Rural Recruit MTG Card
2021-11-19 - Number 216
2022-01-28 - Number 483
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Human Peasant |
| Abilities | Training |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 1 |
Key Takeaways
- Rural Recruit’s ability to draw a card on entry provides steady resources and game momentum.
- Mana acceleration from Rural Recruit can fast-track strategies, giving players an advantage.
- Its instant speed play offers strategic flexibility, crucial in adapting to in-game dynamics.
Text of card
Training (Whenever this creature attacks with another creature with greater power, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.) When Rural Recruit enters the battlefield, create a 3/1 green Boar creature token.
The Dawnhart survivors welcome recruits of all shapes and sizes.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Rural Recruit offers an efficient way to bolster your hand by allowing you to draw a card upon entering the battlefield. This keeps your resource count high and maintains pressure on your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: This versatile card can act as a significant advantage by potentially tapping for mana if certain conditions on the battlefield are met. This enables faster deployment of your strategy and overwhelms your adversary.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Rural Recruit at instant speed means you can adapt to the fluid dynamic of the game, making strategic moves in reaction to your opponent’s actions and therefore, optimizing your turn’s efficiency.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Incorporating the Rural Recruit into your game strategy comes at a price: you’ll need to discard another card to facilitate its ability. This can put you at a disadvantage, particularly when your hand is running low on cards, forcing you to forfeit potentially vital resources prematurely.
Specific Mana Cost: With Rural Recruit, deck flexibility can sometimes be hampered by the need for specific mana colors to cast it. This requirement could clash with a diverse deck that values mana versatility, thereby limiting the range of decks where this card can be optimally played.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Analyzing the mana investment versus the benefit received, Rural Recruit’s cost may seem steep relative to other options available in the game. Savvy players often weigh the cost-to-effect ratio heavily, and with numerous alternatives that might yield greater impact or versatility for the same, or less, mana, it could influence their deck-building decisions.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Rural Recruit is adaptable across various deck archetypes by serving as a reliable creature card. Its inclusion ensures you have a steadfast presence on the battlefield, beneficial in strategies requiring consistent creature drops.
Combo Potential: The card’s unique characteristics can complement and amplify strategies focused on creature-based synergies. It can be an integral part of combos that exploit its inherent features or serves as a catalyst for enabling creature-centric mechanics.
Meta-Relevance: Players looking to stay competitive should consider how Rural Recruit fits within the contemporary landscape. With shifting meta games, having a card that can conform to various scenarios can be the edge needed for victory.
How to beat
The Rural Recruit is a unique creature card that can be a game-changer for players in MTG. It appeals to strategies that take advantage of entering the battlefield effects or those that require a wealth of creature tokens. To effectively deal with this card, it’s important to disrupt the overall strategy it supports. Targeted removal spells can be quite effective in removing Rural Recruit before its benefits can be fully utilized by your opponent.
Similarly, board wipes can reset the playing field, especially after a player has committed multiple creatures to the board including Rural Recruit. Counterspells also serve as a preemptive measure to stop Rural Recruit from ever entering the battlefield. Controlling the pace of the game is key; by managing your resources efficiently and keeping the pressure on your opponent, you reduce the impact that Rural Recruit could have. Additionally, employing faster, more aggressive creature strategies can outpace the advantages that the card provides, thus neutralizing it as a threat.
In essence, overcoming the challenges posed by Rural Recruit in MTG involves quick and strategic action, which can often deter the card’s potential and ensure your path to victory remains clear.
Cards like Rural Recruit
Rural Recruit stands out in the array of common creature cards found within MTG. It shares landscape with cards like Llanowar Elves, as both serve as early-game support with their low casting cost. However, Rural Recruit offers a unique spin on the formula by providing additional utility through its modal dual face, giving players the flexibility to either put a creature on the board or bolster their hand with a new card.
Another parallel can be drawn with Elvish Visionary. While the Visionary also allows a player to draw a card upon entering the battlefield, it doesn’t match Rural Recruit’s versatility. Still, both cards play a significant role in maintaining hand advantage. Then there is the stalwart Garrison Cat, which, while not providing card draw, contributes to board presence by generating a 1/1 token upon death. Though useful, it doesn’t offer the immediate hand replenishment that Rural Recruit can.
To summarize, Rural Recruit delivers unique value in gameplay with its dual-choice nature, gaining an edge over similar cards that cater to either board development or hand advantage but rarely both. Its balanced offering of utility makes it an intelligent pick for decks that demand both card flow and creature presence.
Cards similar to Rural Recruit by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rural Recruit MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad: Crimson Vow and Innistrad: Double Feature, 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 Rural Recruit 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 Rural Recruit Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-11-19 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by Eelis Kyttanen.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021-11-19 | Innistrad: Crimson Vow | VOW | 216 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eelis Kyttanen | |
| 2 | 2022-01-28 | Innistrad: Double Feature | DBL | 483 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Eelis Kyttanen |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Rural Recruit has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rural Recruit 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 | A creature's training ability triggers only when both that creature and a creature with greater power are declared as attackers. Increasing a creature's power after attackers are declared won't cause a training ability to trigger. |
| 2021-11-19 | Once a creature's training ability has triggered, destroying the other attacking creature or reducing its power won't stop the creature with training from getting a +1/+1 counter. |
