Miner's Bane MTG Card

Magic 2015 (M15)
2014-07-18 - Number 157

Mystery Booster (MB1)
2019-11-07 - Number 1011

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number M15-157

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Elemental
Power	6
Toughness	3

Key Takeaways

Creates card advantage by potentially clearing blockers, altering battlefield dynamics in your favor.
Its board presence can pressure opponents into unfavorable trades, accelerating your win condition.
Precise timing in gameplay can enhance its impact, but deck inclusion requires careful consideration.

Text of card

: Miner's Bane gets +1/+0 and gains trample until end of turn. (If it would assign enough damage to its blockers to destroy them, you may have it assign the rest of its damage to defending player or planeswalker.)

There are certain stones even dwarves know to leave in the earth.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Miner’s Bane can help pave the way for advantageous attacks, enabling you to utilize its power to potentially clear a blocker from the battlefield. This can indirectly contribute to gaining card advantage by diminishing your opponent’s resources.

Resource Acceleration: While Miner’s Bane itself doesn’t directly provide resource acceleration, its sheer ability to dominate the board might force your opponent to trade multiple cards to deal with it, effectively speeding up your route to victory.

Instant Speed: Miner’s Bane acts at sorcery speed, calling for strategic timing when casting it. Its potential is unlocked by thoughtfully choosing the moment to deploy it, ideally when the opponent is tapped out or unable to respond effectively, securing its position on the board and maximizing impact.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Miner’s Bane doesn’t necessitate discarding cards, but in terms of deck building, it does compel you to think about what to cut out to make room for its inclusion, since its effect may not always justify a slot in your deck.

Specific Mana Cost: A casting cost of four generic and two red mana makes it a card that requires dedicated red mana sources, potentially limiting its inclusion to strictly red or heavily red-focused decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The six total mana needed to summon this creature could be restrictive, considering there are other creatures or spells available that could offer more impactful board presence or versatility at or below this cost threshold.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Miner’s Bane finds its place in decks that are built around power and combat enhancements. This card serves as a formidable top-end threat in casual red decks or those focusing on brute force.

Combo Potential: Its ability to get an instant power boost gives it a unique synergy with cards that care about high power creatures or abilities that trigger on attack. This means that incorporating Miner’s Bane into combos can lead to surprising and impactful plays.

Meta-Relevance: With a considerable number of decks focusing on creature-based strategies, having a card like Miner’s Bane can pivot the match in your favor. Its potential to overpower commonly used creatures in the meta makes it a card worth considering for your collection.

How to beat

Miner’s Bane is one of those cards in Magic: The Gathering that can be quite overwhelming if it hits the battlefield. This hefty creature can often turn the tides with its power to pump itself for more damage. However, despite its brawn, overcoming this colossus isn’t as daunting as it seems with the right strategies in your deck. Removal spells are your best bet – consider options like Doom Blade or Murder, which are effective and straightforward ways to eliminate this threat without much fuss.

Alternatively, controlling the board with enchantments like Pacifism locks down Miner’s Bane, leaving it as nothing more than a decorative piece on the battlefield. Should the game drag out, countering it with card types like Essence Scatter when it’s being cast can ensure that this creature never even gets a chance to flex its muscles. Remember, its activated ability requires quite a bit of mana, so keeping your opponent’s resources limited can effectively neutralize the Bane’s impact. Moreover, keeping a robust defense and chump blocking when necessary may give you enough time to set up a winning strategy.

When you’re prepared and have a plan, facing off against a card like Miner’s Bane becomes less of an epic struggle and more of a calculated victory. Knowing what’s in your deck and how to use it makes all the difference in these encounters.

Cards like Miner's Bane

Miner’s Bane is an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering that finds its place among other formidable red creatures. It shares its creature type, giant, with the likes of Fire-Belly Changeling and Hill Giant. However, Miner’s Bane distinguishes itself with its ability to get +1/+0 until end of turn for each two mana spent, a potentially game-ending trait if left unchecked.

Giant’s Strength is another card with which Miner’s Bane can be compared. While Giant’s Strength is an enchantment that buffs a creature permanently, Miner’s Bane provides a temporary boost, but with potentially larger increases in power during a single turn. Another similar card, the classic Shivan Dragon, also allows players to pump its power at the cost of one red mana per +1/+0. The key contrast here lies in the mana efficiency for boosting power, as Shivan Dragon requires only a single mana for each increment opposed to Miner’s Bane’s two.

Considering the versatility and potential for immediate impact on the game, Miner’s Bane holds a unique position amongst red creatures. Its ability to alter the game’s dynamic with sudden power increases makes it a considerable threat in any MTG match where it’s played.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Miner's Bane MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2015 and Mystery Booster, 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 Miner's Bane and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Miner's Bane Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2014-07-18 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Adam Paquette.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2014-07-18	Magic 2015	M15	157	2015	Normal	Black	Adam Paquette
2	2019-11-07	Mystery Booster	MB1	1011	2015	Normal	Black	Adam Paquette
3	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	M15-157	2015	Normal	Black	Adam Paquette