Wayfaring Temple MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Elemental
Abilities Populate
Power *
Toughness *

Key Takeaways

  1. Wayfaring Temple excels in creature-heavy decks, offering a potential exponential increase in board power.
  2. Its effectiveness hinges on board state, demanding careful planning and strategic token generation.
  3. While powerful in the right context, it requires a balanced approach to mitigate its mana-cost limitations.

Text of card

Wayfaring Temple's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control. Whenever Wayfaring Temple deals combat damage to a player, populate. (Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of a creature token you control.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Wayfaring Temple’s unique power lies in its ability to swell in strength with each creature you control, potentially commanding a massive board presence. By attacking with a legion of creatures, Wayfaring Temple lets you populate—that is, create a copy of a token creature you control. This can quickly spiral into generating substantial card advantage as you amass an even larger army without having to expend additional cards from your hand.

Resource Acceleration: While the Wayfaring Temple itself doesn’t directly provide mana or treasure tokens, its populate ability can indirectly contribute to resource acceleration. By cloning tokens that have abilities to ramp or fix mana, such as those produced by cards like “Birds of Paradise” or “Elvish Mystic”, you can boost your mana resources in consequent turns. This enables you to play high-cost spells earlier than usual, effectively accelerating your resource curve.

Instant Speed: The capacity to populate at instant speed can be a significant tactical advantage, especially if you’re utilizing tokens with enter-the-battlefield effects. Even though Wayfaring Temple must attack to trigger its ability, instant speed shenanigans can be employed via other cards to make the most of the populate mechanic during unexpected moments, catching opponents off guard during their turn or at the end of theirs.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Wayfaring Temple’s ability to strengthen from the number of creatures you control is effective; however, it offers no value on entry unless you’ve established a strong board presence. Its reliance on having numerous other creatures to become a substantial threat requires careful planning and can lead to a lesser impact if you’re forced to reset the board or if Wayfaring Temple is dealt with upon summoning.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost of Wayfaring Temple is restrictive due to its specific need for one Green and one White mana. This can often deter players from including it in multi-colored decks that could benefit from its population mechanic. This necessity can be constricting for deck-building strategies, especially for those who wish to maintain a flexible mana base capable of accommodating a variety of spells.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although three mana isn’t the highest on the spectrum, for this creature’s initial 1/1 stats, the mana cost of Wayfaring Temple is comparatively high. The effectiveness of the card is entirely contingent upon the state of your board, making it less efficient in the early game where you’re less likely to have a significant number of creatures to augment its power and toughness. There are other three mana options in White and Green that can provide more immediate board impact or utility, making Wayfaring Temple’s inclusion a more situational choice rather than a staple.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Wayfaring Temple is a flexible addition to any deck that focuses on creature swarming strategies. Its power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control, making it an adaptable threat that grows alongside your board presence.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with token-generating abilities, increasing both its size and impact on the game. With the right setup, Wayfaring Temple can quickly become a massive creature that’s hard to deal with, especially when paired with abilities that populate tokens.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by creature-based aggro or midrange decks, Wayfaring Temple holds its ground. Its potential for exponential growth makes it a strong contender in games where establishing a dominant board presence is key to victory.


How to beat Wayfaring Temple

Wayfaring Temple poses a unique challenge on the battlefield with its power and toughness equal to the number of creatures you control, and its potential to create additional creature tokens. It truly shines in decks teeming with creatures, often seen in the Selesnya guild’s strategies, leveraging go-wide tactics. To effectively counter it, control strategies work best. Including board wipes like Wrath of God or Damnation can reset the board, negating the Temple’s size and token generation. Targeted removal, available in most colors—think Path to Exile or Doom Blade—is also effective. They remove the threat before it becomes insurmountable.

Moreover, combat tricks can turn the tables on the Wayfaring Temple by bolstering your own creatures or weakening your opponent’s during the attack or block phase. If your strategy tilts towards non-creature spells, consider using counter spells when the Temple is cast or enchantments that restrict creature abilities to keep the Temple from escalating. In the realm of creature-centric decks, prioritize removal effects attached to creatures, as these can maintain your board presence while addressing the impending threat of the Wayfaring Temple.


BurnMana Recommendations

Diving into the MTG world with cards like Wayfaring Temple can transform your gameplay. Whether you’re new to the battlefield or a seasoned player looking to optimize your creature strategy, this card’s ability to bolster your forces is undeniable. To truly harness its power, consider integrating it with a wide array of creatures and token generators. Think of Wayfaring Temple as a living, breathing entity that thrives amidst a bustling board. Immerse yourself in learning intricate combos and meta strategies that can make Wayfaring Temple a cornerstone of your deck. Visit BurnMana for a deeper understanding and to enhance your tactical prowess.


Cards like Wayfaring Temple

Wayfaring Temple is a unique creature card in Magic: The Gathering that finds its niche within the populate mechanic. Its power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control, akin to creatures such as Voice of Resurgence. Both capitalize on a wide board state but differ in their secondary abilities. While Voice of Resurgence deters opponents from casting spells on your turn, Wayfaring Temple offers a chance to create additional creature tokens when it deals combat damage to a player.

Analogous to Wayfaring Temple in its reliance on creature count is Wild Beastmaster. Upon attacking, it grants other creatures you control bonus power and toughness until end of turn, potentially resulting in an overwhelming attack. The Beastmaster, however, doesn’t directly contribute to increasing your creature count or offer board presence through token generation.

Phantom General is another card worth mentioning, which boosts each token creature’s power and toughness, enhancing the overall damage potential of your token strategy in a very different way than Wayfaring Temple.

To sum up, while Wayfaring Temple may not possess the immediate impact of some other creature-based cards, its populate mechanic synergy makes it a formidable presence in decks designed around creature tokens, allowing it to potentially produce massive swings in board state.

Voice of Resurgence - MTG Card versions
Wild Beastmaster - MTG Card versions
Phantom General - MTG Card versions
Voice of Resurgence - Dragon's Maze (DGM)
Wild Beastmaster - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Phantom General - Return to Ravnica (RTR)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Wayfaring Temple MTG card by a specific set like Return to Ravnica and Modern Masters 2017, 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 Wayfaring Temple and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Wayfaring Temple Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2012-10-05 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12012-10-05Return to RavnicaRTR 2092003normalblackPeter Mohrbacher
22017-03-17Modern Masters 2017MM3 2022015normalblackPeter Mohrbacher
32019-08-23Commander 2019C19 2082015normalblackPeter Mohrbacher
42019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 15092015normalblackPeter Mohrbacher
52020-09-26The ListPLST MM3-2022015normalblackPeter Mohrbacher

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Wayfaring Temple has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-04-15 Any “as
-his creature] enters the battlefield” or “
-his creature] enters the battlefield with” abilities of the new token will work.
2013-04-15 If you choose to copy a creature token that’s a copy of another creature, the new creature token will copy the characteristics of whatever the original token is copying.
2013-04-15 If you control no creature tokens when you populate, nothing will happen.
2013-04-15 The new creature token copies the characteristics of the original token as stated by the effect that put the original token onto the battlefield.
2013-04-15 The new token doesn’t copy whether the original token is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any noncopy effects that have changed its power, toughness, color, and so on.
2013-04-15 You can choose any creature token you control for populate. If a spell or ability puts a token onto the battlefield under your control and then instructs you to populate (as Coursers’ Accord does), you may choose to copy the token you just created, or you may choose to copy another creature token you control.
2017-03-14 As long as Wayfaring Temple is on the battlefield, its first ability will count itself, so it’ll be at least 1/1.
2017-03-14 The ability that defines Wayfaring Temple’s power and toughness works in all zones, not just the battlefield.

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