Reservoir Walker MTG Card
2017-01-20 - Number 174
2020-11-12 - Number 266
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Artifact Creature — Construct |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
Key Takeaways
- Provides immediate life gain and energy, useful for resource-driven deck strategies in MTG.
- Synergizes with ETB triggers, enhancing combo potential and meta-game relevance.
- Lacks direct combat prowess, making removal spells and aggressive tactics effective counters.
Text of card
When Reservoir Walker enters the battlefield, you gain 3 life and get (three energy counters).
Renegade supply lines are, by necessity, mobile and difficult to disrupt.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Reservoir Walker stands out in the realm of artifacts, offering a unique benefit as it enters the battlefield. It lets you gain three life and get three energy counters, effectively boosting your resources. For deck strategies that capitalize on life gain or energy manipulation, this card can be a critical addition to sustain momentum and create a buffer against aggressive plays.
Resource Acceleration: While Reservoir Walker doesn’t directly ramp your mana, the energy counters it provides can be pivotal for decks that utilize energy as a resource. These counters can play a versatile role, potentially converting into additional mana, bolstering creatures, or fueling energy-centric abilities that can give you an edge over the course of a match.
Instant Speed: Although Reservoir Walker is a creature and not cast at instant speed, its impact upon entering the battlefield offers an immediate effect reminiscent of instants. This can disrupt opponents’ strategies, especially in formats where life totals and energy reserves can shift the balance of play unpredictably. The entrance of Reservoir Walker can be timed to coincide with other instant speed tricks, giving you the advantage of resource gain as you flexibly respond to threats.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Playing Reservoir Walker often entails having to discard cards to make room for its specific effects or to synergize with it in a limited hand scenario, which can be counterintuitive when trying to maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: This artifact creature comes with a precise mana requirement that can sometimes be tricky to meet in multicolor decks, potentially hindering its inclusion into a seamless mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that might be a touch on the higher side in terms of mana efficiency, players might find it challenging to get the most value when other lower-cost options could fit the game strategy more effectively.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Reservoir Walker’s ability to gain life and energy upon entering the battlefield makes it a suitable inclusion in decks that thrive on incremental life gain or energy mechanics.
Combo Potential: The card synergizes well with strategies that capitalize on ETB (Enter the Battlefield) triggers, potentially unlocking powerful interactions with other cards that care about these events.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where aggro decks are prevalent, Reservoir Walker could serve as a valuable tool for stabilizing the board and extending the game to favor your late-game strategies.
How to beat
Reservoir Walker is an artifact creature that brings a unique dynamic to the battlefield in MTG. It comes with an ability that can provide a life boost and energy counters which are valuable resources in specific MTG decks. Despite its utility, facing this card isn’t insurmountable.
When squaring off against Reservoir Walker, one effective strategy is to take advantage of its lack of substantial combat abilities. It’s a card designed more for the support it provides rather than direct confrontation. Therefore, removal spells that bypass its on-cast effect, like Fatal Push or Path to Exile, can help avoid giving your opponent the incremental advantages.
Additionally, negating its cast-triggered abilities with cards like Stifle or Tale’s End can mitigate the life gain and energy counter benefits it provides upon entering the battlefield. An alternate approach is to exert pressure with aggressive creatures that can swiftly reduce your opponent’s life total, rendering the incremental life gain from Reservoir Walker less impactful. By focusing on proactive control of the game’s pace and state, you can effectively nullify the advantages Reservoir Walker presents to your opponent.
Cards like Reservoir Walker
Reservoir Walker finds its niche within the artifact creature landscape of MTG. This artifact creature offers a unique blend of life gain and energy counter production upon entering the battlefield. Its parallels can be seen in creatures like Filigree Familiar, another artifact that similarly provides life gain when it comes into play. However, Reservoir Walker distinguishes itself by generating not one, but three energy counters, albeit at a higher mana cost.
Another comparable card is Aether Herder, which also revolves around the energy mechanic. Like Reservoir Walker, Aether Herder provides energy counters, but in addition, it brings along the potential to create creature tokens. While the Herder only gifts two energy counters, it compensates with its creature token generation ability. Conversely, Reservoir Walker forgoes token creation for a straightforward energy boost and an immediate life replenishment.
Assessing the ecosystem of similar MTG artifacts and creatures, Reservoir Walker stands out due to its sizable energy counter offering and the immediate impact on life totals making it a card worth considering for decks exploiting energy mechanics or in need of life gain stability.
Cards similar to Reservoir Walker by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Reservoir Walker MTG card by a specific set like Aether Revolt and Kaladesh Remastered, 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 Reservoir Walker 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 Reservoir Walker Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-01-20 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by Johann Bodin.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-01-20 | Aether Revolt | AER | 174 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Johann Bodin | |
| 2 | 2020-11-12 | Kaladesh Remastered | KLR | 266 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Johann Bodin |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Reservoir Walker 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 Reservoir Walker card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-02-09 | Energy counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They’re not associated with specific permanents. (Other kinds of counters that players may have include poison and experience.) |
| 2017-02-09 | Energy counters aren’t mana. They don’t go away as steps, phases, and turns end, and effects that add mana “of any type” to your mana pool can’t give you energy counters. |
| 2017-02-09 | If an effect says you get one or more , you get that many energy counters. To pay one or more , you lose that many energy counters. Any effects that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with energy counters. |
| 2017-02-09 | Keep careful track of how many energy counters each player has. You may do so by keeping a running count on paper, by using a die, or by any other clear and mutually agreeable method. |
| 2017-02-09 | You can’t pay more energy counters than you have. |
| 2017-02-09 | is the energy symbol. It represents one energy counter. |
