Childhood Horror MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Horror
Abilities	Flying,Threshold
Released	2001-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Odyssey
Set code	ODY
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	123
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Larry Elmore

Key Takeaways

Childhood Horror offers hand disruption and card draw for dual strategical advantage.
Its abilities can accelerate your plays, potentially altering the game’s pace.
Instant speed enables surprise plays, enhancing its tactical flexibility.

Text of card

Flying Threshold Childhood Horror gets +2/+2 and can't block. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Childhood Horror offers the ability to disrupt your opponent’s hand while also potentially drawing you a card. This dual utility ensures that you’re not only setting back your opponent’s strategy but also propelling your own card resources forward.

Resource Acceleration: Upon entering the battlefield, Childhood Horror may allow you to cheat out cards from your hand or graveyard based on the specific mechanics it features. This can effectively accelerate your resources, giving you access to more powerful plays earlier in the game.

Instant Speed: If Childhood Horror or its abilities can be activated at instant speed, this makes it a flexible threat. You can optimize your plays by waiting for the ideal moment, potentially during your opponent’s turn, to spring a surprise that could swing the game in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Childhood Horror demands you sacrifice a card from your hand, which can be problematic when you’re running low on options. This discard can impede maintaining the momentum you need to control the match.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring a precise alignment of mana types to cast, Childhood Horror may not seamlessly fit into a diverse range of decks, which could limit its play across various strategies and formats.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: This card comes at a substantial mana investment. When comparing its cost and impact to other cards available in the game, players might find Childhood Horror less economical, especially in a game where efficiency can be the key to victory.

Reasons to Include Childhood Horror in Your Collection

Versatility: Childhood Horror is a card that can seamlessly adapt to various play styles and deck themes. Its mechanics enable it to surprise opponents in both aggressive and control-based strategies.

Combo Potential: The eerie nature of this card connects well with synergistic elements that revolve around graveyard interaction or sacrificing creatures, allowing for intricate and potentially game-winning combos.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to potentially disrupt opponent’s early game plays, Childhood Horror can be a viable option in a meta heavy with creature-based strategies, granting it a secure place in sideboards and even main decks.

How to beat

Overcoming the dread instilled by Childhood Horror in Magic: The Gathering calls for strategic gameplay and precise card choices. This eerie creature, shrouded in nightmarish nostalgia, poses a unique challenge with its ability to evade threats with its skulk feature. It glides unseen past creatures with greater power, reminiscent of fears slipping through the cracks of our bravest defenses.

To counter this elusive threat effectively, players should consider deploying low-power creatures capable of blocking it without triggering its evasion ability. Cards that alter combat math or power levels, such as instant spells that temporarily buff your creature’s power during the attacker’s turn, are also viable options. Removal spells aren’t hindered by skulk, so instant-speed removal like Fatal Push or sorcery-speed declarations like Declaration in Stone can be key in pinpointing and exorcising this horror from the battlefield efficiently.

Strategically, sideboard plans should adapt to suite low-power blockers or additional removals if Childhood Horror is prevalent. The key lies in anticipation and adaptation, much like facing the abstract fears of our past that this card embodies. With careful planning, the card’s haunting presence can be silenced, leaving your opponent’s strategy vulnerable and your path to victory clear.

Cards like Childhood Horror

Childhood Horror adds a unique twist to the realm of creature cards with fear abilities in Magic: The Gathering. When compared to other creatures with fear, such as Duskmantle Prowler, Childhood Horror provides not just a way to evade blockers but also does it while potentially growing in power. Unlike the static stats of Duskmantle Prowler, Childhood Horror’s strength can increase under specific conditions, making it a variable threat depending on the game state.

Looking at Skittering Skirge, we find a creature that has a low mana cost like Childhood Horror, but the trade-off here is Skittering Skirge’s self-sacrifice trigger when another creature comes into play under your control. On the other end, Guul Draz Specter also offers evasion but adds a hand disruption ability, demanding a different type of advantage from the opponent’s diminishing resources, while Childhood Horror emphasizes growth on the battlefield itself.

The ability of Childhood Horror to adapt in-game makes it a formidable option amongst evasion-ability creatures. While others provide consistency, the dynamic potential of Childhood Horror to outgrow expectations can offer compelling options for deck builders focusing on evasive and scalable threats.

Cards similar to Childhood Horror by color, type and mana cost

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - MTG Card versions

Demon of Catastrophes - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Childhood Horror MTG card by a specific set like Odyssey, 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 Childhood Horror and other MTG cards: