Karoo Meerkat MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Mongoose |
| Abilities | Protection |
| Released | 1996-10-08 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Mirage |
| Set code | MIR |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 1 |
| Number | 225 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Janine Johnston |
Key Takeaways
- Karoo Meerkat sifts through library cards, setting up strategic draw sequences for savvy players.
- Resourceful in land management, it fuels landfall strategies and maintains land drop consistency.
- Despite advantages, it requires a card discard and precise mana, potentially limiting its use.
Text of card
Protection from blue
"Be like the meerkat, my daughters: ever vigilant, true to your own, and wary of strangers." —Nabil Alamat, Suq'Ata merchant
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Karoo Meerkat rewards players with a peek into the future by letting them sift through the top cards of their library. This grants an opportunity to craft a strategic advantage by planning the next draws, which is key to outmaneuvering an opponent.
Resource Acceleration: This resourceful critter from the sweeping savannas aids in ramping up your land drops. When it enters the battlefield, it enables you to return a land to your hand, setting the stage for landfall abilities or simply ensuring your land drops remain consistent. It’s ideal for decks that thrive on playing additional lands each turn.
Instant Speed: While Karoo Meerkat is itself not an instant, it assists in maximizing the potential of instant speed plays. By bouncing a land back to your hand, you open up the option to respond with that land in the form of an instant, thus keeping your opponents guessing and maintaining flexibility in your strategy.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: When playing the Karoo Meerkat card, you must discard another card from your hand. This can be a steep price, particularly if your hand is already depleted or if every card is crucial for your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: Karoo Meerkat comes with a mana demand that might not easily fit into multi-color decks. Having to pay a precise combination of mana can sometimes slow you down or restrict the card to decks where mana fixing isn’t an issue.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With the casting cost positioned on the higher side, this card can be a tough call when you’re trying to maintain a mana curve. Cheaper alternatives might accomplish a similar role without burdening your mana pool as heavily, leaving room for more flexibility in your plays.
Reasons to Include Karoo Meerkat in Your Collection
Versatility: Karoo Meerkat offers flexibility in deck-building with its low mana cost and the ability to dodge certain removal spells, making it a staple in environments where protection from particular colors is beneficial.
Combo Potential: This card can work seamlessly with abilities or cards that capitalize on creatures surviving damage or being untapped, thus potentially enabling powerful plays and synergy in the right deck.
Meta-Relevance: Given the right meta conditions, where specific colors dominate the play landscape, Karoo Meerkat’s color protection becomes exceptionally valuable, allowing it to serve as both an offensive and defensive asset.
How to beat
The Karoo Meerkat is an intriguing presence in the MTG arena, often appreciated for its agility and the ability to dodge certain spells through its signature ability. This can be quite a nuisance, particularly when it avoids targeted removal spells that ordinarily would keep the battlefield in check. However, overcoming the crafty Karoo Meerkat lies in changing your strategy to rely less on targeted spells and more towards board wipes that affect each creature, making individual protections irrelevant.
Board wipes or global effects like Wrath of God or Doomskar are perfect examples. These spells don’t target individual creatures and thus the meerkat’s evasive ability is rendered moot. It’s also worth considering the use of spells that require an opponent to make choices, for instance, Liliana’s Triumph, which prompts your adversary to sacrifice a creature. With such a strategy, the protective measures of Karoo Meerkat fall short, as it cannot protect itself from everything. Adapting to the circumstances and employing a diverse range of removal tactics can turn the tide in your favor when facing off against this wily meerkat in an MTG match.
Ultimately, it’s about understanding your opponent’s defenses and weaving a web of strategies that can adapt to any protective measures, ensuring dominance on the battlefield no matter the cunning creatures you encounter.
Cards like Karoo Meerkat
The Karoo Meerkat card is an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering. It shares characteristics with other one-mana creatures like Savannah Lions. Both cards are low-cost, aggressive options for the early game. But, unlike the Lions, Karoo Meerkat introduces a unique defensive ability that lets it dodge fatal damage at a small cost, enabling it to potentially outlive its vanilla counterparts.
Another card worth mentioning is the Isamaru, Hound of Konda. Isamaru has a similar cost-effective value, being a one-mana 2/2 creature. However, the steadfast meerkat stands out for its damage prevention ability, which Isamaru lacks. This gives Karoo Meerkat an edge in resilience and staying power on the battlefield.
Reflecting on these comparisons, Karoo Meerkat presents a reliable choice for players looking to add versatile early game creatures to their deck. Its ability to endure what would normally be lethal situations allows players to maintain a board presence, making it a valuable asset in MTG’s competitive scene.
Cards similar to Karoo Meerkat by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Karoo Meerkat MTG card by a specific set like Mirage, 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 Karoo Meerkat 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Karoo Meerkat has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
