Gnarled Scarhide MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment Creature — Minotaur |
| Abilities | Bestow |
| Released | 2014-05-02 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Journey into Nyx |
| Set code | JOU |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 1 |
| Number | 72 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Greg Staples |
Key Takeaways
- Gnarled Scarhide acts as both a threatening creature and a beneficial aura, optimizing card economy in MTG.
- Its low casting cost provides an early game advantage by quickly establishing a board presence.
- While lacking instant speed, Scarhide compensates with immediate battlefield impact upon arrival.
Text of card
Bestow (If you cast this card for its bestow cost, it's an Aura spell with enchant creature. It becomes a creature again if it's not attached to a creature.) Gnarled Scarhide can't block. Enchanted creature gets +2/+1 and can't block.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While Gnarled Scarhide doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, it does give you a strategic advantage by being both a creature and an aura. This duality can equate to card economy, as it can either be a threat on its own or enhance another creature, effectively fulfilling two roles with a single card.
Resource Acceleration: Gnarled Scarhide can be an excellent enabler for decks that thrive on having numerous creatures on the board rapidly. Although it doesn’t produce mana or treasure tokens, its low casting cost accelerates your board presence, significantly contributing to your resource development in the early game.
Instant Speed: As a creature, Gnarled Scarhide doesn’t have instant speed. However, it compensates by offering immediate impact as soon as it hits the battlefield, whether as an aggressive one-mana 2/1 Minotaur or as an aura that can bypass summoning sickness to give an immediate boost to another creature.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Gnarled Scarhide can enforce a discard if it’s bestowed upon a creature, which could drain resources in a tight game situation.
Specific Mana Cost: Being a black mana-intensive card, it asks for a dedicated deck build which might not seamlessly fit into multicolored strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: For its bestowed ability, the cost feels steep compared to other creature enchantments or creatures with similar stats and abilities.
Reasons to Include Gnarled Scarhide in Your Collection
Versatility: Gnarled Scarhide can be a flexible player in various deck builds, serving well in aggressive strategies. As an enchantment creature, it offers dual utility while efficiently complementing both creature-based and enchantment synergies.
Combo Potential: As a minotaur, it has the potential to bolster tribal strategies or work in conjunction with cards that thrive on creature sacrifices, amplifying its strategic value beyond its initial cost-efficient stats.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where fast-paced, aggressive decks are effective, Gnarled Scarhide shines by providing early pressure. Its ability to be bestowed upon other creatures gives it persistent relevance throughout the game.
How to beat
Gnarled Scarhide is quite the challenge on the battlefield. This card, often found in Black Aggro or Minotaur tribal decks, provides an assertive one-mana play that can turn the tide of a match early on. One of its key strengths is that it can’t block, forcing opponents into a potentially aggressive stance. What sets it apart is its ability to bestow onto other creatures, offering flexibility and strength in numbers.
To effectively counter this card, removal spells are a solid strategy. Since it’s a creature with only one toughness, direct damage spells or anything with the ability to target and destroy it can be an efficient way to remove Gnarled Scarhide from play. Cards like Shock or Fatal Push are excellent examples that can handle the threat at a low mana cost.
Additionally, leveraging the card’s downside – its inability to block – can tip the scales in your favor. Capitalize on this by attacking strategically, knowing your opponent is down a potential blocker. Through well-timed removal and aggressive strategy, the dangers posed by Gnarled Scarhide in Magic: The Gathering can be mitigated, keeping the control of the game within your grasp.
Cards like Gnarled Scarhide
Gnarled Scarhide finds its place among MTG’s unique assortment of creatures, specifically those that offer additional benefits beyond being mere attackers or blockers. As a one-mana creature like Gravecrawler, it provides an efficient way to commence your offensive strategy early in the game. Unlike Gravecrawler, which can be recast from the graveyard, Gnarled Scarhide offers versatility by enabling you to bestow it upon another creature later on, granting it additional power and toughness.
Diving into the realm of cards offering similar bestow abilities, we encounter Spiteful Returned. While it demands double the mana compared to Gnarled Scarhide, Spiteful Returned compensates with the potential for repeated life point drains against your opponent. Comparably, Herald of Torment presents itself as a higher mana investment but unfolds its worth by bringing more muscle and flight capability into the fray, which can significantly alter the battlefield dynamics in your favor.
Acknowledging these comparisons, Gnarled Scarhide stands out in decks that benefit from early pressure and flexible roles. The card exemplifies tactical adaptability, serving as either a straight creature play or a late-game enhancer, making it a multifaceted tool for players in MTG.
Cards similar to Gnarled Scarhide by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Gnarled Scarhide MTG card by a specific set like Journey into Nyx, 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 Gnarled Scarhide 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Gnarled Scarhide has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gnarled Scarhide card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-04-26 | An Aura that becomes a creature is no longer put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action. Rather, it becomes unattached and remains on the battlefield as long as it's a creature. While it's a creature, it can't be attached to another permanent or player. An Aura that's not attached to a legal permanent or player as defined by its enchant ability and also isn't a creature will be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action. |
| 2014-04-26 | Auras attached to a creature don't become tapped when the creature becomes tapped. Except in some rare cases, an Aura with bestow remains untapped when it becomes unattached and becomes a creature. |
| 2014-04-26 | If a permanent with bestow enters the battlefield by any method other than being cast, it will be an enchantment creature. You can't choose to pay the bestow cost and have it become an Aura. |
| 2014-04-26 | If the enchanted creature leaves the battlefield, the Aura stops being an Aura and remains on the battlefield. Control of that permanent doesn't change; you'll control the resulting enchantment creature. |
| 2014-04-26 | On the stack, a spell with bestow is either a creature spell or an Aura spell. It's never both, although it's an enchantment spell in either case. |
| 2014-04-26 | Similarly, if you cast an Aura spell with bestow targeting a creature controlled by another player, and that creature is an illegal target when the spell tries to resolve, it will finish resolving as an enchantment creature spell. It will enter the battlefield under your control. |
| 2014-04-26 | Unlike other Aura spells, an Aura spell with bestow isn't countered if its target is illegal as it begins to resolve. Rather, the effect making it an Aura spell ends, it loses enchant creature, it returns to being an enchantment creature spell, and it resolves and enters the battlefield as an enchantment creature. |
| 2014-04-26 | Unlike other Auras, an Aura with bestow isn't put into its owner's graveyard if it becomes unattached. Rather, the effect making it an Aura ends, it loses enchant creature, and it remains on the battlefield as an enchantment creature. It can attack (and its abilities can be activated, if it has any) on the turn it becomes unattached if it's been under your control continuously, even as an Aura, since your most recent turn began. |
| 2014-04-26 | You still control the Aura, even if it's enchanting a creature controlled by another player. |
