Infantry Veteran MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Infantry Veteran itself doesn’t directly offer card draw, its ability to bolster other creatures can lead to more efficient trades on the battlefield. This can indirectly contribute to maintaining card advantage, as your creatures become harder to remove and you can save your combat tricks for more pressing threats.

Resource Acceleration: Infantry Veteran stands out by requiring minimal resource investment. This one-drop creature allows you to utilize your mana curve more efficiently, leaving you with more resources for spell casting and board development in the early game. The quick deployment also means you’re accelerating your battlefield presence and pressuring your opponent right from the start.

Instant Speed: The veteran’s ability can be activated at instant speed, offering you tactical flexibility during combat. You can surprise your opponent by boosting a creature’s power, which can be pivotal during attacks or blocks, potentially swinging the tide of battle in your favor. This instant speed interaction forces your opponents to consider the potential combat trick, affecting their decisions and giving you a psychological edge.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Infantry Veteran has no such downside, allowing you to maintain card advantage while still putting pressure on your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: While the mana cost of Infantry Veteran is quite low, it does require white mana which may not seamlessly fit into all deck types, particularly those that are not already based around white mana or multi-color strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite being a one-drop creature, when comparing Infantry Veteran to other aggressive white creatures, there can be alternatives that offer a higher power and toughness or additional abilities for a similar cost, making it sometimes less optimal in decks seeking maximum efficiency.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Infantry Veteran is a fantastic addition to various deck types, from aggressive human tribal builds to any white-based strategies that value early board presence.

Combo Potential: Its ability to instantly boost other creatures makes it an excellent support card, synergizing well with mechanics like exert or battalion, where combat prowess is essential.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that favors creature-based tactics, Infantry Veteran’s low cost and immediate impact on the battlefield ensure it remains a timely and effective play.

How to beat Infantry Veteran

Infantry Veteran is a classic creature card that can influence the battlefield with its ability to give a fellow attacking creature a power boost. Despite its utility, overcoming this card follows a straightforward strategy. Primarily, removal spells are your best bet. One-for-one removal like Fatal Push or Shock can take out the Veteran before its ability becomes a recurring nuisance. Control decks, in particular, have an array of tools such as counterspells or board wipes to handle such early threats effectively.

Another approach to outmaneuver Infantry Veteran is to avoid direct combat where it shines. Utilize flyers or unblockable creatures to evade the Veteran’s combat trickery. Cards with reach or those that can create tokens can also serve as a line of defense without risking more valuable creatures in battles the Veteran can influence. Furthermore, keep an eye on combat math, deploy blockers judiciously, and attack when the Veteran’s boost won’t tip the scales. Proper timing and resource management can nullify the advantage Infantry Veteran brings to the table.