Reef Pirates MTG Card
1995-10-01 - Number 36b
1995-10-01 - Number 36a
1997-03-24 - Number 116
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Zombie Pirate |
| Abilities | Mill |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Key Takeaways
- Mills opponents, providing gradual card advantage through deck depletion strategies.
- Accents blue-centric decks and combos with its consistent graveyard filling ability.
- While versatile in specific strategies, its casting cost may limit its use in varied deck builds.
Text of card
Whenever Reef Pirates damages any opponent, take the top card of his or her library and put it into his or her graveyard.
"Zeki sails with a dead crew not out of villainy, but pragmatism." —Baron Sengir
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Dive into unknown depths with Reef Pirates, a card that consistently mills your opponent’s deck with each successful hit, offering the potential for gradual card advantage as you deplete their resources.
Resource Acceleration: As Reef Pirates chip away at an opponent’s library, they can synergize with cards that benefit from putting cards into a graveyard, effectively accelerating your strategic positioning and unlocking new avenues for gameplay.
Instant Speed: While Reef Pirates themselves aren’t an instant, they certainly complement a strategy that includes instant speed interactions. Their continuous milling effect applies pressure that can force your opponent to act hastily, making it easier for you to capitalize on their mistakes with your instant speed spells.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the downsides of the Reef Pirates card is the necessity it imposes on players to discard cards, often leading to a potential loss of valuable hand assets. This particular requirement can become a critical drawback when your options are already scarce, forcing you to sacrifice parts of your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for Reef Pirates is confined to blue mana, demanding a specific type of resource that may not be readily available in all decks. Players utilizing a multi-color deck or one that doesn’t heavily invest in blue mana sources might find this cost restrictive, thereby limiting the card’s versatility in various builds.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that could be considered steep for its effects, the mana investment in Reef Pirates might not always align with the value it brings to the game. There are other cards within the vast pool of MTG that could provide similar or better benefits for a lower or similar mana expenditure, making the Reef Pirates a less optimal choice in certain situations.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Reef Pirates can be a seamless addition to blue-based control or combo decks, offering a persistent threat that must be dealt with. Its ability to incrementally mill the opponent’s deck card by card makes it a fit in strategies focused on decking out the opponent.
Combo Potential: Utilizing the slow but steady graveyard stocking, Reef Pirates can be a linchpin in decks designed around graveyard interactions or self-mill strategies, unlocking potential synergies with reanimation spells or abilities that capitalize on the number of cards in an opponent’s graveyard.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where prolonged games are common, Reef Pirates gains value as it works away at the opponent’s deck. This card can shine in metas that favor grindy, long-haul matches where each incremental advantage leads to victory.
How to beat
Reef Pirates is a blue creature card that pulls players into the depths of Magic: The Gathering’s intricate mechanics. This card slowly churns through a deck, grinding away at an opponent’s potential resources. What makes Reef Pirates peculiar is its combination of incremental mill abilities with evasion, making it a unique threat in a game.
To effectively counter Reef Pirates, consider adopting removal spells that can target creatures regardless of their evasion capabilities. Sweepers or mass removal cards are typically a solid choice, eliminating this threat without worrying about its flying ability. Additionally, as Reef Pirates falls into the category of creatures with lower toughness, simple damage spells or those with lower casting costs can provide a cost-effective removal option. Cards that grant your creatures abilities to block flying creatures, such as reach or flying itself, can also neutralize this pesky pirate.
Negating the mill effect directly can be accomplished through strategies that benefit from having cards in the graveyard or using effects that shuffle your graveyard back into your library. Thus, when facing off against Reef Pirates, having the right counters ready is essential for taking the wind out of their sails and keeping your deck above water.
Cards like Reef Pirates
Reef Pirates, a unique creature card in the vast sea of Magic: The Gathering, brings its own flavor to the table. At a glance, this card can be likened to Rishadan Cutpurse for its piracy theme, but with a different approach to disrupting the opponent. While both cards are pirates and can be vital in a thematic deck, Reef Pirates sails down a different current with its ability to mill your opponent’s deck whenever it deals damage.
Excavator from Amonkhet is another doppelganger in the realm of milling. It shares the same cost as Reef Pirates and also contributes to your milling strategy. However, Excavator is not a pirate, highlighting the tribal synergy you can achieve with Reef Pirates. Moreover, Phantom Warrior from the realm of core sets, is a bit different. Although not directly related to milling, its unblockability means it can consistently deliver damage, similarly creating the potential for repeated triggers from various pirate-themed effects, much like our seafaring friend Reef Pirates.
Comparing these sailors of the seven seas, Reef Pirates nestles comfortably among the MTG crew dedicated to decking your adversary out bit by bit while offering the added benefit of enriching the pirate tribe.
Cards similar to Reef Pirates by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Reef Pirates MTG card by a specific set like Homelands and Homelands, 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 Reef Pirates 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 Magic products
Printings
The Reef Pirates Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1995-10-01 and 1997-03-24. Illustrated by Tom Wänerstrand.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1995-10-01 | Homelands | HML | 36b | 1993 | normal | black | Tom Wänerstrand | |
| 2 | 1995-10-01 | Homelands | HML | 36a | 1993 | normal | black | Tom Wänerstrand | |
| 3 | 1997-03-24 | Fifth Edition | 5ED | 116 | 1997 | normal | white | Tom Wänerstrand |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Reef Pirates has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
