Orcish Healer MTG Card

Ice Age (ICE)
1995-06-03 - Number 208

Orcish Healer - Coldsnap Theme Decks (CST)

Coldsnap Theme Decks (CST)
2006-07-21 - Number 208

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Orc Cleric
Power	1
Toughness	1

Key Takeaways

Orcish Healer grants card advantage by saving creatures, maintaining battlefield and hand presence.
Its instant speed effect protects creatures flexibly, countering opponents’ removal strategies.
Has trade-offs: discard requirements, specific mana cost, and can be mana-intensive to use.

Text of card

o Ro R,oc T: Target creature cannot regenerate this turn. o Ro Bo B,oc T: Regenerate target black or green creature. o Ro Go G,oc T: Regenerate target black or green creature.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Orcish Healer’s unique ability to regenerate target creature not only potentially saves your creatures from destruction but also keeps your hand and battlefield presence strong against removal strategies, effectively preserving card advantage under certain board conditions.

Resource Acceleration: The Orcish Healer doesn’t directly increase your mana pool, but by keeping key creatures on the battlefield, it accelerates your resource allocation. This allows you to spend mana on advancing your board instead of recasting creatures, indirectly contributing to strategic and resource acceleration.

Instant Speed: One of the crucial benefits of the Orcish Healer is the ability to use its effect at instant speed. This characteristic provides flexibility in gameplay, enabling you to wait until the most opportune moment during the combat phase or in response to an opponent’s actions to protect your creatures and potentially disrupt their strategies.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To activate some abilities of Orcish Healer, you’ll need to part with specific cards from your hand. This can be a hefty price, especially when your hand size is dwindling, and each card’s value increases accordingly.

Specific Mana Cost: Orcish Healer demands a precise mix of mana, including both red and white, to use its abilities. This requirement can be restrictive, as it necessitates a two-color mana base, potentially slowing down your deck’s tempo or imposing deck-building constraints that limit your options.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the card can provide utility, its abilities come at a steep mana cost. There are often alternatives that present similar or greater effects for less mana, providing more efficient uses of your resources throughout the game.

Reasons to Include Orcish Healer in Your Collection

Versatility: Orcish Healer has a unique place in MTG decks that are built around utility creatures. Its ability to manipulate damage on creatures or players can be incredibly powerful in games where incremental life shifts are pivotal.

Combo Potential: This card can become a key piece in combinations, especially in decks that involve damage redirection or prevention. Teamed up with cards that benefit from healing or repeated damage effects, Orcish Healer can turn the tides in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: As the metagame often evolves, having adaptability is crucial. In environments with an abundance of direct damage spells or effects, Orcish Healer proves to be an effective tool for creating sustained board presence and outmaneuvering your opponents’ strategies.

How to beat

Orcish Healer, an older card from the MTG universe, presents a unique mix of abilities that disrupt damage effects on your creatures. Understanding its strengths is key to formulating a strategic response. Unlike some damage prevention cards that are reactive, Orcish Healer requires upfront mana investment and careful planning by your opponent. This is where your strategy to overcome the Orcish Healer’s potential becomes critical.

Removal spells that don’t deal damage are your best allies against the Orcish Healer. Consider spells like Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile which exile the healer without triggering its abilities. Alternatively, using effects that decrease toughness to zero, such as Dismember or Fatal Push, can bypass the healing capacity entirely. In multiplayer scenarios, alliances can prove beneficial, as you can coordinate attacks or spell casts to override the healer’s capabilities faster than a single player might be able to manage.

Bear in mind that while the Orcish Healer can be a nuisance, its presence alone doesn’t assure victory for your opponent. Keep pressure on other points of their strategy, and you’ll find that the healer is just one part of a larger puzzle you’re more than equipped to solve.

Cards like Orcish Healer

Orcish Healer is an intriguing Magic: The Gathering card with a unique ability to repair damage dealt to creatures. Due to its red color identity, it adds strategic depth to decks focused on creature recovery. An apt comparison is with cards like Samite Healer from the white color spectrum, which also offers the ability to prevent damage. However, Samite Healer does not require any mana to use its ability, unlike Orcish Healer’s mana cost for its function.

Healing Salve is another, albeit more flexible, card that can prevent damage or recover lost life. Still, it’s a one-time use spell as opposed to the repeatable effect offered by Orcish Healer. Furthermore, Elvish Eulogist presents a similar healing effect but is limited to elf type creatures and has the distinct advantage of being part of the green mana, key for elf-centered decks. It’s also a one-shot deal, where the card is sacrificed for the effect, whereas Orcish Healer can persist in the field, potentially providing long-term benefits.

Weighting up the options, Orcish Healer shows its strengths within red’s segment of damage prevention cards. Its niche usability in sustaining creature longevity gives it a valued spot in certain MTG strategies.

Samite Healer - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Healing Salve - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

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Viashino Slaughtermaster - Modern Masters 2015 (MM2)

A-Riveteers Initiate - Streets of New Capenna (SNC)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Orcish Healer MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age and Coldsnap Theme Decks, 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 Orcish Healer and other MTG cards: