Golgari Raiders MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Elf Warrior |
| Abilities | Haste,Undergrowth |
| Released | 2018-10-05 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Guilds of Ravnica |
| Set code | GRN |
| Power | 0 |
| Toughness | 0 |
| Number | 130 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | David Palumbo |
Key Takeaways
- Golgari Raiders gain power from creature cards in your graveyard, enhancing board presence.
- Instant speed graveyard fillers synergize well, enabling surprise tactics with the Raiders.
- Requires careful hand management due to its discard mechanic, which can impact strategic plays.
Text of card
Haste Undergrowth — Golgari Raiders enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each creature card in your graveyard.
What the Golgari can't claim through patient undercity expansion, they seize in brazen topside sorties.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Golgari Raiders presents a unique angle on card advantage as it capitalizes on a populated graveyard. The more creatures you have in the bin, the stronger it arrives on the battlefield, potentially overwhelming your opponent with a single card’s value.
Resource Acceleration: Part of the allure of Golgari colors is the adeptness at rapidly increasing resources; Golgari Raiders can be a massive and unexpected threat if played after a sequence of self-mill or discard strategies, using the graveyard as a resource to fuel its power.
Instant Speed: While the Raiders themselves must be cast at sorcery speed, they synergize with instant speed graveyard fillers. This means you can set up your graveyard on your opponent’s turn and then unleash the Raiders as a formidable force in your next turn, fully utilizing the element of surprise.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Golgari Raiders require you to discard another card to fully exploit its undergrowth ability. This can backfire in tight situations where each card in your hand is essential.
Specific Mana Cost: With a blend of black and green mana necessary to cast this creature, it may not effortlessly fit outside of its dedicated Golgari deck archetype, potentially limiting its versatility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that is relatively steep, there are moments when deploying Golgari Raiders might not be the most mana-efficient play, especially if your graveyard has yet to be sufficiently stocked with creature cards to capitalize on its undergrowth ability.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Golgari Raiders can seamlessly adapt to various deck styles, thriving especially in strategies that capitalize on a filled graveyard. With its undergrowth ability, the creature grows in power for each creature card in your graveyard, making it a flexible asset across multiple game phases.
Combo Potential: The Raiders work phenomenally in tandem with self-mill strategies or decks that rapidly fill the graveyard. Their synergy with sacrifice mechanics or recursive playstyles can turn them into a recurring threat that opponents must constantly manage.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where decks that fill the graveyard are commonplace, Golgari Raiders can easily become a formidable presence on the battlefield. Their scaling power and haste make them a credible threat at any stage, keeping pace with the evolving meta that values graveyard interaction.
How to beat
The Golgari Raiders card in Magic: The Gathering presents as a potent force on the battlefield, especially when it surges from your graveyard with haste to capitalize on a populated graveyard. This card thrives in a deck focused on self-milling and creature sacrifice, increasing its power as more creature cards find themselves in the graveyard.
Countering Golgari Raiders effectively requires strategic graveyard management. Cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void that exile cards from the graveyard can severely cripple the power of Golgari Raiders before it even enters the battlefield. Controlling the pace by utilizing instant removal spells, such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push, can also disrupt the Raiders’ impact. These would remove it from the game before it has the chance to utilize its prowess in the combat phase.
Overall, to triumph over Golgari Raiders, it is imperative to recognize and interrupt the synergy it has with the graveyard. By focusing on graveyard exile mechanics or timely creature removal, the Raiders can be rendered far less formidable, enabling you to maintain control and momentum in your match.
Cards like Golgari Raiders
The entity known as Golgari Raiders finds its place in the vast world of creature cards that speak to the MTG player’s strategy for revival and growth. Comparable to cards like Scute Mob, Golgari Raiders comes with the benefit of incorporating the undergrowth mechanic, allowing it to gain +1/+1 counters for each creature card in your graveyard.
Much like our Raiders, Sudden Reclamation is another card that strengthens your late-game by filling the graveyard. While it doesn’t put a body on the board, it helps set up for a powerful turn with a beefed-up Golgari Raiders. Within this same theme, we encounter Splinterfright. It not only benefits from a growing graveyard but also contributes to it by milling two cards each turn.
While evaluating the effectiveness of these cards, Golgari Raiders definitely stands out in decks focused on self-mill and graveyard synergies, bringing a potentially massive threat to the table. It’s a card that, when timed right, can change the board’s dynamic, affirming its place in the Golgari guild’s arsenal.
Cards similar to Golgari Raiders by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Golgari Raiders MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica, 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 Raiders 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
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Golgari Raiders has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Golgari Raiders card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-05 | Because tokens aren’t cards, they never count for undergrowth abilities. |
| 2018-10-05 | Creature cards with other types, such as artifact creature cards, count for undergrowth abilities. |
| 2018-10-05 | If you return Golgari Raiders from your graveyard to the battlefield, its undergrowth ability counts itself. |
