Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles MTG Card
2022-06-10 - Number 564
2022-06-10 - Number 76s
2022-06-10 - Number 76
2022-07-07 - Number 122
Key Takeaways
- Illithid Harvester ensures card advantage and strategic depth with its creature-sacrifice draw ability.
- It’s a versatile card, boosting decks with resource acceleration and instant-speed plays.
- The mana cost and discard requirements need careful deck consideration for optimal play.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles MTG card by a specific set like Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate and Battle for Baldur's Gate Promos, 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 Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles 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
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Text of card
Tap X target creatures. They don't untap during their controllers' next untap steps. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Illithid Harvester provides a unique advantage by allowing you to draw a card whenever you sacrifice a creature. Engaging this ability not only replenishes your hand but can potentially disrupt your opponent’s strategy, keeping you one step ahead in the game.
Resource Acceleration: Featuring an ability that can generate a token creature upon each of your upkeeps, the Illithid Harvester sets the stage for resource acceleration. This can be pivotal for ramping up to your higher-cost spells or overwhelming your opponent with an increasing number of creatures.
Instant Speed: With its triggered ability functioning at instant speed, this card seamlessly integrates into your game plan, allowing for strategic plays even during your opponent’s turn. The flexibility of reacting in real-time makes the Illithid Harvester a valuable addition to any deck, capitalizing on unanticipated opportunities that arise within the ever-changing battlefield of MTG.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Illithid Harvester urges players to discard a nonland card each turn, posing a challenge when trying to maintain hand advantage or when facing decks that deplete your resources.
Specific Mana Cost: This card’s requirement for both blue and black mana can be restrictive, making it less flexible for inclusion in decks that don’t run both colors or have a reliable mana base to support it consistently.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing four mana to deploy, Illithid Harvester competes with other impactful four-mana spells within its color identity. The deck slots are precious, and the card’s benefits may not always justify its spot over other efficient and versatile options available in the game.
Reasons to Include Illithid Harvester in Your Collection
Versatility: Illithid Harvester offers flexibility across multiple deck archetypes, as it’s a creature card that can provide both offensive and defensive advantages. Its ability to disrupt opponent’s strategies while developing board presence makes it a valuable addition.
Combo Potential: This card has synergy with decks that capitalize on creature death and enter-the-battlefield effects. Combining it with other cards that profit from its Mind Flay ability can give birth to powerful combos and interactions.
Meta-Relevance: In a gameplay environment where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Illithid Harvester can reduce adversaries’ forces and turn the tide in your favor. Its relevance in the meta also extends to its capability to prolong games, allowing for more intricate plays.
How to beat
The Illithid Harvester card presents a unique challenge in the realm of Magic: The Gathering. As a creature with the power to not only inflict damage but also to manipulate opponents’ creatures, this card is indeed formidable. The Harvester’s ability to gain control of an opponent’s creature whenever it deals combat damage presents a strategic quandary. To mitigate its impact, players should consider creature removal spells to dispatch the Harvester before it can connect. Spells like Murder or Doom Blade are resourceful choices, offering a swift end to the Harvester at a minimal mana cost.
Another tactic is to employ creature counters such as Essence Scatter when the Harvester is cast, thus neutralizing the threat immediately. Additionally, having creatures with hexproof or shroud on your side can effectively negate the Harvester’s control ability, rendering it significantly less threatening. It’s equally wise to avoid single large creatures and instead maintain a board presence with multiple smaller creatures, dispersing the risk. With proper strategy and timing, the Illithid Harvester’s formidable presence can be managed, allowing players to maintain control of their own forces while navigating towards victory.
BurnMana Recommendations
Understanding the subtleties of the Illithid Harvester can be the difference between victory and defeat. As we’ve dissected its pros and cons, it’s clear that the card has potential in decks that thrive on synergy between sacrificing creatures and controlling the battlefield. Keeping your hand filled while chipping away at your opponent’s resources can be game-changing. If you’re intrigued by the multidimensional benefits the Illithid Harvester provides, and how it can be a linchpin in the right deck, delve deeper with us. Your MTG experience is about to get richer as you harness the power of this complex card.
Cards like Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles
Illithid Harvester carves a unique niche within the ecosystem of creature cards in MTG. This card is reminisce of the renowned Phyrexian Rager, both offering the advantage of getting more information in hand upon entering the battlefield. Nonetheless, Illithid Harvester delivers a twist with its ability to not only draw a card but also to force an opponent to lose 2 life. Phyrexian Rager inflicts 1 damage to its controller instead, which can alter one’s strategy.
Another card to consider is Kitesail Freebooter, which shares the disruptive nature of peering into an opponent’s hand. While it doesn’t have the direct life loss effect, it temporarily exiles a noncreature, nonland card, potentially disrupting an opponent’s game plan. Compared to Illithid Harvester, the Freebooter offers a more tactical approach but lacks the self-replenishing card advantage.
Considering the dynamics of the game, Illithid Harvester’s dual utility in card advantage and life pressure positions it well among creature cards that impact the hand. Its balanced design offers an intriguing choice for players looking to blend control and pressure in their gameplay.
Cards similar to Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles by color, type and mana cost
Printings
The Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2022-06-10 and 2022-07-07. Illustrated by David Astruga.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 564 | 2015 | Adventure | Black | David Astruga | |
| 2 | 2022-06-10 | Battle for Baldur's Gate Promos | PCLB | 76s | 2015 | Adventure | Black | David Astruga | |
| 3 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 76 | 2015 | Adventure | Black | David Astruga | |
| 4 | 2022-07-07 | Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate | HBG | 122 | 2015 | Adventure | Black | David Astruga |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Illithid Harvester // Plant Tadpoles card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2022-06-10 | An adventurer card is a permanent card in every zone except the stack, as well as while on the stack if not cast as an Adventure. Ignore its alternative characteristics in those cases. For example, while it’s in your graveyard, Altar of Bhaal is an artifact card whose mana value is 2. |
| 2022-06-10 | An effect may refer to a card, spell, or permanent that “has an Adventure.” This refers to a card, spell, or permanent that has an adventurer card’s set of alternative characteristics, even if they’re not being used and even if that card was never cast as an Adventure. |
| 2022-06-10 | Casting a card as an Adventure isn’t casting it for an alternative cost. Effects that allow you to cast a spell for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost may allow you to apply those to the Adventure. |
| 2022-06-10 | If a creature enters the battlefield as a copy of a face-down creature or if a token is created that's a copy of one, that copy has the same characteristics as the face-down creature (in this case, a 2/2 Horror creature with no other characteristics), even though the copy is face up. |
| 2022-06-10 | If a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, its owner must reveal it to all players. |
| 2022-06-10 | If a spell is cast as an Adventure, its controller exiles it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard as it resolves. For as long as it remains exiled, that player may cast it as a permanent spell. If an Adventure spell leaves the stack in any way other than resolving (most likely by being countered or by failing to resolve because its targets have all become illegal), that card won’t be exiled and the spell’s controller won’t be able to cast it as a permanent later. |
| 2022-06-10 | If an adventurer card ends up in exile for any other reason than by exiling itself while resolving, it won’t give you permission to cast it as a permanent spell. |
| 2022-06-10 | If an effect copies an Adventure spell, that copy is exiled as it resolves. It ceases to exist as a state-based action; it’s not possible to cast the copy from exile. |
| 2022-06-10 | If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose the alternative Adventure name. Consider only the alternative characteristics to determine whether that is an appropriate name to choose. |
| 2022-06-10 | If an object becomes a copy of an object that has an Adventure, the copy also has an Adventure. If it changes zones, it will either cease to exist (if it’s a token) or cease to be a copy (if it’s a nontoken permanent), and so you won’t be able to cast it as an Adventure. |
| 2022-06-10 | If you cast an adventurer card as an Adventure, use only its alternative characteristics to determine whether it’s legal to cast that spell. |
| 2022-06-10 | Illithid Harvester's triggered ability can't turn double-faced cards face down. |
| 2022-06-10 | Once the permanents are face down, no player may mix them up on the battlefield or otherwise try to hide or disguise which card is which. |
| 2022-06-10 | Players may look at face-down permanents they control at any time. |
| 2022-06-10 | The Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate set includes no way to turn these cards face up. If an effect from cards outside of this set does turn one face up, the effect causing it to be a 2/2 Horror creature ends. |
| 2022-06-10 | When casting a spell as an Adventure, use the alternative characteristics and ignore all of the card’s normal characteristics. The spell’s color, mana cost, mana value, and so on are determined by only those alternative characteristics. If the spell leaves the stack, it immediately resumes using its normal characteristics. |
| 2022-06-10 | You must still follow any relevant timing rules for the permanent spell you cast from exile. Normally, you’ll be able to cast it only during your main phase while the stack is empty. |