Rouse the Mob MTG Card


Rouse the Mob - Journey into Nyx
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeInstant
Abilities Strive
Released2014-05-02
Set symbol
Set nameJourney into Nyx
Set codeJOU
Number109
Frame2003
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byJohn Stanko

Key Takeaways

  1. Rouse the Mob excels in surprise combat boosts but lacks direct card advantage and mana acceleration.
  2. Key disadvantages include a specific mana need and a potentially high cost for multiple targets.
  3. Its Strive mechanic elevates its value, offering adaptability and combo potential in aggressive decks.

Text of card

Strive — Rouse the Mob costs more to cast for each target beyond the first. Any number of target creatures each get +2/+0 and gain trample until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Rouse the Mob doesn’t directly provide card advantage in the traditional sense, but it does have the potential to make the creatures you already have on the battlefield more impactful, effectively maximizing the value you get from your existing board presence.

Resource Acceleration: While this spell doesn’t offer resource acceleration in terms of adding more mana, it serves as a form of combat acceleration by boosting your creature’s power, often enabling a quicker path to defeating your opponent.

Instant Speed: Rouse the Mob’s instant speed is a key tactical advantage, giving you the ability to surprise your opponent during combat by boosting your attacking or blocking creature, potentially turning the tides of battle in your favor without the need for pre-combat commitment.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Rouse the Mob demands a card from your hand for its Strive ability, which can leave you at a disadvantage, especially if you’re already struggling to keep a strong hand.

Specific Mana Cost: This instant requires red mana. For players who aren’t running a red-centric or compatible deck, integrating Rouse the Mob can be challenging if not entirely unfeasible.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an initial cost plus additional mana for each target beyond the first, Rouse the Mob can become quite mana-intensive. There are alternatives that potentially offer more bang for your mana buck when looking to boost multiple creatures’ power.


Reasons to Include Rouse the Mob in Your Collection

Versatility: Rouse the Mob is a spell that serves multiple roles, making it a useful tool in decks that thrive on aggression. It can turn any creature into a significant threat for a turn, which can be the key to overcoming board stalls or closing out a game unexpectedly.

Combo Potential: The card taps into the powerful mechanic of Strive, allowing you to pay additional mana to target multiple creatures. This has fantastic synergy with strategies looking to go wide with their board presence, enhancing the impact of token-generating decks or those that swarm the battlefield with creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where games can end quickly or in scenarios that favor trading in combat, Rouse the Mob offers a cost-effective way to amplify your attack and create favorable combat outcomes. It’s a card that can adapt to the shifts in the meta, especially when aggressive strategies are prevalent.


How to beat

Rouse the Mob is a red instant that has the potential to turn the tide in a game of Magic: The Gathering with its ability to quickly empower your creatures during combat. When confronting this card, the key is to control the battlefield through removal spells or by maintaining a strong defensive line. Counterspells are particularly effective against Rouse the Mob since it hinges on timing to make the most of its effect during the combat phase. Additionally, effects that prevent your opponent from targeting their own creatures, such as those that give shroud or hexproof to your creatures, can nullify the card’s impact.

Strategic players will also monitor their opponent’s mana availability and try to bait out the spell prematurely or when it’s least effective. Since it is an instant, watching for open mana and being cautious in your attacks can provide clues as to when the Rouse the Mob might be played. Lastly, one powerful countermeasure is to include cards in your deck that limit the number of spells your opponent can play in a turn or cards that increase the casting cost of opponent’s spells, indirectly dampening the effectiveness of Rouse the Mob.


Cards like Rouse the Mob

Rouse the Mob’s place in Magic: The Gathering is alongside other cards that amplify the power of creatures, albeit temporarily. One such parallel is with Trumpet Blast, a card that boosts each attacking creature by +2/+0 until the end of the turn. While both cards serve a similar purpose in bolstering the strength of your offense, Rouse the Mob holds a unique spot with its Strive mechanic allowing you to target multiple creatures at an escalating cost.

Another comparable card is Dynacharge, which, for a modest mana investment, can also increase the power of your creatures, though with a smaller boost of +2/+0. Unlike Rouse the Mob, however, it lacks the flexibility to affect more than one creature without its Overload cost being paid. Lastly, there’s the iconic card, Overrun. This not only pumps up creatures but also grants them trample, providing a significant advantage towards victory. However, Overrun demands a higher mana cost than Rouse the Mob.

Ultimately, Rouse the Mob fits well into decks that aim for an aggressive and adaptable strategy, particularly in token-based decks, where its potential to affect multiple targets can turn the tide of a skirmish dramatically.

Trumpet Blast - MTG Card versions
Dynacharge - MTG Card versions
Overrun - MTG Card versions
Trumpet Blast - MTG Card versions
Dynacharge - MTG Card versions
Overrun - MTG Card versions

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Red Elemental Blast - MTG Card versions
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Artifact Blast - MTG Card versions
Active Volcano - MTG Card versions
Shock - MTG Card versions
Lightning Bolt - MTG Card versions
Panic - MTG Card versions
Hearth Charm - MTG Card versions
Pyroblast - MTG Card versions
Shower of Sparks - MTG Card versions
Heat Ray - MTG Card versions
Overload - MTG Card versions
March of Reckless Joy - MTG Card versions
Burst Lightning - MTG Card versions
Fever Charm - MTG Card versions
Electrostatic Bolt - MTG Card versions
Unnatural Speed - MTG Card versions
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Rouse the Mob 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 Rouse the Mob and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Rouse the Mob has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rouse the Mob 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 If a spell or ability allows you to cast a strive spell without paying its mana cost, you must pay the additional costs for any targets beyond the first.
2014-04-26 If all of the spell's targets are illegal when the spell tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. If one or more of its targets are legal when it tries to resolve, the spell will resolve and affect only those legal targets. It will have no effect on any illegal targets.
2014-04-26 If such a spell is copied, and the effect that copies the spell allows a player to choose new targets for the copy, the number of targets can't be changed. The player may change any number of the targets, including all of them or none of them. If, for one of the targets, the player can't choose a new legal target, then it remains unchanged (even if the current target is illegal).
2014-04-26 The mana cost and mana value of strive spells don't change no matter how many targets they have. Strive abilities affect only what you pay.
2014-04-26 You choose how many targets each spell with a strive ability has and what those targets are as you cast it. It's legal to cast such a spell with no targets, although this is rarely a good idea. You can't choose the same target more than once for a single strive spell.

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