Gorilla Pack MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Ape |
| Released | 1995-06-03 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Ice Age |
| Set code | ICE |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 247 |
| Frame | 1993 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Anthony S. Waters |
Text of card
Gorilla Pack cannot attack if defending player controls no forests. Bury Gorilla Pack if you control no forests.
"We learned this at a dear price: once you cross the great river, get through the Yavimaya forest at top speed." —Disa the Restless, journal entry
Cards like Gorilla Pack
Gorilla Pack is an intriguing member of the creature card ensemble in MTG. It draws parallels with other creatures like Graypelt Hunter, which also benefits from being played in a deck rich with green mana. Both cards revel in the theme of power within forests. Gorilla Pack, however, distinguishes itself with its land-related condition, requiring you to control a forest to prevent it from attacking. Graypelt Hunter lacks this restraint but instead rewards you with a bolstering ability when casting another creature spell.
Another card to consider is Baloth Woodcrasher. While it shares the trait of interacting with land, it comes with a landfall ability that significantly increases its power and toughness. Although both creatures are enhanced by land dynamics, Baloth Woodcrasher is a higher-cost creature that leverages the landscape to manifest an even greater threat. Gorilla Pack is less demanding on the mana curve, maintaining relevance in the earlier stages of the game.
Evaluating the advantages of each card, Gorilla Pack offers an affordable creature option for players who foster synergy with their lands and enjoy the challenges of working with engaging gameplay mechanics.
Cards similar to Gorilla Pack by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Gorilla Pack allows players to maintain a stable board presence, offering consistent creature support turn after turn. The ability to persist on the battlefield can indirectly contribute to card advantage by reducing the need to commit additional creatures from the hand.
Resource Acceleration: While Gorilla Pack itself does not directly offer resource acceleration in the form of mana or tokens, its affordable casting cost facilitates earlier plays in the game, enabling a swift deployment of threats and supporting quicker strategies.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of this card doesn’t stem from being an instant itself, but by demanding answers instantly from opponents. In the dynamic environment of MTG, forcing opponents to deal with persistent threats like Gorilla Pack can clear the way for instant-speed interactions from your side, giving you a tactical edge.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: As part of its activation cost, Gorilla Pack asks players to throw away another card. This can be a significant setback, particularly in tight situations where every card in hand is crucial for maintaining a strategic advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Gorilla Pack comes with a mana cost that includes one green. This means that only decks running green mana can accommodate the card, reducing its versatility across the expansive range of MTG archetypes. Players not committed to green may find it a challenge to fit this card into their deck construction.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: For its ability to only offer a basic creature without any secondary effects, the mana cost to cast Gorilla Pack is on the higher side. In a game where speed and efficiency can define victory, there are numerous other creature cards that bring more value, or more powerful effects, to the battlefield for the same, or lower, mana investment.
Reasons to Include Gorilla Pack in Your Collection
Versatility: Gorilla Pack is a card that brings a blend of power and conditional resilience to green decks. Being able to dodge sorcery speed removal unless you control a forest plays well with strategies focusing on land manipulation and preservation.
Combo Potential: It can serve as a reliable creature for combos or synergies that revolve around creature count or the need for consistent board presence, bolstering strategies in decks that capitalize on creatures entering or leaving the battlefield.
Meta-Relevance: In a game where board control often dictates the victor, Gorilla Pack can stand as a staple in formats where green decks are prevalent, adding to the resilience against sweepers and targeted removal that operate at sorcery speed.
How to beat
Gorilla Pack is a unique creature card that poses a challenge on the battlefield with its adaptable attack strength. Unlike static creatures, Gorilla Pack’s power increases when attacking without any Forests untapped, making it crucial to develop a strategy that mitigates this potential threat. One effective method to outmaneuver Gorilla Pack is to manage your own land resources deliberately, ensuring the availability of instant-speed land interactions or removal spells that can be activated after the declaration of attackers to minimize the strength of the Gorilla Pack.
Control decks can maintain an advantage by strategically deciding when to tap their lands, readying counterspells or instant removal options such as Path to Exile during the opponent’s attack phase. Efficient blocking is also pivotal. Deploying creatures with enough toughness to survive or employing deathtouch creatures can dissuade a Gorilla Pack attack or eliminate the threat altogether. Considering Gorilla Pack’s inability to boost its power while defending, it’s also feasible to focus on aggressive strategies that outpace your opponent’s damage potential, effectively nullifying the impact of their Gorilla Pack during your turn.
Understanding the interplay of land management and timing your responses are key to negating Gorilla Pack’s presence in a game. By tailoring your approach with these tactics in mind, you give yourself a fighting chance against this formidable adversary on the battlefield.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Gorilla Pack MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age, 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 Gorilla Pack 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
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Gorilla Pack has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |