Highway Robber MTG Card
1999-10-04 - Number 139
2005-07-29 - Number 138★
2005-07-29 - Number 138
2007-07-13 - Number 150
2014-03-14 - Number 61
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Human Mercenary |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Text of card
When Highway Robber comes into play, you gain 2 life and target opponent loses 2 life.
"Tonight, madam, it's your money *and* your life."
Cards like Highway Robber
Highway Robber is an intriguing creature in the realm of Magic: The Gathering. It shares a kinship with cards like Gray Merchant of Asphodel, as both creatures function on the principle of life exchange upon entering the battlefield. However, the Highway Robber differs subtly in mana cost and impact. Gray Merchant, known to players as Gary, can create significant shifts in life totals with its devotion mechanic, potentially offering much greater life swings than the consistent but modest effect of the Highway Robber.
Moving to Shadow Guildmage, another card echoing the Highway Robber’s ability to manipulate life totals but in a more flexible manner. Although the Mage doesn’t provide the immediate life exchange upon entry, it offers repeated use at the cost of mana and a card, enabling a player to whittle down opponents’ life while bolstering their own at key moments in the game. The Falkenrath Noble is also worth mentioning, rewarding players with life drain each time a creature dies, potentially accumulating a larger effect over the course of a game as compared to the one-time impact of the Highway Robber.
Likewise, Highway Robber stands as a reliable option for those seeking an immediate effect on the board state, cementing its role within black’s slice of MTG, favoring direct life total manipulation.
Cards similar to Highway Robber by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Highway Robber comes with the direct benefit of decreasing your opponent’s life total while you gain life, which is effectively a swing in life totals. This life gain coupled with damage can be the key to stabilizing your position, especially in longer and more drawn-out matches.
Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly affecting mana resources, the life gained can be a buffer that affords you extra turns to draw into more resources or to deploy more threats. Sometimes the best resource acceleration is simply staying alive long enough to utilize the resources you already have.
Instant Speed: While Highway Robber itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, being a creature, it often interacts favorably with cards that can bring it onto the battlefield unexpectedly. Reanimating or flickering Highway Robber during an opponent’s turn can disrupt their plans by introducing an immediate life swing and possibly even blocking an attack.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Not a concern with Highway Robber as it does not necessitate any discard; however, its lack of this mechanic implies it offers no card filtering advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Highway Robber comes with a demanding color commitment of black mana, necessitating at least two swamp-type lands or equivalent sources, potentially complicating its incorporation into multi-colored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With Highway Robber’s four-mana cost, players might find the life-point swing it provides underwhelming, particularly when weighed against other cards with similar or lower mana requirements that deliver greater impact or versatility on the battlefield.
Reasons to Include Highway Robber in Your Collection
Versatility: Highway Robber’s entrance effect provides a direct life swing, which can be useful across a variety of deck builds. It’s effective in decks that capitalize on life manipulation or direct damage tactics, offering a dual benefit of life gain and opponent life loss upon entry.
Combo Potential: With its ability to impact life totals, Highway Robber works well with cards that trigger on life loss or gain. This can lead to interesting combos in life-drain strategies or in decks that can repeatedly bounce creatures back to hand to reuse their enter the battlefield effects.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta that favors aggressive strategies, Highway Robber can serve as a stabilizing play. It’s well-suited to thwarting opposing aggro decks thanks to the immediate life total change, posing a small roadblock that also ticks the opponent’s life down, disrupting their tempo.
How to beat
When facing the Highway Robber in MTG, it’s essential to understand its impact on life totals. This creature, immediately upon entering the battlefield, shifts the life balance by dealing 2 damage to you while giving your opponent a 2 life increase. Although the Robber comes with a modest 2/2 body, the real threat lies in its enter-the-battlefield effect.
To mitigate the Highway Robber’s influence, it’s advisable to have removal spells like Doom Blade or Shatter ready to dispatch it before the life swing can significantly affect the game’s outcome. Additionally, cards with lifelink can help to negate the life loss, while instant-speed removal can ensure that the Robber has little to no time on the field to be leveraged by abilities that trigger from a creature entering the battlefield or dying.
Strategically, it’s wise to hold onto your removal until your opponent plays the Highway Robber, ensuring you aren’t prematurely drained of resources. In summary, while Highway Robber poses a potential threat with its life-altering ability, with proper planning and the right cards in hand, overcoming this card is well within any skilled player’s grasp.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Highway Robber MTG card by a specific set like Mercadian Masques and Ninth Edition, 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 Highway Robber and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
Printings
The Highway Robber Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1999-10-04 and 2014-03-14. Illustrated by Kev Walker.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1999-10-04 | Mercadian Masques | MMQ | 139 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 2 | 2005-07-29 | Ninth Edition | 9ED | 138★ | 2003 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 3 | 2005-07-29 | Ninth Edition | 9ED | 138 | 2003 | Normal | White | Kev Walker | |
| 4 | 2007-07-13 | Tenth Edition | 10E | 150 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 5 | 2014-03-14 | Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska | DDM | 61 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Highway Robber has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |