Verdant Catacombs MTG Card
2009-10-02 - Number 229
2015-10-02 - Number 23
2017-03-17 - Number 249
2020-05-29 - Number 3
2020-09-25 - Number 8
2021-06-18 - Number 440
2021-06-18 - Number 479
2021-06-18 - Number 260
2021-06-19 - Number 260s
2002-06-24 - Number 91403
| Card sets | Released in 10 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
Key Takeaways
- Verdant Catacombs thins decks for better draw quality and mitigates flood risk effectively.
- Instant speed activation provides strategic advantage against land hate and shuffle effects.
- While potent, it requires black or green mana and has a considerable activation cost.
Text of card
, Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Verdant Catacombs: Search your library for a Swamp or Forest card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Verdant Catacombs enables efficient deck thinning, allowing for a slightly higher likelihood of drawing impactful spells rather than additional lands as the game progresses.
Resource Acceleration: This card provides immediate access to the needed land type, which effectively accelerates your resources and can impact the board state earlier than usual.
Instant Speed: The flexibility of activating Verdant Catacombs at instant speed enables strategic plays, like dodging land hate spells or fetching in response to deck shuffling effects, to maintain your strategy’s effectiveness uninterrupted.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Verdant Catacombs allows you to search for a specific land, it sacrifices immediate board presence, which can be detrimental in fast-paced games where every card and turn counts.
Specific Mana Cost: Verdant Catacombs requires a black or green mana source to maximize its potential. This restricts the card to decks that can produce these mana types, potentially excluding it from other strategic builds.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite being a powerful tool in mana fixing, it’s essential to weigh Verdant Catacombs against its relatively high cost. Securing a spot in a deck for this card could mean foregoing other options that provide immediate in-game benefits.
Reasons to Include Verdant Catacombs in Your Collection
Versatility: Verdant Catacombs seamlessly integrates into multiple deck archetypes, particularly those requiring specific land types. It excels in fetching the necessary forest or swamp, ensuring land-based strategies are consistently supported.
Combo Potential: This card is a powerhouse in landfall decks or strategies revolving around the graveyard. It can easily be the missing piece that synergizes with other cards to unlock powerful combinations and dominate the game board.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where land interaction is key, Verdant Catacombs stands out as a staple fetch land. Its ability to shape the battlefield to your advantage and maintain mana consistency is a game changer, keeping decks competitive in fast-paced environments.
How to beat
Verdant Catacombs stands out as a crucial land card, offering tremendous value by sifting through a player’s deck to fetch a Swamp or Forest card. Its strategic importance in fetching the exact mana needed can enable a player to stabilize their mana base and maintain consistent gameplay, especially in multicolor decks, which makes facing it a challenge.
To effectively counteract this card, focus on land destruction or denial strategies. Cards like Blood Moon can hamper its ability to provide color fixing by turning nonbasic lands into basic Mountains, effectively deterring players from utilizing such fetch lands. Applying graveyard disruption in the form of cards like Ashiok, Dream Render, which prevents search and shuffles the graveyard into the library, can also mitigate the benefits Verdant Catacombs provides.
Another angle is to take advantage of the life loss incurred by its activation. Utilizing effects that punish the opponent for fetching lands like Ob Nixilis, Unshackled or Leonin Arbiter can transform an opponent’s search into a liability. By understanding the venues through which Verdant Catacombs engages with the battlefield, players can tailor their decks to mitigate its advantages, making this formidable card less of a threat.
Cards like Verdant Catacombs
Verdant Catacombs stands out as a prestigious land card in Magic: The Gathering, offering a reliable way to fine-tune your mana base. It’s a member of the iconic fetch land cycle, notably compared to cards like Misty Rainforest. Both allow players to search for specific land types, aiding in color fixing. Verdant Catacombs focuses on Forests or Swamps, while Misty Rainforest opts for Forests or Islands, tailoring to different deck needs.
Another peer in this prestigious group is Windswept Heath. It shares the essential fetch mechanism but searches for Plains or Forests, complementing a distinct array of MTG strategies. Though all fetch lands offer similar utility, Verdant Catacombs is often favored in decks that require swift access to black or green mana.
Assessing its place within the land card hierarchy, Verdant Catacombs offers exceptional versatility for tournament play. Its ability to thin out the deck and secure vital mana without missing tempo makes it a staple in competitive formats, solidifying its status beyond its counterparts in strategic deck building.
Cards similar to Verdant Catacombs by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Verdant Catacombs MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Zendikar, 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 Verdant Catacombs 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 Magic products
Printings
The Verdant Catacombs Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2009-10-02 and 2021-06-19. Illustrated by 4 different artists.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 91403 | 2015 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs | ||
| 2 | 2009-10-02 | Zendikar | ZEN | 229 | 2003 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs | |
| 3 | 2015-10-02 | Zendikar Expeditions | EXP | 23 | 2015 | normal | black | Ryan Yee | |
| 4 | 2017-03-17 | Modern Masters 2017 | MM3 | 249 | 2015 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs | |
| 5 | 2020-05-29 | Secret Lair: Ultimate Edition | SLU | 3 | 2015 | normal | black | Sam Burley | |
| 6 | 2020-09-25 | Zendikar Rising Expeditions | ZNE | 8 | 2015 | normal | black | Alayna Danner | |
| 7 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 2 | MH2 | 440 | 1997 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs | |
| 8 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 2 | MH2 | 479 | 2015 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs | |
| 9 | 2021-06-18 | Modern Horizons 2 | MH2 | 260 | 2015 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs | |
| 10 | 2021-06-19 | Modern Horizons 2 Promos | PMH2 | 260s | 2015 | normal | black | Vance Kovacs |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Verdant Catacombs has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
