Gríma Wormtongue MTG Card
2023-06-23 - Number 539
2023-06-23 - Number 88
2019-12-02 - Number 734
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Legendary Creature — Human Advisor |
| Abilities | Amass |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 4 |
Key Takeaways
- Gríma Wormtongue provides card advantage through manipulation and hand disruption, tipping the scales in your favor.
- Its versatility and combo potential make it an asset in decks built for control and subtle power plays.
- Understanding its intricacies and countering with strategic deck building is key to overcoming Gríma Wormtongue.
Text of card
Your opponents can't gain life. , Sacrifice another creature: Target player loses 1 life. If the sacrificed creature was legendary, amass Orcs 2.
"Do not weary yourself, or tax too heavily your strength. Let others deal with these irksome guests."
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Gríma Wormtongue’s ability to manipulate both players’ hands creates substantial card advantage. By forcing your opponent to discard a card, you’re effectively gaining an edge, as you are privy to more options than your adversary. This card ensures you stay ahead in the long game by depleting your opponent’s resources while maintaining your own.
Resource Acceleration: This card can also work as an indirect form of resource acceleration. By making your opponent discard, you can slow down their game plan, giving you the upper hand and the ability to deploy your threats or answers faster. It’s a subtle but powerful way to gain momentum and pressure opponents on a different axis than just mana.
Instant Speed: The beauty of Gríma Wormtongue lies in its flexibility. Though not an instant itself, its effect at sorcery speed can be tactically timed to disrupt your opponent’s strategy. By playing this card right before your opponent’s draw phase or after they’ve drawn for the turn, you essentially mimic instant speed effects, seizing the perfect moment to maximize impact and throw them off course.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Grima Wormtongue demands that players part with a card to access its effects, which in certain game scenarios could lead to a weakening of hand advantage and loss of momentum.
Specific Mana Cost: This card’s casting requires specific mana alignment, which can sometimes pose deck-building restrictions and may not seamlessly fit into multicolor strategies without proper mana fixing.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Given its mana cost, Grima Wormtongue competes with other influential cards that could offer greater impact or board presence, potentially leading to suboptimal mana expenditure.
Reasons to Include Gríma Wormtongue in Your Collection
Versatility: Gríma Wormtongue offers a level of strategic flexibility that can be a crucial addition to decks that focus on manipulation and politics. Its ability to influence opponents’ actions seamlessly integrates into control or midrange decks.
Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with cards that benefit from opponent disruption or activate abilities when you gain control of opponent’s cards. It essentially becomes a powerful piece in decks designed around these synergies.
Meta-Relevance: Given a format where psychological play and disruption are key, Gríma Wormtongue becomes a valuable countermeasure to many common strategies. Its inclusion in your collection ensures you have a tool that is attuned to current gameplay dynamics.
How to beat Gríma Wormtongue
Gríma Wormtongue is a cunning character known to disrupt strategies in Magic: The Gathering. This character’s presence in the game often means your opponent has a subtle but effective way to interfere with your plans. Dealing with this card requires foresight and the right countermeasures.
To outmaneuver Gríma Wormtongue, it’s essential to focus on ability negation or targeted removals. Cards with the capability to silence or neutralize abilities can strip Gríma of its power to manipulate. Direct removal spells are also highly effective, as they eliminate the threat from the board entirely. Additionally, it’s worth considering the timing of spells and abilities to minimize the impact of Gríma’s influence on your strategy.
Strategic deck construction can also provide an edge against this card. Incorporating cards that function well from the graveyard or ones that have beneficial effects when discarded can turn Gríma’s strengths into weaknesses. Ultimately, defeating Gríma Wormtongue requires understanding its mechanics and preparing your deck to counteract them effectively.
Cards like Gríma Wormtongue
Gríma Wormtongue dives into the rich lore of crossover sets in Magic: The Gathering, presenting unique abilities reminiscent of other political cards. A card with a similar flavor is Kambal, Consul of Allocation, which, like Gríma, impacts opponents’ strategies quietly yet effectively. While Kambal taxes opponents for casting noncreature spells, Gríma’s traits lie in stealth and manipulation, offering a subtler but equally strategic advantage.
Dark Confidant is another comparable card, offering consistent card advantage at the expense of life—a trade Gríma Wormtongue also makes, but with a focus on affecting opponents’ hands instead. Gríma’s undermining tactics echo the attributes of Liliana’s Specter, as both deal with disrupting opponents’ resources, though Gríma might do it more indirectly. Hypnotic Specter enforces a similar disruption on attack, however, Gríma’s influence on gameplay is woven in more political machinations than direct assault.
Evaluating these similar cards, it’s apparent that Gríma Wormtongue holds its place in decks crafted around control and subterfuge. Its ability to unsettle opponents’ calculations without drawing immediate attention can be a more insidious path to victory.
Cards similar to Gríma Wormtongue by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Gríma Wormtongue MTG card by a specific set like Secret Lair Drop and The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, 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 Gríma Wormtongue and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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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Printings
The Gríma Wormtongue Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-12-02 and 2023-06-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secret Lair Drop | SLD | 734 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Bakshi Productions | ||
| 2 | 2023-06-23 | The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth | LTR | 539 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alex Brock | |
| 3 | 2023-06-23 | The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth | LTR | 88 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alex Brock |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Gríma Wormtongue has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gríma Wormtongue card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-06-16 | Amass Zombies works the same way, except you create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token if you don't control an Army. If the Army creature you chose isn't already a Zombie, it becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types. By combining cards with amass Orcs and amass Zombies, you can end up with an Orc Zombie Army. |
| 2023-06-16 | Amass abilities are now written as "amass -ubtype] N." Previous cards with amass have received errata to say "amass Zombies N." |
| 2023-06-16 | Gríma Wormtongue's activated ability checks whether the sacrificed creature was legendary as it last existed on the battlefield. It doesn't matter whether or not it's legendary in the graveyard. |
| 2023-06-16 | If an effect says to set an opponent's life total to a number that's higher than the opponent's current life total while Gríma Wormtongue is on the battlefield, the player's life total doesn't change. |
| 2023-06-16 | If you don't control an Army, the Orc Army token you create enters the battlefield as a 0/0 creature before receiving counters. Any abilities that trigger when a creature with a certain power enters the battlefield, such as that of Mentor of the Meek, will see the token enter as a 0/0 creature before it gets +1/+1 counters. |
| 2023-06-16 | In the rare case that you control multiple Army creatures (perhaps because you played a creature with changeling) while you amass Orcs, you choose which of your Army creatures to put the +1/+1 counters on. If that creature isn't an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types. |
| 2023-06-16 | Some cards refer to the "amassed Army." That means the Army creature you chose to receive counters, even if no counters were placed on it for some reason. |
| 2023-06-16 | Some spells and abilities that amass Orcs may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't amass Orcs. |
| 2023-06-16 | Spells and abilities that cause opponents to gain life still resolve while Gríma Wormtongue is on the battlefield. No opponent will gain life, but any other effects of that spell or ability will still happen. |
| 2023-06-16 | To amass Orcs N, if you don't control an Army creature, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token. Then you choose an Army creature you control and put N +1/+1 counters on it. If that Army isn't already an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types. |