Oni of Wild Places Avatar MTG Card

Rarity	Rare
Type	Vanguard
Released	2003-01-01
Set symbol
Set name	Magic Online Avatars
Set code	PMOA
Number	50
Frame	2015
Layout	Vanguard
Border	Black
Illustred by	UDON

Key Takeaways

Offers card advantage through reusable creature effects each upkeep, enhancing turn impact.
Demands specific mana makeup and may impede battlefield presence with upkeep cost.
Possesses unique synergy potential and can adapt to the evolving metagame.

Text of card

Creatures you control have haste. At the beginning of your upkeep, return a creature you control to its owner's hand.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: This Avatar provides the ability to potentially bounce a creature every turn, giving you a recurring opportunity to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects. This utility can maintain or even tip the scales of card advantage in your favor, making every turn potentially more impactful.

Resource Acceleration: By returning a red creature you control back to your hand at the beginning of your upkeep, Oni of Wild Places sets up for additional plays. It’s a strategic move that can be used to evade removal or simply accelerate your resource deployment by replaying creatures with cost-effective abilities.

Instant Speed: While the Oni itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its effect can be utilized in synergy with cards that do. The ability to bounce a creature at the beginning of your upkeep means you can keep your mana free during your opponents’ turns for instant speed interactions, making your gameplay more versatile and responsive.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When deploying the Oni of Wild Places Avatar, players must return a red creature they control to their hand at the beginning of their upkeep. This condition might strain your battlefield presence, especially when aiming to maintain a strong lineup of creatures.

Specific Mana Cost: Casting this avatar requires a hefty amount of red mana – six, with at least one being red. This restricts the card’s playability primarily to mono-red or red-heavy multicolored decks, potentially limiting its inclusion in a diverse range of strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The Oni of Wild Places Avatar comes with a considerable mana investment. In a game where tempo can be crucial, its cost is high when compared to other creatures that offer immediate board impact or have lower mana curve considerations.

Reasons to Include Oni of Wild Places Avatar in Your Collection

Versatility: The Oni of Wild Places Avatar card brings a dynamic edge to various deck builds. Its unique ability to maneuver through battlefield positioning makes it a resourceful addition, suiting a broad spectrum of strategies from aggressive red decks to more nuanced control or combo setups.

Combo Potential: Equipped with the potential to craft powerful synergies, this avatar shines when paired with cards that capitalize on returned creatures. Crafting interactions that reuse enter-the-battlefield effects or sacrifice mechanics can lead to game-changing plays.

Meta-Relevance: In a shifting metagame, the Oni of Wild Places Avatar’s impact hinges on its compatibility with prevalent deck types. It can be a formidable foe against slower-paced decks, outmaneuvering them with its innate ability to recycle creatures and maintain board presence.

How to beat

The Oni of Wild Places is a daunting card that presents unique challenges when faced on the battlefield. With its ability to return a creature from your battlefield to your hand at the beginning of your upkeep, it demands a strategic approach to mitigate its advantage. The key to overcoming an opponent wielding this powerful Avatar lies in limiting their ability to capitalize on creature cards with beneficial entry effects, which the Oni could potentially exploit repeatedly.

Control decks that feature ample removal spells can be effective as they consistently clear the board and diminish the Oni’s value. The inclusion of instant-speed removal, such as Path to Exile or Doom Blade, ensures that you can respond swiftly without sacrificing your turn. Another effective strategy is to employ cards like Grafdigger’s Cage, which restrict creature cards entering the battlefield from graveyards or libraries, thus hindering Oni’s recursive game plan.

In essence, understanding the synergy between the Oni of Wild Places and your opponent’s deck is crucial. Preventing creatures from making a repeated appearance is a potent way to neutralize the threat, allowing you to maintain a stronger position throughout the game.

Cards like Oni of Wild Places Avatar

In the realm of Magic: The Gathering, the Oni of Wild Places stands as a unique presence on the battlefield. It’s most readily compared to other high-cost red creatures that offer unusual benefits. One comparable card is Erratic Cyclops, which, like the Oni, holds the potential to dramatically affect the game, albeit through a different mechanic that increases its power with every instant or sorcery spell played.

Another analogous card is Anger, who may not share the same stature stat-wise but offers a game-altering ability by granting your creatures haste as long as Anger is in the graveyard and you control a Mountain. While the Oni of Wild Places requires a mana investment and focuses more on creature return dynamics for hand advantage and battlefield presence, Anger functions as an enabler, sculpting the pace of play by freeing up creatures to attack immediately.

Examining the broader impact and game synergy, the Oni of Wild Places presents a strategic inclusion for deck builders looking to capitalize on return-to-hand mechanics or circumvent certain detrimental conditions tied to card permanence on the battlefield. This distinguishes it within the echelon of impactful red creatures in Magic: The Gathering by offering both recurring board control and hand management capabilities.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Oni of Wild Places Avatar MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Avatars, 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 Oni of Wild Places Avatar and other MTG cards: