Hand of Emrakul MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Summoning Hand of Emrakul often costs less than its actual mana value due to its alternative casting condition which involves sacrificing four Eldrazi Spawn tokens. This unique ability, combined with its hefty 7/7 stats, contributes to a significant card advantage as it requires fewer resources from your hand to cast a powerful creature.

Resource Acceleration: Eldrazi Spawn producers synergize with Hand of Emrakul, providing resource acceleration by essentially acting as mana sources. This allows for a quicker and more efficient deployment of this massive creature onto the battlefield, potentially outpacing your opponent’s ability to respond.

Instant Speed: While Hand of Emrakul itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it pairs well with instant speed spells. The versatility of being able to cast other spells while setting up your board to summon Hand of Emrakul can create unexpected turns and shift game momentum, as you efficiently allocate your resources on instant-speed interactions before bringing out your behemoth.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of summoning Hand of Emrakul is its need for a discard if you’re not leveraging the alternative casting cost, potentially leaving you at a card disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Casting this creature directly requires a substantial amount of colorless mana, which necessitates a heavy investment in mana production resources specifically tailored for such costs.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a direct casting cost of 9 mana, Hand of Emrakul can be a tough draw in the early game and might still be resource-intensive later, especially when compared to other high-impact creature cards with more manageable mana requirements or additional abilities.

Reasons to Include Hand of Emrakul in Your Collection

Versatility: While Hand of Emrakul may seem narrowly designed for Eldrazi-themed decks, its alternate casting cost allows for flexible inclusion into any deck that can generate numerous creatures to sacrifice. This makes it an unexpected play in various token-based strategies.

Combo Potential: When paired with cards that produce a swarm of tokens, Hand of Emrakul can hit the battlefield much earlier than expected. It also synergizes with sacrifice mechanics, potentially unleashing a devastating 7/7 Annihilator 1 creature surprisingly early in the game.

Meta-Relevance: For players facing decks that struggle with dealing with large creatures, Hand of Emrakul presents a formidable challenge. In a meta that’s lighter on exile or unsummon effects, it might be exactly the trump card you need to dominate the board.

How to Beat Hand of Emrakul

Hand of Emrakul presents a formidable challenge on the battlefield owing to its impressive size and the Annihilator ability, which can quickly overwhelm opponents in Magic: The Gathering. A savvy approach to counter this massive Eldrazi is by leveraging removal spells that can bypass its substantial power and toughness. Cards such as Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares offer an efficient solution, exiling Hand of Emrakul regardless of its size. Another strategy involves countering the spell before it ever hits the field; counterspells like Counterspell or Mana Leak can thwart your opponent’s plans and maintain control of the game.

Moreover, Hand of Emrakul can be cast using the alternative cost of sacrificing four Eldrazi Spawn, which can be disrupted by cards like Scavenger Grounds or Relic of Progenitus that target the graveyard or remove tokens from play. Finally, keeping pressure with your creatures and forcing defensive plays can minimize the impact of Hand of Emrakul, as its annihilator ability is less devastating if you’ve maintained a wide board presence. Understanding these tactics can equip players with the necessary tools to overcome the daunting presence of Hand of Emrakul in their matches.