Orcish Mine MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment — Aura |
| Abilities | Enchant |
| Released | 1995-10-01 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Homelands |
| Set code | HML |
| Number | 78 |
| Frame | 1993 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Kaja Foglio |
Text of card
When Orcish Mine comes into play, put three ore counters on it. During your upkeep and whenever target land becomes tapped, remove an ore counter from Orcish Mine. When the last ore counter is removed from Orcish Mine, destroy the land Orcish Mine enchants; Orcish Mine deals 2 damage to that land's controller.
Cards like Orcish Mine
Orcish Mine, a relic from older sets of Magic: The Gathering, adds an interesting dynamic to the game by enabling players to destroy target land and create resource denial. It finds its peers in cards like Ice Storm and Stone Rain, both of which also focus on land disruption. Unlike Orcish Mine, Ice Storm and Stone Rain don’t require counters to delay their effects, providing immediate land destruction.
Comparatively, Orcish Mine’s uniqueness lies in its ability to not only destroy the land but also to chip away at the opponent’s life total with damage counters. This multi-turn strategy differs from the one-off destructive nature of Flashfires, another land-specific card that removes Plains. However, Flashfires can affect multiple lands in one go, contrasting with Orcish Mine’s single-target approach.
Overall, while there are several cards in MTG’s vast library with the goal of disrupting opponent’s mana base, Orcish Mine stands out for its prolonged threat. It functions not only as a land removal tool but also as a potential source of repeated damage, highlighting the strategic depth and variety available to players within the game.
Cards similar to Orcish Mine by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Orcish Mine enables a steady depletion of your opponent’s resources. By placing a mining counter on one of their lands, you initiate a countdown that can potentially lead to a favorable shift in card advantage as their options diminish.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly producing mana or tokens, Orcish Mine indirectly accelerates your resources by constraining your opponent’s. Each counter brings you closer to crippling a key land, effectively setting them back and giving you the upper hand to develop your board unperturbed.
Instant Speed: Although Orcish Mine enters the battlefield as an enchantment at sorcery speed, its ability to affect the game progresses at the beginning of each of your upkeeps, which can cause opponents to hastily respond or adjust their strategy during their own turns. This disruption, akin to having an effect at instant speed, can give you strategic leverage as the game progresses.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Orcish Mine requires a specific combination of cards to be effective, making it less versatile. If you don’t control a land with the right enchantment, this card can become a dead draw.
Specific Mana Cost: Orcish Mine’s activation necessitates a particular blend of mana, including both red and colorless, which might not align with all deck strategies. Balancing mana resources to play it effectively can be challenging.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that demands a commitment of three mana, including two of which must be red, Orcish Mine competes with many other impactful cards in the same mana range. Assessing its value against other cards in your deck is crucial.
Reasons to Include Orcish Mine in Your Collection
Versatility: Orcish Mine is a unique card that can be integrated into decks that aim to disrupt land-based strategies. It has the ability to target an opponent’s land and eventually destroy it, giving you an edge in resource control.
Combo Potential: This card can synergize with abilities that trigger upon destroying permanents or dealing damage, such as with “dingers” or “land destruction” archetypes, creating powerful interactions in your gameplay.
Meta-Relevance: In a metagame where lands matter—be they vital utility lands or mana-intensive strategies—Orcish Mine can serve as a crucial tool to dismantle those plans and tilt the balance in your favor.
How to beat
Orcish Mine is a unique card that presents quite the challenge in the world of MTG. Landing on the battlefield, it attaches to an opponent’s land and promises a ticking clock of damage with every passing turn. The key strategy against Orcish Mine is to minimize its impact before it depletes its counters. One effective tactic is dealing with the Mine directly through enchantment removal. Various spells like Naturalize or Disenchant can dispatch it quickly, ensuring the land it clings to remains a beneficial asset rather than a liability.
Another consideration is the role of counter magic. By using spells like Negate or Counterspell at the right moment, you can prevent the Mine from ever taking root. This preemptive approach can be crucial, especially when mana conservation is vital for your game plan. Should Orcish Mine sneak through, utilizing cards that can replenish or untap your lands can help mitigate the loss, turning the potential decrement into a mere setback while you maintain the upper hand.
Whether reactive or proactive, handling Orcish Mine effectively means incorporating a blend of enchantment interaction and strategic foresight, ensuring the explosive potential of this card never reaches its full detonation.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Orcish Mine MTG card by a specific set like Homelands, 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 Orcish Mine and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Orcish Mine has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |