Nylea's Forerunner MTG Card


Trample ability improves creature-based decks for a consistently threatening board presence. Instant-speed interactions paired with trample can pivot the game towards sudden victories. Four mana cost requires strategic planning to optimize its impactful board presence.
Nylea's Forerunner - Theros Beyond Death
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityCommon
TypeEnchantment Creature — Beast
Abilities Trample
Released2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set nameTheros Beyond Death
Set codeTHB
Power 5
Toughness 3
Number186
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byChristopher Burdett

Text of card

Trample Other creatures you control have trample.

Where its feet tread, the thunder of many others will follow.


Cards like Nylea's Forerunner

Nylea’s Forerunner is a distinctive creature in MTG, championing the heralds of the behemoths with its trample-giving ability. With parallels to cards like Primal Rage, which grants your creatures trample permanently, Nylea’s Forerunner carves out its niche by being a creature itself. Primal Rage lacks the board presence that the Forerunner offers, opting instead for an enchantment-based strategy.

Comparatively, Thunderfoot Baloth provides a similar effect, bolstering your creatures with trample when you achieve the formidable state. While it also grants a power and toughness boost, it comes with a higher mana requirement than Nylea’s Forerunner. Affinity with the wilds finds another ally in Archetype of Aggression, stripping your opponents’ creatures of trample and empowering your own. Despite being a smaller creature, it offers a dual advantage in this strategic manner.

When assessing the strategic advantages of each card, Nylea’s Forerunner stands strong among its MTG kin. It’s not just a boon for creatures currently on the battlefield but also a substantial animalistic force in its own right.

Primal Rage - MTG Card versions
Thunderfoot Baloth - MTG Card versions
Archetype of Aggression - MTG Card versions
Primal Rage - MTG Card versions
Thunderfoot Baloth - MTG Card versions
Archetype of Aggression - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nylea’s Forerunner is a beacon for strategies that capitalize on creature-heavy libraries, offering an impactful form of card advantage. Players can quickly turn the tide of a game by leveraging its trample ability to ensure damage is dealt effectively, allowing creature-based strategies to maintain pressure on the opponent.

Resource Acceleration: Though it doesn’t directly generate additional mana or tokens, the Forerunner accelerates a player’s influence over the board by making each creature more threatening. This type of resource acceleration pertains to the quality of available resources, rather than the quantity, which can be crucial in mid to late-game scenarios where impactful plays are necessary.

Instant Speed: While Nylea’s Forerunner itself is not an instant-speed spell, it encourages a deck build that can accommodate the flexibility and surprise factor of instant speed interactions. By enhancing creatures with trample, players can use instant-speed spells to remove blockers or amplify damage during combat, effectively turning the Forerunner’s ability into sudden and unexpected victories.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Nylea’s Forerunner doesn’t technically require you to discard a card, it’s essential to acknowledge that its primary function is as a support creature. Therefore, it may not always positively contribute to your hand’s value, especially if you are in need of immediate board presence or answers.

Specific Mana Cost: Nylea’s Forerunner demands a specific mana arrangement to cast — three generic and one green. Deck types not heavy on green mana sources could struggle to meet this requirement consistently, possibly hindering the card’s playability across various deck strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, this creature’s impact on the board is expected to be significant. However, in a metagame that values efficiency, the cost of summoning Nylea’s Forerunner competes with other impactful four-mana creatures and spells that may offer immediate effects or greater versatility.


Reasons to Include Nylea’s Forerunner in Your Collection

Versatility: Nylea’s Forerunner is a dynamic card capable of enhancing a wide array of green-focused decks. Its trample ability ensures that your creatures are a constant threat, by allowing excess damage to be dealt to your opponent even if your creatures are blocked.

Combo Potential: This card greatly amplifies combos that rely on creature damage. By granting trample to all your creatures, Nylea’s Forerunner increases the efficacy of damage-increasing effects or any strategy that leverages the presence of numerous creatures on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that leans towards creature-based combat, Nylea’s Forerunner stands out by enabling smaller creatures to push through substantial damage and making large creatures even harder to effectively block, thus ensuring your deck’s competitiveness in various matchups.


How to beat

Nylea’s Forerunner is a robust creature card that can sharpen any green deck’s offensive edge in MTG. This card bolsters other creatures with trample, a valuable ability when ensuring damage seeps through tight defenses. But as with all cards, it can be tackled strategically. To offset the advantages of Nylea’s Forerunner, focusing on creature control is crucial. This could involve countering the card before it hits the battlefield, using spells like Essence Scatter or utilizing removals such as Murder to eliminate it after it’s played.

Furthermore, it’s key to manage the board. Since Nylea’s Forerunner gives other creatures trample, sweepers like Shatter the Sky can be particularly effective in resetting the playing field. Keeping the creature count low undermines the Forerunner’s impact, making it less of a threat. Direct damage spells and targeted exile effects can also provide answers to this creature before its trample ability can turn the tide of battle.

By prioritizing removals, countering key spells, and maintaining control of the board state, you can mitigate the influence that Nylea’s Forerunner has and maintain the upper hand in your MTG matches.


BurnMana Recommendations

Drawing upon the insights into Nylea’s Forerunner, enhancing your MTG gameplay is all about strategic implementation. Whether you’re reinforcing your creature lineup or crafting the perfect green deck, the Forerunner could be a game-changer. It’s not just about wielding a card with trample ability, but integrating it into a synergistic strategy that maximizes your board state’s potential. Aim for deck diversity and control to mitigate any drawbacks. Delving into MTG’s complexities is what makes each match unique. Grab the opportunity to refine your deck with Nylea’s Forerunner and embrace its strengths. Dive deeper and optimize your play with us at BurnMana.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nylea's Forerunner MTG card by a specific set like Theros Beyond Death, 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 Nylea's Forerunner and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nylea's Forerunner has restrictions

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