Grazing Kelpie MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Beast |
| Abilities | Persist |
| Released | 2008-07-25 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Eventide |
| Set code | EVE |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 153 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Drew Tucker |
Text of card
{GW}, Sacrifice Grazing Kelpie: Put target card in a graveyard on the bottom of its owner's library. Persist (When this creature is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to play under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.)
Cards like Grazing Kelpie
Grazing Kelpie is an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering. It shines in decks centered around graveyard mechanics, similar to other graveyard-utilizing creatures like Scrabbling Claws. While the Kelpie offers both graveyard manipulation and the potential to draw a card, it does so by returning a card from the graveyard to your hand. This stands in contrast to the Claws’ singular focus on exiling a single card from a graveyard to draw.
Academy Ruins also shares similarities with Grazing Kelpie insofar as its ability to bring back cards from the graveyard. Unlike Ruins, which is limited to returning only artifacts, Kelpie’s broader approach allows for any type of card to be affected. Additionally, another card to consider is Eternal Witness, which has a similar ability to retrieve cards from the graveyard. However, Eternal Witness places the chosen card directly into the hand upon entering the battlefield, while Kelpie requires an additional action to trigger its effect.
In the diverse world of creature spells with graveyard retrieval in Magic: The Gathering, Grazing Kelpie offers flexibility and card draw capabilities. It holds a unique place for players looking to strategically manage their graveyard resources.
Cards similar to Grazing Kelpie by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Grazing Kelpie offers a valuable mechanic to recur cards from your graveyard to your hand. This not only preserves your resources but also gives you the opportunity to reuse powerful spells and creatures that have been discarded or destroyed.
Resource Acceleration: With the ability to untap two lands when it enters the battlefield, Grazing Kelpie supports a swift ramp-up in resources, allowing you to cast higher-cost spells earlier in the game, or double down on your current turn’s strategy without missing a beat.
Instant Speed: Grazing Kelpie can be played at instant speed thanks to its persist ability, allowing you to regain board presence and reuse its untap lands effect during opponents’ turns. This sudden resurgence can be a game-changer, especially when timing is crucial for defense or for setting up a formidable turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the trade-offs when using Grazing Kelpie is the potential need to discard a card to utilize its retrace ability. This can sometimes backfire, particularly in tight situations where card advantage is crucial, and sacrificing even a single card might make the difference between victory and defeat.
Specific Mana Cost: Despite its flexibility, Grazing Kelpie has a specific mana requirement that includes green and blue. This restricts the card’s inclusion to decks that can accommodate both colors, potentially limiting its playability across other mono-colored or differently aligned dual or multi-colored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes both green and blue mana and an additional two of any color, Grazing Kelpie might be considered costly for its effects. In environments where speed is of the essence, Grazing Kelpie might fall short when competing for a slot against lower-cost creatures with similar abilities.
Reasons to Include Grazing Kelpie in Your Collection
Versatility: Grazing Kelpie offers a flexible role in decks focused on graveyard interaction. Its ability to self-sacrifice not only manages graveyard resources but also serves as a reliable way to draw a card, thus fitting into a variety of game strategies.
Combo Potential: This card is a great addition to engine decks that capitalize on creatures entering and leaving the battlefield. Its abilities can be part of infinite loops or synergy-driven combos, providing a repeatable way to cycle through your deck.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where graveyard strategies are prevalent, Grazing Kelpie becomes a key piece to disrupt opponents’ tactics while bolstering your own game plan. Its presence on the board can deter opponents from overcommitting to their graveyard, making it a tactical asset.
How to beat
Grazing Kelpie presents unique challenges on the battlefield with its ability to manage graveyard interaction in Magic: The Gathering. This creature can both remove unwanted cards from graveyards and offer its controller a draw advantage, which can be problematic if left unchecked. The key to overcoming Grazing Kelpie lies in disrupting its abilities and timing your removal efficiently.
To effectively handle Grazing Kelpie, consider instant-speed removal cards that can eliminate it before its controller has the opportunity to extract value. Utilizing spells like Path to Exile or Fatal Push allows you to deal with the Kelpie before it becomes a recurring nuisance. Additionally, graveyard hate cards such as Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt can neutralize the benefits Grazing Kelpie provides by clearing the graveyard entirely, rendering its abilities moot.
Overall, while Grazing Kelpie can be a persistent threat if it melds with the right deck strategy, with proper planning and responsive card choices, you can ensure it doesn’t hinder your path to victory. Always be mindful of when the Kelpie enters the battlefield and have your answers ready to secure your game position.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Grazing Kelpie MTG card by a specific set like Eventide, 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 Grazing Kelpie 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
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Grazing Kelpie has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Grazing Kelpie 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 | If a creature with persist stops being a creature, persist will still work. |
| 2013-06-07 | If a creature with persist that has +1/+1 counters on it receives enough -1/-1 counters to cause it to be destroyed by lethal damage or put into its owner’s graveyard for having 0 or less toughness, persist won’t trigger and the card won’t return to the battlefield. That’s because persist checks the creature’s existence just before it leaves the battlefield, and it still has all those counters on it at that point. |
| 2013-06-07 | If a permanent has multiple instances of persist, they’ll each trigger separately, but the redundant instances will have no effect. If one instance returns the card to the battlefield, the next to resolve will do nothing. |
| 2013-06-07 | If a token with no -1/-1 counters on it has persist, the ability will trigger when the token is put into the graveyard. However, the token will cease to exist and can’t return to the battlefield. |
| 2013-06-07 | If multiple creatures with persist are put into the graveyard at the same time (due to combat damage or a spell that destroys all creatures, for example), the active player (the player whose turn it is) puts all of their persist triggers on the stack in any order, then each other player in turn order does the same. The last trigger put on the stack is the first one that resolves. That means that in a two-player game, the nonactive player’s persist creatures will return to the battlefield first, then the active player’s persist creatures do the same. The creatures return to the battlefield one at a time. |
| 2013-06-07 | The persist ability triggers when the permanent is put into a graveyard. Its last known information (that is, how the creature last existed on the battlefield) is used to determine whether it had a -1/-1 counter on it. |
| 2013-06-07 | When a permanent with persist returns to the battlefield, it’s a new object with no memory of or connection to its previous existence. |