Hidden Nursery MTG Card
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Land — Cave |
| Abilities | Discover |
| Released | 2023-11-17 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan |
| Set code | LCI |
| Number | 276 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Álvaro Calvo Escudero |
Key Takeaways
- Converts spells to creature tokens, increasing board presence and ramp opportunities without using hand cards.
- Instant speed token generation allows surprising strategic responses, maintaining or shifting momentum.
- Specific mana requirements may limit integration into varying deck archetypes, considering color and cost.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Hidden Nursery MTG card by a specific set like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, 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 Hidden Nursery 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
Text of card
Hidden Nursery enters the battlefield tapped. : Add . , , Sacrifice Hidden Nursery: Discover 4. Activate only as a sorcery. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 4 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Hidden Nursery enhances your strategic depth by subtly growing your creature presence on the board. Every spell cast can now potentially translate into an increase in your creature base, which bolsters your card advantage without depleting resources from your hand.
Resource Acceleration: This enchantment can transform your spells into a dual-purpose investment, where each noncreature spell empowers you with additional creature tokens. These tokens can be pivotal for ramp strategies, as they provide block and attack options or can be utilized as fodder for various sacrificial effects.
Instant Speed: The ability to create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token at instant speed makes Hidden Nursery an adaptable tool in your arsenal. It can surprise opponents during combat or be used tactically in response to your opponent’s actions, providing a reactive measure to maintain or swing the momentum in your favor.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Hidden Nursery necessitates discarding a card, which could deplete your hand especially when faced with an empty board or if you’re trying to maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: This enchantment requires a precise mana configuration to cast, demanding both green and white, which might not blend seamlessly into all deck archetypes, potentially restricting its utility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes three generic and one green or white mana, certain players might find the investment steep compared to other cards with similar or better effects that strengthen your creature’s presence more effectively and efficiently.
Reasons to Include Hidden Nursery in Your Collection
Versatility: Hidden Nursery integrates seamlessly into a wide array of deck builds, particularly those that capitalize on proliferating counters. This can apply to +1/+1 counters on creatures or charge counters on artifacts, rendering it a highly adaptable card.
Combo Potential: This card unveils opportunities for intricate combos, predominantly within counters-based decks. It can trigger additional effects each time a counter is placed, bolstering your board state with every play.
Meta-Relevance: With the current gameplay often tilting towards creature-centric strategies, Hidden Nursery can become a pivotal card, strengthening your creatures and making them more resilient against the opposition.
How to beat Hidden Nursery
Hidden Nursery stands out in the world of MTG as a card that can subtly bolster your board presence by leveraging enchantment synergy. This card, with its unique potential to generate creatures, certainly adds a strategic edge. However, understanding its mechanics grants you the insight needed to counter it effectively. A key strategy is to prioritize the removal of enchantments. Employing cards that specifically target and destroy enchantments can eliminate the benefits provided by Hidden Nursery.
One aspect to consider is disrupting the casting of creature spells, which Hidden Nursery needs to activate its ability. Counterspells or control elements stall your opponent’s momentum, making it harder for them to exploit the benefits of the card. Moreover, board wipes prove especially effective after Hidden Nursery has already created a few Rhinos, allowing you to reset the game state to your advantage.
Ultimately, if your deck contains the right answers and can efficiently deal with enchantments or prevent creature spells from resolving, you’ve got a solid chance of mitigating the value Hidden Nursery could provide to your opponent and maintaining control of the game.
Cards like Hidden Nursery
Hidden Nursery introduces an innovative mechanic to Magic: The Gathering that offers creature enhancement through enchantment. It stands in line with cards like Hardened Scales, which is also known for increasing the potency of your creatures by adding additional +1/+1 counters whenever a creature would receive such counters. Although Hardened Scales provides a more immediate effect, Hidden Nursery works subtly in the background, rewarding your strategic plays over time.
Doubling Season is another card that echoes this theme of growth, as it doubles the number of counters and tokens you get. It’s a favorite in decks centered around proliferation and explosive turns but comes at a higher casting cost compared to Hidden Nursery. Where Hidden Nursery provides a steadier, potentially longer-term value, Doubling Season creates a more immediate and potentially game-ending impact. Finally, Winding Constrictor presents a similar effect to Hardened Scales but enveloped in a creature form, offering both a board presence and a counter-boosting ability.
Given its unique enchantment nature and potential for continuous creature growth, Hidden Nursery holds its own within the realm of counter-enhancing cards in MTG. It serves as a testament to the varied and evolving strategies within the game.
Cards similar to Hidden Nursery by color, type and mana cost
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Hidden Nursery has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Hidden Nursery card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-11-10 | "Discover N" means "Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value N or less. That card is the "discovered" card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost if the resulting spell's mana value is less than or equal to N. If you don't cast it, put that card into your hand. Put the remaining exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order." |
| 2023-11-10 | A spell's mana value is determined only by its mana cost. Ignore any alternative costs, additional costs, cost increases, or cost reductions. |
| 2023-11-10 | If the discovered card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost. |
| 2023-11-10 | If you can't cast the discovered card (perhaps because there are no legal targets for the spell), you'll put it into your hand. |
| 2023-11-10 | If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the spell has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those to cast it. |
| 2023-11-10 | If you discover an adventurer card, split card, or modal double-faced card, you might be able to cast that card with either set of characteristics depending on the effect's discover value. For example, if you discover 4 and reveal Galvanic Giant (an adventurer card from Wilds of Eldraine with a mana value of 4), you could cast Galvanic Giant, but not Storm Reading (its Adventure, which has a mana value of 7). If you discover 7 and reveal Galvanic Giant, you could cast either Galvanic Giant or Storm Reading. |
| 2023-11-10 | Some spells and abilities that cause you to discover may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve and you won't discover. |
| 2023-11-10 | The mana value of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. If discover allows you to cast a split card, you may cast either half (as long as its mana value is less than or equal to the effect's discover value) but not both halves. |
| 2023-11-10 | When you discover, you must exile cards. The only optional part of the ability is whether you cast the exiled card or put it into your hand. |
| 2023-11-10 | You exile the cards face up. All players will be able to see them. |