Kargan Intimidator MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Kargan Intimidator may not directly allow you to draw more cards, but it effectively makes the cards in your hand more impactful. With its ability to turn a creature into a Coward, it can help ensure your warriors are unblockable, reducing the need for additional removal spells or combat tricks to get through enemy defenses.

Resource Acceleration: While Kargan Intimidator does not provide traditional mana acceleration, it’s a low cost, high impact play. The Intimidator fits perfectly in a curve and accelerates your game plan by enabling faster, more aggressive plays, ensuring your tempo isn’t wasted on high-cost cards too early in the game.

Instant Speed: Kargan Intimidator operates at sorcery speed, with its abilities meant to set the stage before combat. The real magic of this card lies in its power to influence blockers before the attack begins, positioning you advantageously and prompting immediate responses from your opponent.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Kargan Intimidator doesn’t directly require you to discard a card, its abilities necessitate that you have other Warriors on the battlefield or in hand, indirectly pressuring you to deploy resources which might otherwise be kept for later strategic use.

Specific Mana Cost: Kargan Intimidator demands a specific mana combination to optimize its capabilities. Requiring both red and colorless mana means it may not seamlessly fit into multi-colored decks without a solid mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that might be considered steep for its stat line, the Kargan Intimidator competes with other three-mana creatures that could potentially offer immediate impact or stronger board presence upon casting.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Kargan Intimidator offers flexibility in multiple deck builds, providing an aggressive creature for Warrior-based strategies or augmenting red-centered aggressive decks with its ability to make creatures unable to block.

Combo Potential: This card partners well with equipment and auras enhancing power or granting abilities, as well as with cards that benefit from having a Warrior on the field or triggering attack steps.

Meta-Relevance: Due to its low casting cost and immediate impact on board state, Kargan Intimidator is a solid choice in an environment where low-to-the-ground creature decks strive to dominate the early game and assert control. This Warrior can be pivotal in matches against control decks by limiting opponent’s blocking options.

How to beat Kargan Intimidator

Kargan Intimidator stands out as an assertive play in Warrior-centric decks within Magic: The Gathering. This card not only pumps up your Warriors but also turns any creature into one, only to then make it virtually unblockable by creatures of a selected type. Overcoming this card can be a true test of wit on the battlefield.

One effective strategy is to manage the board with removal spells. Instant speed removal such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push can disrupt your opponent’s combat phase and remove the Intimidator before it becomes a bigger threat. Alternatively, utilizing cards that can deal damage to creatures irrespective of combat can prove to be effective, such as Shock or Lightning Bolt.

Furthermore, strategies that don’t rely on creatures or can create favorable blocks, such as token-generating decks or those with creatures that have protection from multicolored, may reduce the impact of Kargan Intimidator’s intimidating presence. In scenarios that require a more nuanced approach, enchantments like Pacifism restrict the Intimidator from attacking or blocking, effectively neutralizing the threat without outright removing it from the field.

In summary, while Kargan Intimidator can be a challenging foe, several strategies exist that can help contain its influence on the game, ensuring that your deck stands ready to face the myriad of threats in a complex MTG match.