Woe Strider MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Horror
Abilities Escape,Scry
Power 3
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides consistent card advantage through scrying, optimizing your deck’s performance with each creature sacrificed.
  2. Its escape mechanic offers recurring presence, making it resilient against typical removal strategies.
  3. While potent, it requires careful deck construction and resource management for optimal utility.

Text of card

When Woe Strider enters the battlefield, create a 0/1 white Goat creature token. Sacrifice another creature: Scry 1. Escape—, Exile four other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.) Woe Strider escapes with two +1/+1 counters on it.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Woe Strider offers a recursive advantage by enabling you to scry when sacrificing a creature, effectively sifting through your deck for key cards and helping maintain momentum.

Resource Acceleration: This card interacts beneficially with mechanics that thrive on sacrifice, such as escape, which allows you to bring Woe Strider back from the graveyard bolstered, thus acting as both a recurring threat and a resource accelerator.

Instant Speed: While Woe Strider itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its sacrifice ability can be used at any time, offering the flexibility to react to an opponent’s moves during their turn, disrupting their strategy, or simply optimizing your own board state on the fly.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Woe Strider demands a creature be sacrificed to activate its scry ability. This can deplete your board presence and reduce your chances of sustaining offense or defense.

Specific Mana Cost: Woe Strider requires one black and two other mana to cast. This specificity means it seamlessly slots into black-based or multicolor decks but may not be suitable for mono-colored decks outside of black.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana and an escape cost that is even higher, Woe Strider can compete for resources with other pivotal three-drops in your strategy. It’s worth considering other creatures or removal spells that may provide more immediate board impact for the same cost.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Woe Strider serves multiple roles in gameplay, easily sliding into sacrifice-themed decks, acting as both an enabler and payoff. Its inherent capacity to scry when a creature dies makes it valuable in setting up future draws.

Combo Potential: Its escape ability and the goat token it generates when entering the battlefield are perfect for various combos, especially in decks that exploit creature death for incremental advantages or large game-winning interactions.

Meta-Relevance: With a meta that often shifts towards graveyard strategies or grindy games where value is king, Woe Strider stands out as a resilient creature that can continuously offer value from the graveyard, making it a formidable presence in various formats.


How to beat

Woe Strider is a versatile card that strengthens creature sacrifice strategies in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to provide a free sacrifice outlet can be daunting to play against. Its escape mechanic allows it to return from the graveyard, making it a persistent threat. To effectively counter Woe Strider, graveyard disruption is essential. Cards like Scavenging Ooze can exile it permanently, preventing the escape ability from being utilized.

Playing instant-speed removal spells when your opponent is low on resources can also prevent Woe Strider from performing its sacrifice ability optimally. Timing is crucial; removing the card in response to an escape attempt can leave your opponent with fewer options. Moreover, utilizing enchantments like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can hinder strategies relying on graveyard synergies, thereby neutering Woe Strider’s effectiveness.

In defeating this relentless creature, understanding the importance of strategic play timing and disrupting its synergy with other graveyard-based cards is key. By applying these tactics, you can overcome the challenge Woe Strider poses and maintain control of the battlefield.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the depth of MTG strategy can be as thrilling as it is complex, with cards like Woe Strider adding layers of tactical versatility to your gameplay. As you pore over the card’s pros and cons, its ability to recur, accelerate resources, and disrupt opponents’ strategies shines through. Whether enhancing your collection for its combo potential or seeking to dominate the meta with resilient creatures, Woe Strider is a card worth considering. Dive deeper into your deck’s potential and edge past your opponents with informed choices. Expand your MTG wisdom and prowess with us for a richer, more victorious experience.


Cards like Woe Strider

Woe Strider enters the battlefield as a hardy creature with a suite of abilities that echo other sacrificial powerhouses in Magic: The Gathering. Notably, it stands in parallel with Viscera Seer, a creature known for its free sacrifice ability that enables players to scry and manipulate their library. Where Woe Strider excels is its additional facets – it brings a 0/1 white Goat creature token upon entry and can escape from the graveyard, albeit at a higher mana cost and the exile of other cards from the graveyard.

Another card that mirrors the functionality of Woe Strider is Nantuko Husk, a creature with the capability to sacrifice other creatures for a temporary power boost. Although Woe Strider doesn’t provide a power increase, its ability to scry via sacrifice offers a strategic depth that Nantuko Husk lacks. Additionally, the recursion aspect where Woe Strider can return stronger from the graveyard provides it with lasting board presence.

In assessing the versatility and resilience of these sacrifice-centric creatures, Woe Strider presents a robust package. It not only enables strategic library arrangement but also ensures its efficacy across various stages of the game with its escape mechanic, making it a compelling choice for players who appreciate nuanced and enduring gameplay elements.

Viscera Seer - MTG Card versions
Nantuko Husk - MTG Card versions
Viscera Seer - Magic 2011 (M11)
Nantuko Husk - Onslaught (ONS)

Cards similar to Woe Strider by color, type and mana cost

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Nantuko Husk - MTG Card versions
Nettling Imp - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Royal Assassin - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
El-Hajjâj - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Plague Rats - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Frozen Shade - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Scathe Zombies - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Sorceress Queen - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Wall of Bone - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Lost Soul - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Mindstab Thrull - Masters Edition (ME1)
Mischievous Poltergeist - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Strongarm Thug - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Razortooth Rats - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Ghastly Remains - Legions (LGN)
Lord of the Undead - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Deepwood Ghoul - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Dross Prowler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Nim Lasher - Mirrodin (MRD)
Nim Abomination - Darksteel (DST)
Nantuko Husk - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Woe Strider MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Theros Beyond Death Promos, 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 Woe Strider and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Woe Strider Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2020-01-24 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by John Thacker.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 799252015normalblackJohn Thacker
22020-01-24Theros Beyond Death PromosPTHB 123p2015normalblackJohn Thacker
32020-01-24Theros Beyond DeathTHB 3172015normalblackJohn Thacker
42020-01-24Theros Beyond Death PromosPTHB 123s2015normalblackJohn Thacker
52020-01-24Theros Beyond DeathTHB 1232015normalblackJohn Thacker
62020-07-17Jumpstart Arena ExclusivesAJMP 1232015normalblackJohn Thacker
72022-04-29New Capenna CommanderNCC 2622015normalblackJohn Thacker
82022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 7742015normalblackJohn Thacker

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Woe Strider has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-01-24 After an escaped spell resolves, it returns to its owner's graveyard if it's not a permanent spell. If it is a permanent spell, it enters the battlefield and will return to its owner's graveyard if it dies later. Perhaps it will escape again—good underworld security is so hard to come by these days.
2020-01-24 Escape's permission doesn't change when you may cast the spell from your graveyard.
2020-01-24 If a card has multiple abilities giving you permission to cast it, such as two escape abilities or an escape ability and a flashback ability, you choose which one to apply. The others have no effect.
2020-01-24 If a card with escape is put into your graveyard during your turn, you'll be able to cast it right away if it's legal to do so, before an opponent can take any actions.
2020-01-24 If you cast a spell with its escape permission, you can't choose to apply any other alternative costs or to cast it without paying its mana cost. If it has any additional costs, you must pay those.
2020-01-24 Once you begin casting a spell with escape, it immediately moves to the stack. Players can't take any other actions until you're done casting the spell.
2020-01-24 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as an escape cost), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was and no matter whether an alternative cost was paid.

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