
Primeval Force - MTG Card versions
Spitting Spider - MTG Card versions
Copperhoof Vorrac - MTG Card versions
Tel-Jilad Lifebreather - MTG Card versions
Llanowar Behemoth - MTG Card versions

Decks using this card

MTG decks using Golgari Grave-Troll. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#NameFormatArchetypeEvent
DredgeDredge VintageDredgeVintage League 2024-04-16
WUBGWUBG LegacyLegacy Challenge 32 2024-04-20 (1)
LED 5cLED 5c LegacyLED DredgeLegacy Challenge 64 2024-04-14

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Golgari Grave-Troll Mtg Card offers an incredible card advantage with the unique dredge mechanic. Rather than drawing a new card on your turn, dredge it back from your graveyard to your hand. Therefore, you’re fueling your deck and keeping hand full at all times, providing solid and continuous card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: The Golgari Grave-Troll Card facilitates resource acceleration like no other. Its power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures in your graveyard, turning your fallen comrades into valuable resources for a strong assault. This dynamic strategy hastens your gameplay, throwing your opponents off guard.

Instant Speed: Albeit not possessing instant speed, the Golgari Grave-Troll compensates this with its preeminent resilience. Its regenerative abilities provide a wall of defense that’s tough to penetrate, making it an astonishing nuisance on the battlefield. Its reusability can be even regarded as a pseudo-instant speed contributing to its overall utility.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Golgari Grave-Troll requires you to spend from your graveyard as an additional cost by dredging, which can potentially exhaust valuable resources or limit the usefulness of your cards at hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Golgari Grave-Troll comes with a specific mana cost that includes green and black. This restricts it to play in decks that include these colors and limits its general deck compatibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The initial cost to cast Golgari Grave-Troll is five, which might seem high compared to other creatures with similar stats. This high cost can hinder your early game plays and may require effective mana management from the player’s end.


Reasons to Include Golgari Grave-Troll in Your Collection

Versatility: The Golgari Grave-Troll card fits into a wide array of MTG decks, particularly those that capitalize on graveyard dynamics. Not only can it grow stronger with every creature card in your graveyard, but it also provides valuable recursion via Dredge, facilitating the replay of vital utility creatures or adding fodder for sacrifice mechanics.

Combo Potential: Grazing your graveyard with Dredge allows you to unlock exceptional combo potential. Bringing back critical creatures to your hand, or filling your graveyard for the activation of powerful delve abilities or other graveyard-dependent effects, gives you multiple strategic options.

Meta-Relevance: The Golgari Grave-Troll maintains relevance in the modern meta, particularly in Dredge or self-mill strategies. Wise usage of this card can make your deck resilient in the face of shifting metagame trends. Its strategies’ elasticity makes it immune to becoming obsolete, ensuring its long-standing value.


How to beat

Golgari Grave-Troll, a potent force in MTG, can be a major asset in any deck harnessing the power of the graveyard. With the ability to dredge from the graveyard and increase its strength proportional to the number of creatures in the graveyard, the Grave-Troll can quickly turn from a minor annoyance into an unstoppable force.

A strategic way to overcome the Grave-Troll is to attack the owner’s graveyard, using cards like Relic of Progenitus or Leyline of the Void. These cards have the power to exile a card from a player’s graveyard, thereby snuffing out the Grave-Troll’s power source.

An alternate strategy is to use exile all together rather than destruction, using cards like Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, or Skyclave Apparition. Every time this stalwart resurrects, it grows in power, so sending it straight to exile is the surefire way to eliminate the threat.

Fighting fire with fire can be one’s last resort. Fill your deck with trample-induced creatures that can overpower the continuously regeneration of the Golgari Grave-Troll.

In essence, Golgari Grave-Troll is an undeniably powerful card in MTG, but with the right strategy, its reign can be effectively curtailed.


BurnMana Recommendations

MTG enthusiasts often seek the most robust cards to enhance their decks and Golgari Grave-Troll certainly warrants consideration. This card excels in strategies that utilize the graveyard, becoming more formidable as your graveyard grows. If you’re keen on exploring synergies that capitalize on such mechanics, this card could be a pivotal addition to your collection. Wisely integrating Grave-Troll into your deck can serve as a catalyst for potent combos and a durable threat to opponents. To fully understand how this powerful creature can revolutionize your gameplay, delve deeper with us. Discover advanced strategies, deck building tips, and ways to outmaneuver opponents with Golgari Grave-Troll. Join BurnMana and turn your deck into an unbeatable force within the MTG realm.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Golgari Grave-Troll MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica: City of Guilds and Magic Online Theme Decks, 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 Golgari Grave-Troll and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Golgari Grave-Troll Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2005-10-07 and 2024-01-12. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12005-10-07Ravnica: City of GuildsRAV 1672003NormalBlackGreg Hildebrandt
22010-11-08Magic Online Theme DecksTD0 A742003NormalBlackGreg Hildebrandt
32012-09-07Duel Decks: Izzet vs. GolgariDDJ 602003NormalBlackGreg Hildebrandt
42018-12-07Ultimate MastersUMA 1672015NormalBlackJakub Kasper
52024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 1442015NormalBlackGreg Hildebrandt
62024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 348z2015NormalBlackGreg Hildebrandt
72024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 3481997NormalBlackGreg Hildebrandt

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Golgari Grave-Troll has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernBanned
OathbreakerLegal
VintageRestricted
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Golgari Grave-Troll card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2013-06-07 Dredge lets you replace any card draw, not just the one during your draw step.
2013-06-07 Once you decide to replace a draw using a card’s dredge ability, that card can’t be removed from your graveyard “in response.” (Replacement effects don’t use the stack.)
2013-06-07 You can’t use dredge unless you’re going to draw a card and the card with dredge is already in your graveyard.
2018-12-07 Because damage remains marked on a creature until it’s removed as the turn ends, nonlethal damage dealt to Golgari Grave-Troll may become lethal if you return remove +1/+1 counters from it during that turn. In this case, it dies before you can resolve the activated ability that will regenerate it.
2018-12-07 If you return Golgari Grave-Troll from your graveyard directly to the battlefield, its first ability counts itself.