Louvaq, the Aberrant MTG Card
2019-11-07 - Number 95
2021-08-20 - Number 95
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Legendary Creature — Mutant |
| Abilities | Protection |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 4 |
Key Takeaways
- Louvaq offers card advantage, allowing you to outnumber opponents with more options in hand.
- Ability to activate at instant speed adds strategic depth, giving players crucial reaction time.
- Resource acceleration from Louvaq can lead to casting powerful spells early in the game.
Text of card
Protection from modified creatures. (Modified creatures have a power, toughness, or ability different than their printed version.) At the beginning of each player's end step, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature that player controls.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Louvaq, the Aberrant is designed to tilt the scales in your favor by offering substantial card advantage. This potent creature can fill your hand, thus fortifying your position and overwhelming opponents with a barrage of options.
Resource Acceleration: On top of card advantage, Louvaq excels in ramping up your resources. This card aligns exceptionally well with strategies focused on accelerating your mana development, enabling you to cast high-impact spells much earlier than usual.
Instant Speed: Louvaq’s abilities can be activated at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to threats or exploit windows of opportunity at the most opportune moments. This allows for strategic depth and can catch your adversaries off guard, disrupting their plans during crucial phases of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Louvaq, the Aberrant compels players to discard a creature card to harness its potential, which might deplete hand resources more rapidly than some players are comfortable with, especially in formats where every card counts.
Specific Mana Cost: To play Louvaq, the Aberrant, your deck must provide blue and red mana, which means this card is tailor-made for Izzet or multicolored decks, potentially excluding it from mono-colored or other two-color combinations that don’t include these specifics.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While a four mana cost isn’t excessive, in the scope of competitive play where efficiency is key, some feel that the card’s abilities don’t quite match up to its mana demands compared to other options available in the same cost bracket.
Reasons to Include Louvaq, the Aberrant in Your Collection
Versatility: Louvaq, the Aberrant is a card that offers diverse strategies, fitting into various deck archetypes that appreciate manipulating the graveyard and casting spells from unexpected zones. Its unique abilities allow for creative deck building around exile and graveyard dynamics.
Combo Potential: With its ability to cast creatures from exile, Louvaq, the Aberrant opens the door for powerful combo plays. It pairs well with mechanics that exile cards, such as suspend or foretell, setting up potential high-impact turns.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where graveyard interaction is key, Louvaq, the Aberrant holds significant relevance. Its capacity to disrupt opponents’ strategies while advancing your own makes it a formidable inclusion in a competitive collection.
How to beat
Louvaq, the Aberrant, has swiftly become a noteworthy challenge on the battlefield. Like any formidable card in Magic: The Gathering, finding the right counter strategy is crucial for maintaining the upper hand. With its ability to grow in power as you cast noncreature spells, it becomes essential to mitigate Louvaq’s strength by limiting spell casting or by incorporating creature-heavy deck strategies.
One approach to keep Louvaq in check is to use removal spells efficiently. Timing these spells can be critical, like casting them in response to a spell that would otherwise pump up Louvaq’s power. Additionally, cards that restrict the number of spells each player can cast per turn can significantly curb Louvaq’s advantage. Consider including creatures with abilities to neutralize or bypass Louvaq, ensuring they offer a robust and direct solution for this threat.
Focusing on maintaining board control with creatures rather than noncreature spells can also diminish Louvaq’s opportunities to grow. By emphasizing creatures that can engage or remove opponents’ creatures, you can effectively navigate around Louvaq’s menacing presence. Remember, while Louvaq can be a daunting card to face, strategic decisions and tailored deck construction can provide the keys to victory.
Cards like Louvaq, the Aberrant
Louvaq, the Aberrant, is a unique creature card in Magic: The Gathering that provides both control and advantage to players who utilize enchantment strategies. Reflecting on similar cards, Eidolon of Blossoms, for instance, enables card draw with its constellation ability every time an enchantment is played. Although Louvaq doesn’t offer card draw itself, it discourages opponents from targeting your enchantments, subtly shifting the dynamics of enchantment protection compared to Eidolon’s enchantment benefit approach.
Considering Thassa, God of the Sea, another enchantment creature, there is an evident contrast in utility. Thassa offers scrying and unblockable mechanics, focusing more on manipulating the game’s flow rather than the defensive stance Louvaq takes. Yet, both cards excel in decks where enchantments are pivotal. Courser of Kruphix provides a different angle still, allowing players to play lands from the top of their library, revealing the importance of enchantments in enabling versatile strategies, even if not as defensively oriented as Louvaq’s abilities.
When comparing these enchantment-focused cards, Louvaq, the Aberrant stands out for its protective qualities in Magic: The Gathering, offering a stout safeguard for enchantment-based decks and shaping how these cards impact overall gameplay and opponent interactions.
Cards similar to Louvaq, the Aberrant by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Louvaq, the Aberrant 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 Louvaq, the Aberrant 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 Louvaq, the Aberrant Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-11-07 and 2021-08-20. Illustrated by Cynthia Sheppard.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019 | CMB1 | 95 | 2015 | normal | black | Cynthia Sheppard | |
| 2 | 2021-08-20 | Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021 | CMB2 | 95 | 2015 | normal | black | Cynthia Sheppard |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Louvaq, the Aberrant card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2019-11-12 | A creature is modified if its text has been changed to modify its abilities, if it has gained or lost any abilities, or if a counter or an effect has set or changed its power or toughness. |
| 2019-11-12 | A creature isn’t modified if its controller, color, or types have been changed. |
| 2019-11-12 | A face-down permanent’s “printed” power and toughness are 2. It has no abilities. |
| 2019-11-12 | A token’s “printed” abilities, power, and toughness are the values it was created with. |
| 2019-11-12 | Certain kinds of cards (such as flip cards, adventurer cards, and double-, triple-, and four-faced cards) define alternative characteristics for those objects under certain circumstances. Using these alternative characteristics doesn’t count as being modified. |
| 2019-11-12 | If an effect only defined a * or ? symbol in a creature’s power or toughness, it isn’t modified. |
| 2019-11-12 | Most copy effects will cause a creature to be modified, although in some unusual cases the copy effect will leave it with the same power, toughness, and abilities. For example, a Runeclaw Bear that becomes a copy of Glory Seeker will, oddly enough, not be modified. |
