Geomancer's Gambit MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers card advantage through land transformation while maintaining hand size by drawing a card.
  2. Accelerates resource access, enabling color-specific mana fixing and strategic gameplay.
  3. Instant-speed limitations balance its power by preventing hasty, inopportune plays.

Text of card

Destroy target land. Its controller may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle their library. Draw a card.

Telepathy changes minds, necromancy changes lives, but geomancy changes the world.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Geomancer’s Gambit not only transforms a land, which can disrupt your opponent’s mana base, but it also allows you to draw a card. This ensures that you’re not falling behind in card count and maintains pressure on your opponent by replacing itself in your hand.

Resource Acceleration: By turning any land into a basic land, Geomancer’s Gambit accelerates your own resource availability. This can be particularly beneficial if you use it on your own land, ensuring you get the color of mana you need most while staying ahead of your opponent in mana availability.

Instant Speed: While Geomancer’s Gambit is a sorcery, it’s important to note the strategic advantage of being able to play it on your main phase. This allows you to see how your opponent’s board develops and then decide on the best land to target, without the pressure of making the decision in haste.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Geomancer’s Gambit does not specifically require you to discard a card, cards with these types of requirements can be a setback when you’re holding a hand with key pieces you’d rather keep.

Specific Mana Cost: Geomancer’s Gambit has a mana cost that includes both red and colorless mana. This may not fit easily into multi-colored decks or those that don’t have a strong red mana base, potentially limiting its versatility in certain strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The card costs three mana, which may compete with other pivotal three-mana spells you want to play. When taking into account the value of land destruction and a basic land fetch, it might not always present the most mana-efficient option, especially if the opponent does not heavily rely on nonbasic lands.


Reasons to Include Geomancer’s Gambit in Your Collection

Versatility: Geomancer’s Gambit isn’t just your average land destruction card; it allows you to replace the destroyed land with a basic land from your library, helping you to fix your mana while disrupting your opponent.

Combo Potential: This card works well in landfall decks where you can benefit from the land entering the battlefield, or with cards that reward you for destroying your own lands for strategic advantages.

Meta-Relevance: With an ever-evolving competitive scene, having Geomancer’s Gambit can give you an edge against decks that rely on special lands to execute their strategy. It’s a smart choice for a metagame packed with critical nonbasic lands.


How to beat Geomancer’s Gambit

Geomancer’s Gambit can be a game-changer in the nuanced gameplay of Magic: The Gathering. This red sorcery not only allows a player to destroy a land but also replaces it with a basic land, providing a subtle deck-thinning effect, and it draws a card, all of this for three mana. Commanding such transformative power on the battlefield, it might appear challenging to counter, but certain strategies can prove effective.

Players looking to outmaneuver Geomancer’s Gambit should focus on cards that counteract land destruction or benefit from land sacrifices. For instance, the use of instant-speed land regeneration spells preserves your precious mana base when opponents attempt a Gambit. Additionally, integrating cards that rapidly bounce lands back to your hand can mitigate the effect of land destruction, ensuring you don’t lose tempo.

Moreover, embracing strategies revolving around land sacrifice can turn an opponent’s Geomancer’s Gambit to your advantage. Cards that trigger landfall abilities or creatures that grow stronger when a land hits the graveyard can be beneficial. This way, a card designed to disrupt your play could very well become a catalyst for your victory in the diverse world of Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Geomancer's Gambit

Geomancer’s Gambit carves its niche in the landscape of land transformation spells within MTG. It echoes the fundamental mechanics found in cards like Seismic Shift and Tectonic Rift, which also deal with land manipulation. However, the Gambit distinguishes itself by allowing the player to replace the targeted land with a basic land card from their library, ensuring a land drop remains consistent after the swap.

When examining Chandra’s Ignition, a card that can shape the battlefield, we observe it too changes the game dynamics but via a different route. Chandra’s Ignition doesn’t interact directly with lands but instead focuses on a creature-based strategy to clear the board. Geomancer’s Gambit offers a more nuanced option, affecting the mana base without harming creatures. Raze is another similar card focused on land destruction; it comes at a lower cost but lacks the land-replacing benefit of Geomancer’s Gambit, which could be crucial for maintaining board presence.

While each of these cards has a distinct impact on the game, Geomancer’s Gambit’s unique offering of controlled land disruption paired with the ability to land tutor secures its position as a valuable strategic option for players looking to tactically manipulate the land resources within MTG.

Seismic Shift - MTG Card versions
Tectonic Rift - MTG Card versions
Chandra's Ignition - MTG Card versions
Raze - MTG Card versions
Seismic Shift - Dominaria (DOM)
Tectonic Rift - Magic 2012 (M12)
Chandra's Ignition - Magic Origins (ORI)
Raze - Urza's Saga (USG)

Cards similar to Geomancer's Gambit by color, type and mana cost

Stone Rain - MTG Card versions
Game of Chaos - MTG Card versions
Evaporate - MTG Card versions
Pillage - MTG Card versions
Goblin War Cry - MTG Card versions
Steam Blast - MTG Card versions
Goblin Offensive - MTG Card versions
Desert Sandstorm - MTG Card versions
Arc Lightning - MTG Card versions
Search for Survivors - MTG Card versions
Panic Attack - MTG Card versions
Searing Rays - MTG Card versions
Rupture - MTG Card versions
Tundra Fumarole - MTG Card versions
Browbeat - MTG Card versions
Anger of the Gods - MTG Card versions
Erratic Explosion - MTG Card versions
Threaten - MTG Card versions
Sizzle - MTG Card versions
Hammer of Bogardan - MTG Card versions
Stone Rain - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Game of Chaos - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Evaporate - Homelands (HML)
Pillage - Arena League 2000 (PAL00)
Goblin War Cry - Portal Second Age (P02)
Steam Blast - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
Goblin Offensive - Urza's Saga (USG)
Desert Sandstorm - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Arc Lightning - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
Search for Survivors - Prophecy (PCY)
Panic Attack - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Searing Rays - Invasion (INV)
Rupture - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Tundra Fumarole - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Browbeat - Masters 25 (A25)
Anger of the Gods - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Erratic Explosion - Planechase 2012 (PC2)
Threaten - Tenth Edition (10E)
Sizzle - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Hammer of Bogardan - Eighth Edition (8ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Geomancer's Gambit MTG card by a specific set like Modern Horizons 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 Geomancer's Gambit and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Geomancer's Gambit Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2021-08-26. Illustrated by Adam Paquette.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-06-14Modern HorizonsMH1 1252015normalblackAdam Paquette
22019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 9462015normalblackAdam Paquette
32020-09-26The ListPLST MH1-1252015normalblackAdam Paquette
42021-08-26Jumpstart: Historic HorizonsJ21 4522015normalblackAdam Paquette

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Geomancer's Gambit has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-06-14 If the target land is an illegal target by the time Geomancer’s Gambit tries to resolve, the spell doesn’t resolve. Its controller doesn’t search for a basic land card and you don’t draw a card. If the target is legal but not destroyed (most likely because it has indestructible), its controller does search and you do draw.

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