Gut, True Soul Zealot MTG Card


Gut True Soul Zealot offers card draw, resource acceleration, and instant-play ability to empower strategic plays. The card demands a specific mana combination and a discard, potentially limiting its deck compatibility. Its versatility for various strategies and evolving meta make it a valuable addition to collections.
Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeLegendary Creature — Goblin Shaman
Abilities Choose a background
Power 2
Toughness 2

Text of card

Whenever you attack, you may sacrifice another creature or an artifact. If you do, create a 4/1 black Skeleton creature token with menace that's tapped and attacking. (It can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.) Choose a Background (You can have a Background as a second commander.)


Cards like Gut, True Soul Zealot

Gut True Soul Zealot is a notable creature in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, fitting neatly within the pantheon of utility creatures that offer both a body and an effect upon entering the battlefield. Similar to cards like Freebooter’s Folly, Gut True Soul Zealot provides value by granting an ability that can impact the board state significantly. While Freebooter’s Folly focuses on looting, Gut True Soul Zealot presents a different approach, offering strategic depth with its unique ability.

Another parallel can be drawn with the card Banisher Priest, which also deals with creatures but does so by temporarily removing them from the battlefield. Though Gut True Soul Zealot doesn’t offer the same kind of removal, it compensates with its potential to alter the tempo of the game. Comparatively, Fiend Hunter operates similarly to Banisher Priest but has a slightly different trigger condition. Both of these cards could be seen as functional cousins to Gut True Soul Zealot, highlighting the diverse strategies and interactions that creature cards can possess.

Even within MTG’s rich tapestry of creature spells, Gut True Soul Zealot stands out due to its particular set of skills, merging seamless board interaction with competitive advantages. It is an exemplary case of how MTG blends diverse abilities to create a dynamic gameplay environment.

Banisher Priest - MTG Card versions
Fiend Hunter - MTG Card versions
Banisher Priest - MTG Card versions
Fiend Hunter - MTG Card versions

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Dwarven Warriors - MTG Card versions
Raging Bull - MTG Card versions
Wall of Lava - MTG Card versions
Brassclaw Orcs - MTG Card versions
Sabretooth Tiger - MTG Card versions
Imperial Recruiter - MTG Card versions
Uthden Troll - MTG Card versions
Hobgoblin Bandit Lord - MTG Card versions
Goblin Rabblemaster - MTG Card versions
Nosy Goblin - MTG Card versions
Goblin Sky Raider - MTG Card versions
Skirk Commando - MTG Card versions
Cosmic Larva - MTG Card versions
Mannichi, the Fevered Dream - MTG Card versions
Cunning Bandit // Azamuki, Treachery Incarnate - MTG Card versions
Ghost-Lit Raider - MTG Card versions
Goblin Chariot - MTG Card versions
Balduvian Barbarians - MTG Card versions
Shinen of Fury's Fire - MTG Card versions
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Decks using this card

MTG decks using Gut, True Soul Zealot. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#NameFormatArchetypeEvent
Naya TempoNaya Tempo VintageBlue TempoVintage Challenge 32 2024-05-02
GoblinsGoblins LegacyGoblinsLegacy Challenge 64 2024-01-28
GrixisGrixis Free formCanadian Highlander for Duals - Underground Sea Guaranteed - Proxies Allowed
Raging Goblins Q1 2024Raging Goblins Q1 2024 Free formCanadian Highlander for Duals - Underground Sea Guaranteed - Proxies Allowed
RR LegacyLegacy League 2024-03-06
Rakdos PrisonRakdos Prison VintageRed PrisonVintage Challenge 32 2024-02-25
Boros StonebladeBoros Stoneblade LegacyBoros StonebladeLegacy Challenge 32 2024-02-10
RGRG LegacyLegacy League 2023-12-31
Mono-Red GoblinsMono-Red Goblins LegacyEternal Weekend Europe 2023 Legacy Mainevent
Rakdos GoblinsRakdos Goblins LegacyGoblinsEternal Weekend Europe 2023 Legacy Mainevent

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gut True Soul Zealot offers players an advantage by potentially drawing additional cards when certain conditions are met. This can vastly improve the player’s hand and options during the game.

Resource Acceleration: This card has the potential to accelerate your resources. By satisfying its in-game requirements, you can ramp up your mana pool, giving you a significant lead and the ability to play higher-cost cards sooner.

Instant Speed: One of the key strengths of Gut True Soul Zealot is its ability to be played at instant speed. This flexibility allows players to react swiftly to their opponent’s actions, making strategic plays that can change the course of the game in their favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Gut True Soul Zealot enters the fray with an additional cost that may prove taxing. Players must cast away another precious card from their hand, a setback if one’s arsenal of spells is already dwindling.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost demands a very particular combination of mana, with colors that may not easily slot into every player’s strategy or existing deck palette. This can be restrictive, making the card less universally flexible.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the zealot brings its unique abilities to the table, the investment of four mana is noteworthy. Devotees of the game will note that alternatives exist, cards that may fulfill similar roles without such a steep resource requirement.


Reasons to Include Gut True Soul Zealot in Your Collection

Versatility: Gut True Soul Zealot serves as a flexible tool in numerous deck archetypes. Its ability to manipulate life totals directly impacts strategies centered on both aggressive tactics and life-based synergies.

Combo Potential: This card effortlessly slots into engines designed for sacrifice or life-gain, amplifying strategies where such interactions are paramount. It can be the missing puzzle piece in a finely-tuned combo deck.

Meta-Relevance: As the metagame shifts towards creature-centric or life-gain decks, Gut True Soul Zealot’s impact on the board and its relevance within such dynamics grows, making it a sound investment for an evolving collection.


How to Beat Gut True Soul Zealot

Gut True Soul Zealot presents an interesting challenge on the battlefield with its menace ability, making it unblockable except by two or more creatures. To overcome this aggressive creature, one would have to look at strategies that don’t involve direct combat. Spot removal spells are an excellent tactic, such as Path to Exile or Doom Blade, neatly bypassing the menace ability by removing the creature from play outright.

Board wipes like Wrath of God or Damnation are also effective methods for dealing with Gut True Soul Zealot, especially when facing multiple menacing creatures. For a more nuanced approach, using cards that alter combat rules such as Silent Arbiter can nullify the menace mechanic, allowing for a one-on-one block. Alternatively, utilizing enchantments like Pacifism to prevent the creature from attacking is a useful strategy.

Blanketing the field with enough blockers to mitigate the menace threat is another option. Creating a wide board presence quickly with token generators can ensure you have the numbers to block effectively. Ensuring you have a varied suite of these solutions in your deck will prepare you well for encountering potent threats like Gut True Soul Zealot during gameplay.


BurnMana Recommendations

Perfecting your MTG gameplay goes beyond assembling a powerful deck; it’s about grasping every opportunity to outmaneuver your opponents. Gut True Soul Zealot embodies this principle, affording players the ability to tip the scales with card advantage and resource acceleration. Given its strategic depth, it’s no wonder why this card may find a place in your collection. Insightful players will see the zealot’s potential in various deck builds, appreciating its role in an ever-changing metagame. For those looking to refine their strategies or seeking to understand complex card synergies, we warmly invite you to dive deeper with us. Let’s uncover the full potential of your deck together, turning each match into a narrative of triumph.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gut, True Soul Zealot MTG card by a specific set like Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate and Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, 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 Gut, True Soul Zealot and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Gut, True Soul Zealot Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2022-06-10 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 1802015NormalBlackWayne Reynolds
22022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 3992015NormalBlackPedro Potier
32022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 5062015NormalBlackWayne Reynolds

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Gut, True Soul Zealot has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gut, True Soul Zealot card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2022-06-10 Although the Skeleton is an attacking creature, it was never declared as an attacking creature. This means that abilities that trigger whenever a creature attacks won't trigger when it enters the battlefield attacking.
2022-06-10 An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders.
2022-06-10 Any effects that say the Skeleton can't attack (such as that of Propaganda) affect only the declaration of attackers. They won't stop the Skeleton from entering the battlefield attacking.
2022-06-10 Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library.
2022-06-10 Choose a Background is a variant of the partner ability. You may have two commanders if one of them is a legendary creature with the choose a background ability and the other is a legendary Background enchantment. Backgrounds and cards with choose a Background do not interact with cards which have any other partner ability.
2022-06-10 Effects that modify a creature's power and/or toughness, such as the one created by Titanic Growth, will apply to the creature no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for any counters that change its power and/or toughness and effects that switch power and toughness.
2022-06-10 Gut doesn't have to be among the attacking creatures.
2022-06-10 Halsin, Emerald Archdruid's activated ability overwrites any previous effects that set the creature's base power and toughness to specific values. Any power- or toughness-setting effects that start to apply after Halsin's ability resolves will overwrite this effect.
2022-06-10 If Gut somehow becomes an artifact, you may sacrifice it to its own ability.
2022-06-10 If a card refers to a commander creature you own, a Background won't usually be counted or included for that effect. If another spell or ability causes your Background to become a creature, however, it will be included. Any effect that refers to your commander or a commander you own or control without specifying creature will apply to a Background that is your commander, as appropriate.
2022-06-10 If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens.
2022-06-10 If you control a Background that grants an ability to commander creatures you own, and you own more than one commander creature, each of them will have that ability.
2022-06-10 If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can include only cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders’ combined color identities.
2022-06-10 If your commander loses the choose a Background ability or stops being a Background during the game, as appropriate, it is still your commander.
2022-06-10 Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won’t have to pay an additional the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 combat damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined (although your Background won’t usually be a creature anyway).
2022-06-10 You can choose two commanders that are the same color or colors.
2022-06-10 You choose the player or planeswalker the Skeleton is attacking.