Yawgmoth, Thran Physician MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Creature — Human Cleric
Abilities Proliferate,Protection
Power 2
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Yawgmoth excels in card advantage, drawing cards while diminishing opponent’s board presence.
  2. His proliferation ability accelerates resources, bolstering permanents like artifacts or planeswalkers.
  3. Instant-speed activation of Yawgmoth’s abilities provides strategic flexibility during gameplay.

Text of card

Protection from Humans Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card. , Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is a powerhouse when it comes to drawing cards. By sacrificing another creature, you not only weaken your opponent’s board but also draw a card, keeping your hand full and ready to respond to any situation.

Resource Acceleration: While Yawgmoth itself doesn’t produce mana, it accelerates your resources by proliferating your permanents with counters, such as charge counters on artifacts or loyalty counters on planeswalkers. This ability can rapidly advance your board state and potentially lead to a win much quicker.

Instant Speed: This card’s abilities can be activated at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond during your opponent’s turn. This opens up strategic options, allowing you to disrupt their plays or make pivotal moves without waiting for your own turn to roll around.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Yawgmoth, Thran Physician comes with an activation cost that involves discarding a card. This can be particularly tricky in gameplay situations where your hand is already depleted, forcing you to make difficult decisions about resource management.

Specific Mana Cost: This legendary creature requires both black mana and generic mana to be cast. The need for black mana can be restrictive, making Yawgmoth less flexible and potentially unusable in multicolor decks that do not have a strong black mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including two black, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician has a somewhat high mana cost for its abilities. Players may find that there are other creatures or spells that can provide similar or better effects for a lower investment, making it a less preferred choice in fast-paced games where mana efficiency is key.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is a flexible card that can be a substantial addition to any black color-focused deck. Its ability to proliferate and sacrifice creatures can benefit multiple strategies, from controlling the board to fueling graveyard synergies.

Combo Potential: This card offers great potential for combos, especially in decks that capitalize on +1/+1 counters or need a reliable way to convert creature presence into card draw and life point manipulation.

Meta-Relevance: The presence of Yawgmoth in the current meta can tilt games in your favor. Its ability to disrupt your opponents’ creature-based strategies while advancing your own game plan makes it a solid contender in various matchups.


How to beat

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician presents a unique challenge on the battlefield, with its potential to wreak havoc in Magic: The Gathering. This legendary creature card allows for card draw, proliferating negative counters, and sacrificing creatures, making it a multifaceted threat. To overcome Yawgmoth’s dominance, players should prioritize removing him from the battlefield as quickly as possible. To achieve this, consider employing instant-speed removal spells that can target him directly, such as Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile.

Spot removal aside, countering Yawgmoth when he first hits the stack is another effective strategy. This prevents your opponent from utilizing his powerful abilities and sets them back on their game plan. Cards like Counterspell or Negate are excellent choices for this line of play. Additionally, minimizing the number of creatures on your side can help to mitigate the impact of Yawgmoth’s sacrificing ability. This preserves your board state and reduces the card advantage that the Yawgmoth player could achieve through their sacrifice-and-draw engine.

In essence, timing your removal correctly and limiting targets for Yawgmoth’s abilities are key to thwarting this potent adversary. With careful planning and strategic play, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician can be managed, preserving your chances of victory on the mystic planes of Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician has made an undeniable impact on deck building in Magic: The Gathering. Its likeness is often measured against other formidable cards like Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Mikaeus offers undying to other creatures, providing resilience, much like Yawgmoth’s proliferation of -1/-1 counters. Yet, Yawgmoth’s ability to sacrifice another creature to draw a card adds a layer of card advantage that Mikaeus doesn’t directly provide.

In terms of card synergy and combo potential, Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder also enters the conversation. Endrek Sahr’s thrulls can fuel Yawgmoth’s appetite for sacrifice, creating a symbiotic relationship between the cards. However, Endrek Sahr relies on casting spells to create tokens, whereas Yawgmoth is more self-sufficient with his abilities.

Another comparable card is Sheoldred, Whispering One, which brings a different form of control to the table. While Sheoldred forces opponents to sacrifice creatures during their upkeep, Yawgmoth allows for targeted removal. Moreover, Sheoldred’s reanimation ability can’t be overlooked, a stark contrast to Yawgmoth’s potential card draw engine.

Ultimately, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician stands out with his versatile toolkit for controlling the board and drawing cards, asserting his unique role in the landscape of powerful MTG options.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - MTG Card versions
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - MTG Card versions
Sheoldred, Whispering One - MTG Card versions
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - Dark Ascension (DKA)
Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder - Time Spiral (TSP)
Sheoldred, Whispering One - New Phyrexia Promos (PNPH)

Cards similar to Yawgmoth, Thran Physician by color, type and mana cost

Hell's Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Rag Man - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Debaser - MTG Card versions
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Scandalmonger - MTG Card versions
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Demon of Catastrophes - MTG Card versions
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Gixian Puppeteer - MTG Card versions
Toxin Sliver - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Spirit - MTG Card versions
Nim Shambler - MTG Card versions
Bad Ass - MTG Card versions
Scourge of Numai - MTG Card versions
Hell's Caretaker - Chronicles (CHR)
Rag Man - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Phyrexian Debaser - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Slinking Skirge - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Gravedigger - The List (PLST)
Scandalmonger - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Urborg Shambler - Invasion (INV)
Whispering Shade - Odyssey (ODY)
Cabal Surgeon - Torment (TOR)
Filth - Judgment (JUD)
Demon of Catastrophes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Bold Plagiarist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Dirge Bat - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Gixian Puppeteer - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Toxin Sliver - Legions (LGN)
Vampiric Spirit - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nim Shambler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Bad Ass - Unhinged (UNH)
Scourge of Numai - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Yawgmoth, Thran Physician // Yawgmoth, Thran Physician MTG card by a specific set like Modern Horizons Art Series and Modern Horizons, 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 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician // Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Yawgmoth, Thran Physician // Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2023-01-13. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-06-05Modern Horizons Art SeriesAMH1 142015art_seriesborderlessMark Winters
22019-06-14Modern HorizonsMH1 1162015normalblackMark Winters
32021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 3361997normalblackMark Winters
42021-08-26Jumpstart: Historic HorizonsJ21 4052015normalblackMark Winters
52023-01-13Dominaria RemasteredDMR 3151997normalblackMark Winters
62023-01-13Dominaria RemasteredDMR 4312015normalborderlessGreg Staples
72023-01-13Dominaria RemasteredDMR 1102015normalblackMark Winters

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Yawgmoth, Thran Physician has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Yawgmoth, Thran Physician card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2021-03-19 Protection from Humans refers only to the creature type Human. As far as Yawgmoth is concerned, you, your opponents, and planeswalkers aren't Humans.
2021-03-19 You may activate Yawgmoth's first activated ability without choosing a target creature. You'll just draw a card. However, if you choose a target and it becomes illegal before the ability tries to resolve, the ability won't resolve and you won't draw a card.
2022-12-08 If a permanent has +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it, they’re removed in pairs as a state-based action until that permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it.
2022-12-08 Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it’s too late for anyone to respond.
2022-12-08 To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can’t choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them.
2022-12-08 You don’t have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since “any number” includes zero, you don’t have to choose any permanents at all, and you don’t have to choose any players at all.
2023-02-04 An ability that triggers "Whenever you proliferate" triggers even if you chose no permanents or players while doing so.
2023-02-04 If a permanent ever has both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it at the same time, they're removed in pairs as a state-based action so that the permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it.
2023-02-04 If a player or permanent has more than one kind of counter on it, and you choose for it to get additional counters, it must get one of each kind of counter it already has. You can't have it get just one kind of counter it already has and not the others.
2023-02-04 Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it's too late for anyone to respond.
2023-02-04 To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can choose any player who has a counter, including opponents. You can't choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them.
2023-02-04 You don't have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since "any number" includes zero, you don't have to choose any permanents at all, and you don't have to choose any players at all.

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