Oni of Wild Places MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Oni of Wild Places provides an interesting dynamic in terms of card advantage. By returning a red creature to your hand at the beginning of your upkeep, you’re effectively able to replay creatures with valuable enter-the-battlefield effects, making every turn potentially more potent.

Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly generating additional mana, the ability to bounce creatures back to your hand can synergize with cards that grant bonuses upon being cast. This can indirectly lead to accelerated resource utilization, as the Oni helps you make the most of your red creatures, over and over again.

Instant Speed: While the Oni itself is not an instant, it shapes your playstyle to favor instant speed actions. Knowing that you can replay a creature next turn, you may opt to leave mana open for instant-speed interactions, making your strategy more flexible and responsive to threats or opportunities as they occur during a match.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike other creatures that offer beneficial effects with no strings attached, Oni of Wild Places comes with the stipulation that you must return a red creature you control to your hand during your upkeep. This can disrupt your board presence and slow down your momentum, especially when you’re trying to establish a strong lineup of creatures for an aggressive strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Sitting at a specific mana cost of six, which includes four generic and two red mana, Oni of Wild Places demands a significant commitment to red mana sources. This can make it a less flexible option for decks that span multiple colors or need to manage their mana development carefully.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of six mana to get Oni of Wild Places onto the battlefield, it’s considered to have a high mana investment compared to other creatures in the six-mana slot. Cards like Inferno Titan or other high-impact red creatures often provide more immediate board impact or additional value, which can outclass Oni of Wild Places in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.

Reasons to Include Oni of Wild Places in Your Collection

Versatility: Oni of Wild Places offers players the flexibility to manipulate their mana curve effectively. This card, with its ability to return a red creature to your hand, allows for reusing enter-the-battlefield effects, or saving your creatures from imminent threats.

Combo Potential: This demon’s ability to bounce creatures back to your hand each turn sets the stage for powerful combos. It synergizes with cards that have impactful enter-the-battlefield triggers, thus providing a continuous loop of advantage.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where board wipes and control decks abound, Oni of Wild Places can give red decks a resilience they often lack, allowing players to replay their key creatures and maintain board presence despite opponents’ attempts to clear the board.

How to Beat

The Oni of Wild Places is a unique card in the world of Magic the Gathering, offering strategic advantages to players who can harness its power effectively. But, like all cards, it has its vulnerabilities, and understanding them can be key to overcoming this formidable creature. To counter the Oni, it’s essential to disrupt the advantage it grants. Since the Oni returns a red creature to its owner’s hand at the beginning of their upkeep, aim to limit the number of red creatures on the battlefield. Control spells, removals, and counterspells are efficient ways to keep the board clear and reduce the Oni’s impact.

Players can also leverage exile effects or utilize creature abilities that prevent the opponent from benefiting from returning creatures to their hand. Moreover, employing cards that restrict or penalize the opponent when they play creatures repeatedly can turn the Oni’s ability into a disadvantage. Tactics should be focused on neutralizing the Oni before its bouncing ability can be used to the opponent’s benefit or constructing a board state that is resilient to its influence. This way, the Oni of Wild Places becomes less of a threat and more of a manageable challenge during gameplay.