Great Sable Stag MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Elk |
| Abilities | Protection |
| Released | 2009-07-17 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Magic 2010 |
| Set code | M10 |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 186 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Matt Cavotta |
Text of card
Great Sable Stag can't be countered. Protection from blue and from black (This creature can't be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything blue or black.)
Ineffable and incorruptible.
Cards like Great Sable Stag
The Great Sable Stag is an intriguing presence in MTG with its straightforward yet potent abilities. It finds a close relative in Thrun, the Last Troll, which also boasts resilience against control strategies thanks to its hexproof ability. While Thrun offers regeneration, rendering it nearly invincible in combat, the Stag comes in at a lesser casting cost and is immediately elusive to black and blue spells.
Another comparable creature is Loxodon Smiter. Smiter also can’t be countered and enters the battlefield with an imposing power and toughness just like the Stag. However, the Smiter has an additional upside of punishing opponents who force you to discard cards. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Witchstalker. While it starts smaller, this wolf creature grows stronger with each spell your opponent casts on your turn, protecting itself within the green creature arsenal much like our Sable Stag.
In the ecosystem of MTG, creatures like Great Sable Stag earn their place for being tough to intercept and for charging through commonly played control colors. They offer a strategic advantage by imposing restrictions on the opponent’s tactics, solidifying their role in decks that favor resilience and aggression.
Cards similar to Great Sable Stag by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While the Great Sable Stag doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, its protection from blue and from black shields it from common removal spells. This can lead to an advantageous board state as your opponents may have to use more resources to deal with it, effectively giving you an indirect card advantage.
Resource Acceleration: The Great Sable Stag is itself an efficient creature for its cost. A 3/3 body with useful abilities for only three mana represents a good deal in terms of resource allocation. Dropping this stag early can accelerate the pressure you put on your opponent, forcing them to respond more quickly than they might prefer.
Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, the Great Sable Stag’s uncounterable nature makes it a reliable play against control decks that rely on counter spells. This characteristic allows you to develop your board with the certainty that the stag will land, saving your instant-speed interactions for other strategic plays.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Although the Great Sable Stag doesn’t require you to discard a card, it’s essential to note limitations like this in a card’s potential to synergize with discard-focused strategies. Its presence on the field wouldn’t directly enable such tactics.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Great Sable Stag is confined to two green mana points, which could restrict its playability solely to green decks or those with a green mana base. This means you cannot easily slot it into a multicolor deck without the appropriate mana sources.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While a mana cost of three, including two green, is not excessively high, it is significant when comparing the Stag to other creatures of similar power. For three mana, players could consider other creatures with additional abilities or lower cost creatures that allow for a faster gameplay tempo.
Reasons to Include Great Sable Stag in Your Collection
Versatility: Great Sable Stag stands out due to its ability to dodge common control spells. Its inherent protections make it a formidable addition to green decks facing blue or black heavy opponents.
Combo Potential: While not a traditional combo piece, this card’s resilience complements strategies aiming to safeguard valuable creatures or maintain a threat on the board regardless of the opponent’s removal tactics.
Meta-Relevance: The ever-present control archetypes in competitive play mean the Stag can be a relevant sideboard choice, slipping past common disruption and providing a steady clock against decks that may struggle to remove it.
How to beat Great Sable Stag
The Great Sable Stag is a solid inclusion in any MTG deck that emphasizes resilience. What makes this creature card notable is its immunity to being targeted by blue or black spells, not to mention its sanctuary from being countered. On top of that, its capabilities shine in matches against control decks that rely heavily on those colors.
To effectively tackle the Great Sable Stag, players should consider using board wipes that don’t target specific creatures, such as Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict, thereby circumventing the Stag’s protection. Red spells boasting mass damage, like Blasphemous Act, can also sweep the stag off the board without much fuss. Alternatively, utilizing combat tricks or cards that give a player’s creatures the upper hand in battle, such as Path to Exile or Settle the Wreckage, can dispatch the creature before it becomes a significant threat.
It’s crucial to adapt your MTG strategy with versatile removals or evasive actions that sidestep the protective abilities the Great Sable Stag brings to the game. Thus, understanding your opponent’s potential plays and diversifying your countermeasures will help maintain dominance over the battlefield, even against formidable adversaries like the Great Sable Stag.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Great Sable Stag MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2010, 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 Great Sable Stag 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
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Great Sable Stag has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Great Sable Stag card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2009-10-01 | Although the reminder text doesn’t say so, Great Sable Stag also can’t be equipped by blue or black Equipment. |
| 2009-10-01 | Great Sable Stag can be targeted by spells that try to counter it (such as Cancel). Those spells will resolve, but the part of their effect that would counter Great Sable Stag won’t do anything. Any other effects those spells have will work as normal. |