Lash of the Tyrant MTG Card

Lash of the Tyrant - Journey into Nyx Hero's Path

Rarity	Common
Type	Hero Artifact — Equipment
Abilities	Equip
Released	2014-05-02
Set symbol
Set name	Journey into Nyx Hero's Path
Set code	THP3
Number	7c
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Chuck Lukacs

Key Takeaways

Gain card advantage and control by utilizing Lash of the Tyrant for strategic removal of key threats.
Instant speed offers tactical flexibility, making it a valuable addition to various deck strategies.
Despite a discard requirement, its aggressive potential deems it a worthy consideration for inclusion.

Text of card

Equipped creature gets +1/+2 and has deathtouch. Equip

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lash of the Tyrant shines by providing a swift exchange, trading one card for removal of a crucial blocker or attacker, effectively diminishing your opponent’s board presence while helping you maintain yours.

Resource Acceleration: Though it doesn’t directly generate additional mana or resources, the card’s reasonable casting cost contributes to a smooth curve, allowing you to optimize your mana each turn. Swift and impactful plays can be the key to victory, and Lash of the Tyrant enables a pacey, efficient game strategy.

Instant Speed: The card’s instant speed is a strategic boon, delivering the flexibility to react during your opponent’s turn. This could disrupt their combat calculations or eliminate a threat before it can produce value for your opponent, giving you the upper hand and keeping the tempo in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Utilizing Lash of the Tyrant comes with a cost that includes discarding a card. This creates an added hurdle, especially in situations where your hand is already depleted, pacing you at a disadvantage when balancing card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Lash of the Tyrant demands a precise mana arrangement to cast, with a need for both black and red mana. This can sometimes restrict deck building options, as it fits primarily within Rakdos decks or other builds comfortable with this mana combination.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that’s on the higher end for its effects, some players might find it less appealing when considering alternatives. Cards that accomplish similar outcomes often do so at a lower mana investment, which can be a critical factor in fast-paced games where efficiency is key.

Reasons to Include Lash of the Tyrant in Your Collection

Versatility: Lash of the Tyrant is a card that slots into a range of deck archetypes. Being both an equipment and a potential creature, it brings utility to aggressive, midrange, or control decks. Just its ability to enable equipped creatures to have deathtouch and ward adds strategic depth to your plays.

Combo Potential: The card opens the door to interesting combos, especially in decks that revolve around equipment synergies or those that need to protect key creatures against targeted removal. It can also work well in strategies that capitalize on creatures with evasion abilities.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where creature interactions are pivotal, the deathtouch provided by Lash of the Tyrant keeps opponents’ big threats at bay. Its ward ability also ensures that your key creatures have a better chance of staying on the board during critical turns.

How to beat

Lash of the Tyrant presents itself as a prominent equipment card in MTG, offering a powerful mix of haste and first strike to the creature it adorns. To effectively counter this formidable card, it’s essential to focus on disrupting the equipment itself or the equipped creature. Naturalize is an excellent spell for dealing with Lash of the Tyrant, as it allows you to destroy the target artifact or enchantment outright. Artifact removal spells, such as Disenchant, offer a clean solution by allowing you to remove the equipment directly from play.

Taking a different approach, creature removal spells can also serve as an effective strategy against creatures wielding this potent equipment piece. By eliminating the equipped creature, the equipment loses its immediate impact on the game. Cards like Doom Blade, which can destroy a target nonblack creature, provide cost-effective ways to deal with creatures before they become too much of a threat. Moreover, countering the Lash of the Tyrant when first cast can prevent it from ever entering the battlefield, using spells like Counterspell to negate its presence and retain the balance of power in your favor.

It’s clear that having the right answers to either artifacts or the creatures that carry them is vital in maintaining control of the game when facing the challenge that Lash of the Tyrant brings to the table.

Cards like Lash of the Tyrant

Lash of the Tyrant stands out in the realm of equipment spells in Magic: The Gathering. It shares common ground with familiar cards like Swiftfoot Boots in providing creatures both haste and protection from a slice of the color pie. Lash of the Tyrant empowers creatures with haste and ward, an ability that counters spells or abilities targeting the equipped creature unless an extra cost is paid. While it has a higher equip cost than Swiftfoot Boots, the ability to thwart targeted removal offers a strategic advantage.

Another comparable card is Whispersilk Cloak, which not only grants unblockable to the equipped creature but also shroud, completely shielding it from any targeted spells or abilities whether they’re friendly or not. However, Lash of the Tyrant lets the player still target their creature, making it a flexible choice in many scenarios. Fireshrieker too has a higher equip cost than Lash of the Tyrant but provides a different type of offensive boost by granting double strike, which can be more aggressive but lacks protective elements.

In essence, while comparing the various equipment options available in the game, Lash of the Tyrant carves its niche effectively, balancing speed with a defensive layer, offering MTG players a versatile tool in their arsenal.

Cards similar to Lash of the Tyrant by color, type and mana cost

Axe of the Warmonger - MTG Card versions

Spear of the General - MTG Card versions

Cloak of the Philosopher - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lash of the Tyrant MTG card by a specific set like Journey into Nyx Hero's Path, 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 Lash of the Tyrant and other MTG cards: