Patchwork Crawler MTG Card
2021-11-19 - Number 364
2021-11-19 - Number 72
2022-01-28 - Number 339
2002-06-24 - Number 95285
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Zombie Horror |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Key Takeaways
- Disruptive power, allowing players to exile and cast creatures from opponents’ graveyards, enhancing in-game strategies.
- Instant speed activation affords strategic depth with surprise plays during either player’s turn for battlefield control.
- Mastery requires balancing card discard and specific mana costs to fully exploit Patchwork Crawler’s ability potential.
Text of card
: Exile target creature card from your graveyard and put a +1/+1 counter on Patchwork Crawler. Patchwork Crawler has all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with it.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Patchwork Crawler has the unique ability to exile cards from an opponent’s graveyard and, with enough mana, you can cast any creature spell from among them. This versatility can turn the tide by not only disrupting your opponent’s potential strategies but also providing you with new options to control the game.
Resource Acceleration: Although not directly providing additional mana, Patchwork Crawler can effectively reduce mana costs for powerful creatures. By utilizing the exiled creature cards with its adaptability at a potentially lower cost, you increase the value gained from your mana resources.
Instant Speed: Patchwork Crawler can utilize its abilities at instant speed, offering strategic flexibility. You can wait for the perfect moment during your opponent’s turn to exile a key creature card or to prepare your battlefield with a surprise blocker or an unexpected attacker for your next turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Patchwork Crawler necessitates discarding a creature card to leverage its ability, which might be unfavorable when your hand is running low on cards or you’re trying to maintain card advantage against your opponent.
Specific Mana Cost: It has a blue mana requirement in its activation cost, potentially restricting its seamless inclusion in multicolored decks that might not always have the necessary mana type available when it’s needed most.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: In a game where efficiency can be key, the combined cost of casting and utilizing Patchwork Crawler’s abilities may be seen as steep, especially when other options may provide quicker or cheaper ways to manipulate your graveyard or gain creature control.
Reasons to Include Patchwork Crawler in Your Collection
Versatility: Patchwork Crawler offers a unique adaptability for players by allowing them to carefully sculpt their graveyard. With the ability to exile a creature card from your graveyard and gain its abilities, it can fit into varied deck archetypes, providing strategic depth in gameplay.
Combo Potential: This card excels in setups where it can incorporate abilities from creatures with powerful triggered or activated effects. Combined with self-mill or dredge strategies, Patchwork Crawler can become a linchpin in intricate combo chains, maximising the value of each creature card it interacts with.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta that’s heavy on creature-based interactions or graveyard synergies, Patchwork Crawler’s mechanic can disrupt opponents’ strategies while bolstering your own. It’s a wildcard that adapts to the evolving battlefield, making it a timely addition to any strategic collection.
How to beat
Patchwork Crawler is an intriguing creature card that offers a unique ability to adapt and utilize the abilities of other creatures in the graveyard. To effectively counter this card, players must focus on denying graveyard access or removing it quickly from the battlefield. Graveyard hate cards like Rest in Peace or Tormod’s Crypt can neutralize the threat by exiling cards from the graveyard, which Patchwork Crawler relies on for its power. Alternatively, immediate removal spells like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can dispatch it before its ability becomes problematic.
A strategic approach could involve avoiding killing creatures with desirable abilities as long as Patchwork Crawler is in play. This reduces the chances of it gaining valuable abilities. Additionally, cards that grant hexproof to your creatures, like Blossoming Defense, can be useful in shielding your own board from any potential interactions Patchwork Crawler may have with stolen abilities. As a result, the focus must be on preemptive and reactive strategies to ensure the abilities of Patchwork Crawler are mitigated, and its presence on the board is temporary at best.
Ultimately, understanding the potential that Patchwork Crawler brings to the table allows you to keep its impact to a minimum, making it easier to maintain control over the state of the game. By targeting its resource, the graveyard, and managing your own creature abilities wisely, containing Patchwork Crawler becomes a manageable challenge.
Cards like Patchwork Crawler
Patchwork Crawler brings a unique dynamic to the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. This creature card stands out with its capability to assimilate abilities from creatures in your graveyard. Distinctly different from a simple reanimator like Zombify, which brings a creature back to life without any additional perks, Patchwork Crawler keeps the graveyard as a strategic resource throughout the game.
Another card that dances with the graveyard is Havengul Lich. While it also allows you to cast creatures from your graveyard, the Lich requires you to pay mana equal to that creature’s cost in addition to its own activation fee, making it a potentially expensive play. Patchwork Crawler, in contrast, requires only the exiling of a creature card from your graveyard to inherit abilities, offering a more budget-friendly and flexible approach for ability acquisition.
Similarly, Necrotic Ooze also harnesses powers from the graveyard, absorbing abilities of all creature cards in all graveyards as long as it’s on the battlefield. However, Patchwork Crawler gives a more controlled and target-specific choice that can be switched as the game progresses. In sum, Patchwork Crawler exhibits a compelling balance between cost, control, and the versatility of graveyard interaction relative to its counterparts in the game.
Cards similar to Patchwork Crawler by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Patchwork Crawler MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Innistrad: Crimson Vow, 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 Patchwork Crawler 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 MTG Products
Printings
The Patchwork Crawler Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-11-19 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by Fesbra.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 95285 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Fesbra | ||
| 2 | 2021-11-19 | Innistrad: Crimson Vow | VOW | 364 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Fesbra | |
| 3 | 2021-11-19 | Innistrad: Crimson Vow | VOW | 72 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Fesbra | |
| 4 | 2022-01-28 | Innistrad: Double Feature | DBL | 339 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Fesbra |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Patchwork Crawler has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Patchwork Crawler card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-11-19 | If Patchwork Crawler exiles a double-faced card, it will have the activated abilities of only the front face of that exiled card. |
| 2021-11-19 | If an activated ability of a card in exile references the card it's printed on by name, treat Patchwork Crawler's version of that ability as though it referenced Patchwork Crawler by name instead. |
| 2021-11-19 | If you control more than one Patchwork Crawler, each will have only the activated abilities of creature cards exiled with that specific Patchwork Crawler. |
| 2021-11-19 | Once Patchwork Crawler leaves the battlefield, it will no longer have the activated abilities of the creature cards exiled with it. If it returns to the battlefield, it will be a new Patchwork Crawler with no connection to those exiled cards. |
| 2021-11-19 | Patchwork Crawler gains only activated abilities. It doesn't gain triggered abilities or static abilities. Activated abilities contain a colon. They're generally written “ -ost: -ffect].” Some keywords are activated abilities; they have colons in their reminder text. |
