Iron-Craw Crusher MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	7
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact Creature — Wurm
Abilities	Prototype
Released	2022-11-18
Set symbol
Set name	The Brothers' War
Set code	BRO
Power	4
Toughness	6
Number	200
Frame	2015
Layout	Prototype
Border	Black
Illustred by	Filip Burburan

Key Takeaways

Iron-Craw Crusher can draw out removals, indirectly protecting more vital threats.
Its early pressure can disrupt opponent’s resources and accelerate your game plan.
Demands precise mana and card sacrifices, potentially impacting your tempo.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Iron-Craw Crusher MTG card by a specific set like The Brothers' War, 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 Iron-Craw Crusher and other MTG cards:

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Text of card

Prototype — 2/5 (You may cast this spell with different mana cost, color, and size. It keeps its abilities and types.) Whenever Iron-Craw Crusher attacks, target attacking creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is Iron-Craw Crusher's power.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Iron-Craw Crusher offers a relentless offensive presence, potentially drawing out key removal spells from your opponent, which can lead to indirect card advantage as your more crucial threats remain unchallenged on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: This formidable creature can contribute to board superiority faster than many others. By presenting a sizable threat early on, Iron-Craw Crusher pressures opponents into using resources prematurely, which can disrupt their game plan and accelerate your route to victory.

Instant Speed: While Iron-Craw Crusher itself is not an instant, it synergizes well with spells of instant speed. By forcing opponents to deal with it, you free up the path for your other instant-speed interactions, shifting the flow of the game in your favor and allowing you to react to your opponent’s moves with greater flexibility.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Iron-Craw Crusher calls for the investment of not just mana, but also necessitates the discarding of another card. This can present a setback for players, particularly when hand resources are dwindling or the card being discarded is vital to your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: This artifact creature demands a precise blend of mana to summon—specifically, one red. This inflexibility can hinder its integration into multicolored decks that might not always have the red mana readily accessible when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The summoning cost for Iron-Craw Crusher is quite steep, eclipsing many other options within the same mana range. This can delay your tempo and hinder deck efficiency, especially when alternatives could offer a better board presence or lower-cost interactions crucial in the early game.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Iron-Craw Crusher offers a reliable creature addition for decks that prioritize beefy minions. Its moderate casting cost coupled with a solid stat line makes it a versatile choice for numerous deck types in MTG.

Combo Potential: With its formidable prowess during combat phases, Iron-Craw Crusher has the capacity to synergize with strategies that augment creature power or leverage creature size for various effects and combos.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to act as a significant threat in the red zone, Iron-Craw Crusher maintains relevance in metas that are creature-heavy, where establishing and maintaining board presence is imperative.

How to Beat Iron-Craw Crusher

Iron-Craw Crusher emerges as a formidable creature in MTG, given its power to disrupt the battlefield with its imposing presence. To tackle this juggernaut effectively, it’s imperative to adapt your strategy and include answers that can neutralize this threat before it overwhelms you. Relying on removal spells that can target creatures regardless of size is key. Direct damage spells, exile effects, or cards that can force a sacrifice are ideal tactics to overcome Iron-Craw Crusher.

Implementing counterspells to prevent Iron-Craw Crusher from ever hitting the field can save you from the trouble of dealing with it later. Moreover, incorporating efficient, low-cost removal can ensure that even if the Crusher does make its way onto the battlefield, it won’t be able to make a significant impact. Ensuring you have these solutions in your deck will not only prepare you for Iron-Craw Crusher but also for other heavy hitters that your opponents may bring to the table.

Preparation and proper deck building are crucial. By prioritizing versatility and incorporating adaptable removal, you stand a much better chance against Iron-Craw Crusher and similarly powerful MTG cards, ultimately clinching victory with foresight and strategic planning.

Cards like Iron-Craw Crusher

The introduction of Iron-Craw Crusher into the landscape of MTG has given deck builders a new mechanical monster to consider for their red-focused decks. Iron-Craw Crusher draws parallels with other formidable creatures such as Balduvian Bears, sharing the same mana cost for a 2/2 creature. However, Iron-Craw Crusher brings a unique twist to the table. It ramps up its power as players sacrifice other artifacts, potentially overshadowing the consistent yet static power of Balduvian Bears.

Examining other comparable cards, we encounter Goblin Gaveleer, a card that shares the artifact synergy but relies on equipment to bolster its strength. Unlike Goblin Gaveleer, Iron-Craw Crusher’s power boost is not dependent on drawing and playing additional cards, which can result in a more effective use of resources. Then there’s Myr Enforcer, a card that can also become a sizeable force on the battlefield. However, its power hinges on having a sufficient number of artifacts in play, while Iron-Craw Crusher benefits from both the presence and the sacrifice of artifacts, offering more interaction and strategic depth.

When considering the potential for creating a scalable threat in artifact-rich decks, Iron-Craw Crusher proves to be a versatile choice, capable of quickly becoming a substantial force on the battlefield through proactive artifact management.

Cards similar to Iron-Craw Crusher by color, type and mana cost

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Iron-Craw Crusher has restrictions

Format	Legality
Standard	Legal
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Future	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Iron-Craw Crusher card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2022-10-14	A prototype card is a colorless card in every zone except the stack or the battlefield, as well as while on the stack or the battlefield if not cast as a prototyped spell. Ignore its alternative characteristics in those cases. For example, while it's in your graveyard, Blitz Automaton is a colorless creature card with mana value 7. It can't be the target of Recommission, a spell that targets an artifact or creature card with mana value 3 or less in your graveyard.
2022-10-14	Casting a prototyped spell isn't the same as casting it for an alternative cost, and an alternative cost may be applied to a spell cast this way. For example, if an effect allows you to cast an artifact card without paying its mana cost, you could either cast Blitz Automaton normally, or as a prototyped spell.
2022-10-14	If an effect copies a prototyped spell, that copy (as well as the token it becomes on the battlefield) will have the same characteristics as the prototyped spell. Similarly, if an effect creates a token that's a copy of a prototyped permanent or causes another permanent to become a copy of it, the copy would have the same characteristics as the prototyped permanent.
2022-10-14	Regardless of how it was cast, a prototype card always has the same name, abilities, types, and so on. Only the mana cost, mana value, color, power, and toughness change depending on whether the card was cast as a prototyped spell.
2022-10-14	The prototype ability functions in any zone that the spell could be cast from. For example, if an effect allows you to cast artifact spells from your graveyard, you could cast a prototyped Blitz Automaton from your graveyard.
2022-10-14	When cast as a prototyped spell, that spell has the mana cost, power, and toughness characteristics shown in its colored, secondary text box rather than the normal values of those characteristics. Its color and mana value are determined by that mana cost. The permanent that spell becomes as it resolves has the same characteristics. If the spell leaves the stack in any other way, or the permanent it becomes leaves the battlefield, it immediately resumes using its normal characteristics.
2022-10-14	When casting a prototyped spell, use only its prototype characteristics to determine whether it's legal to cast it. For example, if Blitz Automaton is exiled with the last ability of Chandra, Dressed to Kill, you would be able to cast it for (because it's a red spell), even though you wouldn't be able to cast it as a colorless spell for its normal cost.