Gnaw to the Bone MTG Card

Innistrad (ISD)
2011-09-30 - Number 183

Gnaw to the Bone - Shadows of the Past (SIS)

Shadows of the Past (SIS)
2023-03-21 - Number 50

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number ISD-183

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Flashback

Key Takeaways

Flashback offers double benefit from a single card, providing sustained advantage in drawn-out matches.
Instant-speed casting can disrupt opponents’ lethal calculations and offer surprise defense.
Demands creature-rich graveyard and green mana, which may limit deck-building flexibility.

Text of card

You gain 2 life for each creature card in your graveyard. Flashback (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Playing Gnaw to the Bone from your graveyard using its Flashback ability gives you a second opportunity to benefit from its life-gaining effect without using an additional card from your hand. This recapturing of a spell already spent provides inherent card advantage in long games.

Resource Acceleration: Gnaw to the Bone provides a significant boost to your life total, potentially accelerating your game plan against aggressive strategies. The more creatures you have in your graveyard, the more life you gain, giving you a larger resource in the form of life points to work with over the course of the match.

Instant Speed: As an instant, Gnaw to the Bone can be cast during your opponent’s turn, potentially disrupting their calculations for lethal damage. Its timing flexibility allows you to pass the turn with open mana, posing the threat of other instant-speed interactions and casting it only if circumstances are optimal.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One potential downside to Gnaw to the Bone is the need to have creatures in your graveyard to fully leverage its effect. Without a decent number of creature cards in the graveyard, its impact is significantly diminished.

Specific Mana Cost: Gnaw to the Bone demands a specific color commitment of two green mana. This requirement can sometimes restrict the card’s inclusion to decks heavily focused on green mana sources or those that can reliably produce any color mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The initial casting cost of three mana, including two that must be green, can be steep for the life gain effect. While the flashback ability adds versatility, the aggregate seven mana investment over two uses may not always equate to optimal resource allocation, especially in fast-paced games where tempo is key.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Gnaw to the Bone can enhance a variety of decks that hinge on a high creature count, particularly those utilizing graveyard strategies. This card’s ability to significantly boost your life total aids in stabilizing against aggressive opponents, making it a flexible choice for any collection.

Combo Potential: In a deck with self-mill features or one that naturally fills the graveyard with creatures, Gnaw to the Bone can be a key component. Combining it with cards that benefit from life gain or graveyard interactions can unlock potent combinations, offering a strategic advantage during gameplay.

Meta-Relevance: Given that aggressive and burn strategies often surface in the meta, having Gnaw to the Bone at your disposal means you can swiftly shift the tide in your favor. When paired against such strategies, its immediate and sometimes game-changing life gain can be the difference between defeat and a triumphant comeback.

How to Beat Gnaw to the Bone

Gnaw to the Bone is a distinctive card in the realm of life-gaining spells in Magic: The Gathering. Players appreciate its potential to swing life totals dramatically, especially in graveyard-focused decks where its flashback ability can be utilized to its full extent. Unlike many other life gain spells, Gnaw to the Bone calculates life gained based on the number of creature cards in the player’s graveyard, fundamentally fitting into strategies that load up the graveyard quickly.

Confronting Gnaw to the Bone requires a tactical approach. Graveyard disruption becomes key; cards like Rest in Peace or Scavenging Ooze can remove the fuel Gnaw to the Bone thrives on, rendering it far less effective or even useless. Additionally, direct damage and fast-paced aggressive decks can outpace the life gain, putting pressure on the opponent before they can stabilize their life total. Using exile effects on creatures or employing graveyard hate cards not only hinders Gnaw to the Bone but can also disrupt an opponent’s broader strategy that relies on the graveyard.

To summarize, winning against Gnaw to the Bone involves preemptive interruption of graveyard synergies and maintaining an aggressive stance that can overwhelm any incremental life gain your opponent might muster through this unique spell.

Cards like Gnaw to the Bone

Gnaw to the Bone stands out in Magic: The Gathering for its life-gaining abilities. It finds parallels with other life-gain cards like Feed the Clan, which offers a significant life boost with its Ferocious trigger, though without Gnaw to the Bone’s potential recurrence from the graveyard. Unlike Gnaw to the Bone, Feed the Clan is a once-off play that doesn’t benefit from the number of creatures in your graveyard.

Another card in the same league is Moments of Craving, which provides an immediate life gain while simultaneously weakening an opponent’s creature – a quick swing in a player’s favor. Still, this pales in comparison to the usually larger life gain Gnaw to the Bone can achieve in creature-heavy decks. Then there’s Pulse of Murasa, which not only gives a decent life increase but also allows for the retrieval of a creature or land card, offering versatility that Gnaw to the Bone lacks.

Through this lens, Gnaw to the Bone can be a considerable advantage in the right deck, especially for those that maximize on the number of creatures hitting the graveyard, ensuring a much larger life gain and providing exceptional sustain.

Cards similar to Gnaw to the Bone by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gnaw to the Bone MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad and The List, 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 Gnaw to the Bone and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Gnaw to the Bone Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2011-09-30 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Scott Chou.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2011-09-30	Innistrad	ISD	183	2003	Normal	Black	Scott Chou
2	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	ISD-183	2003	Normal	Black	Scott Chou
3	2023-03-21	Shadows of the Past	SIS	50	2015	Normal	Black	Scott Chou

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Gnaw to the Bone has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal