Cultivator's Caravan MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeArtifact — Vehicle
Abilities Crew
Power 5
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Cultivator’s Caravan offers versatility mingling mana rock utility with a 5/5 vehicle potential.
  2. Accelerates mana and keeps options open for instant-speed plays, boosting both tempo and resource management.
  3. Despite versatility, requires creature resources to activate, which may be a drawback for some strategies.

Text of card

: Add one mana of any color. Crew 3 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 3 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cultivator’s Caravan not only serves as a mana rock but also doubles as a vehicle, which offers a two-for-one utility. This inherent versatility means that with one card you receive both ramp and a potential threat, giving you more options without depleting your hand.

Resource Acceleration: Essential for any deck that wants to hit more significant plays earlier, Cultivator’s Caravan taps for one mana of any color. It’s a premium acceleration tool that can help you cast high-cost cards sooner than expected, essential for outpacing opponents in the race for board dominance.

Instant Speed: While Cultivator’s Caravan itself is not an instant, it provides mana which can be used at instant speed. This flexibility means that you can more effectively keep mana open to respond to threats or opportunities on your opponent’s turn, while still advancing your board state with its crew ability.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Cultivator’s Caravan offers a robust platform as a mana source and vehicle, it doesn’t come without its downsides. Notably, it lacks synergy with strategies that require card preservation, as activating its crew ability means you’ll be dedicating other creatures – and thus potential card advantage – to enable its transformation into a creature.

Specific Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three generic mana, Cultivator’s Caravan is flexible regarding color requirements. However, in cases when you’re stranded with color-screwed hands, it does not help in filtering mana to suit your colored needs, unlike some of its contemporaries.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the initial cost seems reasonable for a mana rock, when you consider the additional step of tapping creatures to turn it into an offensive or defensive asset, it can be quite resource-intensive. This might be less than ideal in faster-paced games where the board presence and tempo are critical, and there are more mana-efficient vehicles available.


Reasons to Include Cultivator’s Caravan in Your Collection

Versatility: Cultivator’s Caravan stands out due to its ability to act both as a mana fixer and vehicle in one card. It can tap for any color mana, making it an excellent addition to multicolored decks that require consistent mana sources.

Combo Potential: Its ability to become a creature with crew 3 allows it to work well with various tap and untap mechanics. Plus, as an artifact, it can enhance synergy in decks that trigger effects upon artifact entering the battlefield or being tapped.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where mana acceleration and flexibility are crucial, Cultivator’s Caravan provides an immediate impact. It helps cast high-cost cards sooner and stays relevant as a potential blocker or attacker later in the game.


How to beat

Cultivator’s Caravan offers a unique blend of mana acceleration and creature-like qualities that can sometimes be tricky to handle. This artifact vehicle with a power and toughness of 5/5 upon becoming a creature, presents a challenge due to its dual utility—providing mana and serving as a formidable blocker or attacker. Similar to other vehicles, disabling its ability to become a creature by targeting the crew mechanic is an effective strategy. Removal spells that specifically address artifacts, such as Abrade or Disenchant, can be particularly useful. It’s also beneficial to disrupt the opponent’s board presence, limiting the number of creatures available to crew the caravan.

Additionally, exerting control over the game’s tempo and utilizing counterspells to prevent the caravan from hitting the battlefield in the first place can swing the game in your favor. Cards like Negate are perfect for countering this noncreature spell while it’s still on the stack. Remember, once it becomes a creature on the field, the caravan is vulnerable to traditional creature removal spells, simplifying the task of dealing with it.

By prioritizing the removal of creatures that could crew the Cultivator’s Caravan or by strategically saving your artifact removal spells, you’ll stand a much better chance at neutralizing this versatile threat.


BurnMana Recommendations

Enhancing your MTG deck with the right cards is essential for every player aiming to triumph in the game. Cultivator’s Caravan is one such card that offers a unique combination of mana ramp and board presence. Exploring its potential in your deck can lead to unexpected victories and strategic advantages. Whether you are someone who appreciates the dual nature of utility cards or you’re looking to diversify your mana sources, understanding the Caravan’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial. For more insights on optimizing your deck and evolving your gameplay strategies, delve into the wealth of resources we offer. Learn more and edge closer to clinching your next win with confidence.


Cards like Cultivator's Caravan

Cultivator’s Caravan stands as a unique asset among artifact mana sources in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to tap for one mana of any color echoes the utility of the renowned Manalith. While both serve a key role in mana fixing, Cultivator’s Caravan offers additional versatility. Unlike Manalith, it can transform into a 5/5 creature, making it not just a tool for resource management but also a formidable blocker or attacker.

Chromatic Lantern is another artifact commonly compared to Cultivator’s Caravan. Lantern not only produces mana of any color but also grants this ability to other lands, ensuring complete color flexibility. Despite this, it lacks the dual nature of the Caravan, which can be crucial in matches where board presence is as important as mana availability. Then there’s Smuggler’s Copter, which, alike to Cultivator’s Caravan, can become a creature. However, it requires another creature to crew it and its focus leans towards generating card advantage rather than mana acceleration.

Ultimately, in the vast world of MTG, Cultivator’s Caravan is appreciated for its duality, providing a reliable mana source along with the potential for a significant tempo swing when it becomes a creature. It’s this combination that defines its place in a deckbuilder’s repertoire.

Manalith - MTG Card versions
Chromatic Lantern - MTG Card versions
Smuggler's Copter - MTG Card versions
Manalith - Magic 2012 (M12)
Chromatic Lantern - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Smuggler's Copter - Kaladesh (KLD)

Cards similar to Cultivator's Caravan by color, type and mana cost

Celestial Prism - MTG Card versions
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Ebony Horse - MTG Card versions
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Lightning Coils - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Shackles - MTG Card versions
Loxodon Warhammer - MTG Card versions
Sword of Feast and Famine - MTG Card versions
Celestial Prism - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Sunglasses of Urza - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Ebony Horse - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Runed Arch - Ice Age (ICE)
Arena of the Ancients - Chronicles (CHR)
Bösium Strip - Weatherlight (WTH)
Clay Pigeon - Unglued (UGL)
Ashnod's Altar - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Jalum Tome - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Static Orb - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Patchwork Gnomes - Odyssey (ODY)
The Stasis Coffin - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Captain's Hook - Rivals of Ixalan Promos (PRIX)
Wall of Spears - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Spellweaver Helix - Mirrodin (MRD)
Scale of Chiss-Goria - Mirrodin (MRD)
Lightning Coils - Mirrodin (MRD)
Vedalken Shackles - Kaladesh Inventions (MPS)
Loxodon Warhammer - Salvat 2011 (PS11)
Sword of Feast and Famine - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cultivator's Caravan MTG card by a specific set like Kaladesh Promos and Kaladesh, 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 Cultivator's Caravan and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Cultivator's Caravan Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2016-09-30 and 2023-04-21. Illustrated by Mark Zug.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-09-30Kaladesh PromosPKLD 203s2015normalblackMark Zug
22016-09-30KaladeshKLD 2032015normalblackMark Zug
32020-11-12Kaladesh RemasteredKLR 2302015normalblackMark Zug
42022-02-18Neon Dynasty CommanderNEC 1492015normalblackMark Zug
52023-04-21March of the Machine CommanderMOC 3542015normalblackMark Zug

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cultivator's Caravan 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 Cultivator's Caravan card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2016-09-20 As long as Cultivator's Caravan isn't an artifact creature, its ability can be activated if it came under your control this turn.
2017-09-29 Any untapped creature you control can be tapped to pay a crew cost, even one that just came under your control.
2017-09-29 Creatures that crew a Vehicle aren't attached to it or related in any other way. Effects that affect the Vehicle, such as by destroying it or giving it a +1/+1 counter, don't affect the creatures that crewed it.
2017-09-29 Each Vehicle is printed with a power and toughness, but it's not a creature. If it becomes a creature (most likely through its crew ability), it will have that power and toughness.
2017-09-29 For a Vehicle to be able to attack, it must be a creature as the declare attackers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to attack with it is during the beginning of combat step. For a Vehicle to be able to block, it must be a creature as the declare blockers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to block with it is during the declare attackers step. In either case, players may take actions after the crew ability resolves but before the Vehicle has been declared as an attacking or blocking creature.
2017-09-29 If a permanent becomes a copy of a Vehicle, the copy won't be a creature, even if the Vehicle it's copying has become an artifact creature.
2017-09-29 If an effect causes a Vehicle to become an artifact creature with a specified power and toughness, that effect overwrites the Vehicle's printed power and toughness.
2017-09-29 Once a Vehicle becomes a creature, it behaves exactly like any other artifact creature. It can't attack unless you've controlled it continuously since your turn began, it can block if it's untapped, it can be tapped to pay a Vehicle's crew cost, and so on.
2017-09-29 Once a player announces that they are activating a crew ability, no player may take other actions until the ability has been paid for. Notably, players can't try to stop the ability by changing a creature's power or by removing or tapping a creature.
2017-09-29 Vehicle is an artifact type, not a creature type. A Vehicle that's crewed won't normally have any creature type.
2017-09-29 When a Vehicle becomes a creature, that doesn't count as having a creature enter the battlefield. The permanent was already on the battlefield; it only changed its types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won't trigger.
2017-09-29 You may activate a crew ability of a Vehicle even if it's already an artifact creature. Doing so has no effect on the Vehicle. It doesn't change its power and toughness.
2017-09-29 You may tap more creatures than necessary to activate a crew ability.

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