Lightning Colt MTG Card
2019-11-07 - Number 57
2021-08-20 - Number 57
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Instant Creature — Horse |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
Key Takeaways
- Provides card advantage and resource acceleration, crucial for maintaining game momentum.
- Instant speed casting adds tactical flexibility to both attack and defense strategies.
- Demands specific color mana and involves a strategic discard, limiting versatility.
Text of card
When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to any target.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Lightning Colt provides a significant edge by potentially drawing you a card when it enters the battlefield. This can keep your hand filled with options as you continue to advance your game plan.
Resource Acceleration: The efficiency of Lightning Colt can lead to resource acceleration, enabling you to deploy other threats or answers ahead of schedule. Its relatively low mana cost paired with its impact on the board helps you stay ahead of the curve.
Instant Speed: Lightning Colt’s ability to be cast at instant speed gives you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s moves, making it a versatile tool in both offensive and defensive strategies. The tactical advantage of surprise and adaptability cannot be overstated.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: To unleash the full potential of Lightning Colt, you’ll need to part with another card from your hand. This can be quite the sacrifice, especially when your hand size is dwindling and every card counts.
Specific Mana Cost: Lightning Colt’s power comes at the price of a specific color combination, demanding a dedicated energy source. This could potentially restrict its integration into a variety of decks, confining it to those that can reliably produce the required mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana cost to bring Lightning Colt into play is substantial when weighed against alternate options. For the mana investment, players may expect a more immediate impact on the game state, making Lightning Colt a debatable choice in fast-paced matches.
Reasons to Include Lightning Colt in Your Collection
Versatility: Lightning Colt offers a flexible role in numerous deck builds, thanks to its low casting cost and the direct damage it can deal. It serves well in aggressive decks that aim to lower the opponent’s life total swiftly.
Combo Potential: This card can be a key component in combos, especially when synergizing with cards that benefit from instant and sorcery spells or triggering prowess-like abilities.
Meta-Relevance: With a meta that constantly shifts towards creature-based strategies, Lightning Colt’s ability to remove small creatures or finish off weakened opponents keeps it relevant. Plus, its quick pace can outmaneuver slower, more controlling decks.
How to beat Lightning Colt
Lightning Colt is a dynamic creature card that brings a spark to the battlefield with its haste attribute, enabling it to strike immediately without giving an opponent time to prepare. However, overcoming this card is all about timing and understanding the tempo of your opponent’s play. Counteracting creatures with swift abilities such as Lightning Colt hinges on keeping your mana untapped and ready to cast instant-speed removal or bounce spells when your opponent least expects it.
Utilize cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile to efficiently remove Lightning Colt before it deals damage. Alternatively, cards such as Unsummon can return it to the owner’s hand, negating its haste advantage for the moment and setting up for a larger counter-strategy. Cards that can alter combat math, like Thragtusk, can help stabilize your life total and simultaneously put up a blocker that outweighs the Colt’s power. Hence, staying one step ahead and being ready to respond to threats quickly proves to be the key in turning the tables against Lightning Colt.
After all, Magic: The Gathering is a game of wits and strategy, and while the speed of Lightning Colt is formidable, it’s not unbeatable. Careful planning and the right responses can easily put you back in the running for control of the game.
Cards like Lightning Colt
Lightning Colt blazes its way into the roster of red creatures in Magic: The Gathering, drawing parallels to other swift and impactful cards. Its likeness can be drawn to cards such as Monastery Swiftspear, which also boasts haste and has the prowess ability, enabling it to gain power whenever a noncreature spell is played. While Lightning Colt doesn’t have prowess, it compensates with a potential to become larger over time.
Comparatively, Stormchaser Mage presents itself as a creature of a similar vein, flying with haste and harnessing the power of spells with prowess. Although its casting cost includes both red and blue mana, its immediate board impact and evasive flying ability make it a card to consider alongside Lightning Colt. Conversely, the Colt requires only red mana and stands out with its straightforward usage and raw potential for growth without dependency on spells.
Assessing them side by side, Lightning Colt appeals to players seeking a simple yet growing threat that can be played early and scale up as the game progresses, holding its own in a more creature-centric deck, unlike its prowess-laden counterparts which thrive in spell-heavy strategies.
Cards similar to Lightning Colt by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Lightning Colt MTG card by a specific set like Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019 and Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021, 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 Lightning Colt 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
Printings
The Lightning Colt Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-11-07 and 2021-08-20. Illustrated by Christine Lee Risinger.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019 | CMB1 | 57 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Christine Lee Risinger | |
| 2 | 2021-08-20 | Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021 | CMB2 | 57 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Christine Lee Risinger |
