Shambleshark MTG Card
Key Takeaways
- Shambleshark’s evolve ability can significantly boost board presence without extra card costs.
- Flash enables surprise blocks and evolve triggers, enhancing in-game strategy flexibility.
- Cost-effective for its synergy potential, Shambleshark thrives in Simic decks.
Guide to Flash card ability
Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.
Text of card
Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.) Evolve (Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Shambleshark’s real potential for card advantage lies in its synergy with other creatures. As a creature with the evolve mechanic, every time a creature with greater power or toughness enters the battlefield under your control, Shambleshark has the possibility to grow, paving the way for a more dominant board presence without spending additional cards.
Resource Acceleration: While Shambleshark itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, its low casting cost of only two mana makes it an efficient play early in the game. This can lead to faster deployment of larger threats as Shambleshark can quickly start to apply pressure, potentially keeping opponent’s resources tied up in dealing with it.
Instant Speed: Shambleshark can be cast at instant speed thanks to its flash ability, offering significant strategic flexibility. This allows for an unexpected blocker during combat or the ability to trigger evolve on another creature at a moment’s notice, without telegraphing moves to the opponent prior to their own turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Shambleshark does not have a direct discard requirement, simic decks where it’s often played may have other synergies that lean towards hand manipulation, potentially leading to situations where card advantage can be compromised.
Specific Mana Cost: Shambleshark’s hybrid mana cost can be both a pro and a con. Requiring both green and blue mana, it has less flexibility in non-simic color decks and requires a mana base that can consistently provide both colors to ensure a smooth play.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Shambleshark has a mana value of two, which for its stats and abilities may be seen as reasonable, but in a fast-paced environment, there are more mana-efficient creatures that could take its place. Additionally, its evolve mechanic requires you to play creatures with greater power or toughness to utilize it effectively, which can sometimes lead to a slower tempo.
Reasons to Include Shambleshark in Your Collection
Versatility: Shambleshark, a creature card with both crab and shark qualities, showcases flexibility as it can be easily slotted into Simic decks or those that capitalize on +1/+1 counters and creature-based synergies.
Combo Potential: With its flash ability, Shambleshark pairs well with cards that benefit from creatures entering the battlefield unexpectedly, enabling surprise blocks or instant synergy with evolve and other triggered abilities.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta that favors quick adaptability and creature combos, Shambleshark remains a relevant pick. Its ability to grow stronger through the evolve mechanic ensures it can keep up with the ever-changing pace of battle.
How to beat
Shambleshark, a creature that swims through the vast card pool of Magic: The Gathering, can be a sneaky threat in its own right. This simic-aligned creature excels thanks to its Flash ability, allowing you to cast it at a moment’s notice, potentially disrupting your opponent’s strategy. Its Evolve mechanic adds another layer of complexity, as it can grow stronger whenever you play a creature with higher power or toughness.
Overcoming Shambleshark involves timing and the strategic use of removal spells. A clever tactic is to wait for it to be cast during an opponent’s end step, then respond with instant-speed removal before it can become a bigger problem. Additionally, keeping the board clear of other creatures prevents the Evolve trigger from occurring, effectively neutering Shambleshark’s growing potential.
Finally, Shambleshark’s presence can impact the tempo of the game, but a player’s awareness of its mechanics can turn the tide. Control decks, particularly those that can handle creatures at instant speed or that can manage the number of creatures on the battlefield, can keep Shambleshark in check, ensuring it never gets the chance to evolve into a larger threat.
Cards like Shambleshark
Shambleshark is an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering with the subtle yet powerful flash and evolve abilities. Its kinship is close to that of creatures like Experiment One, which also thrives on the evolve mechanism. Experiment One can be somewhat slower to grow in power and toughness but has the resilience of regeneration. What distinguishes Shambleshark is its capacity to surprise opponents by emerging at the most opportune times thanks to flash, allowing for unexpected blocks or evolve triggers.
Cloudfin Raptor is another card that shares similarities with Shambleshark, having the evolve trait as well. Unlike Shambleshark, the Raptor starts off with a lower power level but has the flying advantage, allowing it to evade many blockers and accumulate +1/+1 counters more steadily over time. Furthermore, there’s Zegana, Utopian Speaker, offering a late-game evolve payoff; although it doesn’t possess the flash ability, its versatility and ability to grant trample to creatures with +1/+1 counters can swing games in your favor.
Evaluating these creatures, we see Shambleshark’s distinct edge in adaptability and the tactical advantage it provides in MTG matches, making it a card that blends well with the tempo of evolving creature-based decks.
Cards similar to Shambleshark by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Shambleshark MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash and Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, 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 Shambleshark 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
Printings
The Shambleshark Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-02-01 and 2021-08-26. Illustrated by Wesley Burt.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013-02-01 | Gatecrash | GTC | 193 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Wesley Burt | |
| 2 | 2021-08-26 | Jumpstart: Historic Horizons | J21 | 714 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Wesley Burt |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Shambleshark has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Shambleshark card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2013-04-15 | If a creature enters the battlefield with +1/+1 counters on it, consider those counters when determining if evolve will trigger. For example, a 1/1 creature that enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it will cause the evolve ability of a 2/2 creature to trigger. |
| 2013-04-15 | If evolve triggers, the stat comparison will happen again when the ability tries to resolve. If neither stat of the new creature is greater, the ability will do nothing. If the creature that entered the battlefield leaves the battlefield before evolve tries to resolve, use its last known power and toughness to compare the stats. |
| 2013-04-15 | If multiple creatures enter the battlefield at the same time, evolve may trigger multiple times, although the stat comparison will take place each time one of those abilities tries to resolve. For example, if you control a 2/2 creature with evolve and two 3/3 creatures enter the battlefield, evolve will trigger twice. The first ability will resolve and put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with evolve. When the second ability tries to resolve, neither the power nor the toughness of the new creature is greater than that of the creature with evolve, so that ability does nothing. |
| 2013-04-15 | When comparing the stats as the evolve ability resolves, it’s possible that the stat that’s greater changes from power to toughness or vice versa. If this happens, the ability will still resolve and you’ll put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with evolve. For example, if you control a 2/2 creature with evolve and a 1/3 creature enters the battlefield under your control, it toughness is greater so evolve will trigger. In response, the 1/3 creature gets +2/-2. When the evolve trigger tries to resolve, its power is greater. You’ll put a +1/+1 counter on the creature with evolve. |
| 2013-04-15 | When comparing the stats of the two creatures for evolve, you always compare power to power and toughness to toughness. |
| 2013-04-15 | Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, check its power and toughness against the power and toughness of the creature with evolve. If neither stat of the new creature is greater, evolve won’t trigger at all. |
