Ox of Agonas MTG Card
Card sets | Released in 7 setsSee all |
Mana cost | |
Converted mana cost | 5 |
Rarity | Mythic |
Type | Creature — Ox |
Abilities | Escape |
Power | 4 |
Toughness | 2 |
Text of card
When Ox of Agonas enters the battlefield, discard your hand, then draw three cards. Escape—, Exile eight other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.) Ox of Agonas escapes with a +1/+1 counter on it.
Cards like Ox of Agonas
Ox of Agonas is a powerful staple in red decks within MTG, offering both card advantage and a boost in graveyard utility. It shares a kinship with creatures like Bedlam Reveler, with both cards providing significant card draw upon entering the battlefield. However, the Ox distinguishes itself with Escape, a mechanic that allows for a comeback from the graveyard, whereas Bedlam Reveler lacks such recursion.
Seasoned Pyromancer is another comparable card, which also facilitates card draw and plays into a graveyard strategy with its own discard and draw dynamics. Although it doesn’t have the raw drawing power of the Ox, it compensates with the creation of elemental tokens. A more subtle comparison could be drawn with the Elder Gargaroth. While not directly related in mechanics, the Gargaroth aligns in mana cost and also provides a choice of valuable modes upon attacking or blocking, offering versatility in contrast to the direct card draw of the Ox.
Each of these cards furnishes red and red-adjacent decks with different modes of advantage, yet Ox of Agonas stands out among them for its ability to affect the game state both from the battlefield and beyond it.
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Ox of Agonas. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
# | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
---|---|---|---|---|
LED 5c | Legacy | LED Dredge | Legacy Showcase Challenge 2024-03-17 | |
Dredge | Modern | Dredge | HBMO24 - Sunday Modern ReCQ | |
Rakdos Scam | Modern | Rakdos Scam | Modern Challenge 64 2024-04-14 (1) | |
Temur Combo | Gladiator | Gladiator Proving Grounds: Week 15 2024 | ||
Crabvine | Modern | *HALF PRICE FRIDAY* $5K RCQ - Modern - SCG CON Atlanta - Friday - 1:00 pm | ||
Jund Madness | Legacy | 3 Etapa - 3 Liga Legacy Jundia | ||
Grixis Dredge | Legacy | LED Dredge | Berlin Double Up Legacy IV im Brettspielplatz 04.04.24 | |
Grixis Aggro | Legacy | Arclight Phoenix | Charlotte Legacy League Season 2 Week 1 | |
WUBRG | Legacy | Legacy Preliminary 2024-03-28 | ||
Five-color Dredge | Legacy | Weekly Legacy Mont |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Diving into the strengths of Ox of Agonas, card advantage is prominent as this robust creature offers a significant refill of your hand when escaping from the graveyard. By discarding your hand and drawing three cards, you maintain the momentum in longer matches, ensuring you never run out of options.
Resource Acceleration: Resource acceleration is subtly intertwined with this powerhouse as it encourages players to strategically use their graveyard. The escape mechanic allows Ox of Agonas to be cast from the graveyard, giving you a way to utilize resources that are often considered inactive, turning what might be a deficit into a dynamic form of accelerating your gameplay.
Instant Speed: While Ox of Agonas itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its ability to enter the battlefield and instantly impact the game by drawing cards upon entry or escape compensates for this. The card’s innate synergy with instant speed strategies is evident as it fuels your hand, allowing you to better support reactive plays or bluff having interaction on your opponent’s turn with a suddenly replenished hand.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Ox of Agonas necessitates a discard of your entire hand as part of its escape ability, which could backfire if you’re relinquishing valuable cards.
Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both substantial red mana and generic mana to play, Ox of Agonas may not fit seamlessly into multi-color decks where red mana is not readily available.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: As a five mana creature, Ox of Agonas comes with a steep price tag, particularly in aggressive red decks that favor a lower curve to expedite victory.
Reasons to Include Ox of Agonas in Your Collection
Versatility: The Ox of Agonas brings exceptional flexibility to red-based decks. By offering both card draw and escape mechanics, it ensures players have access to resources and graveyard utility in a singular package.
Combo Potential: With its ability to draw cards and potentially discard hand-cards, this ox can seamlessly integrate into strategies that leverage graveyard play or card draw synergies.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where games are drawn out or graveyards are recurrently utilized as an extended hand, Ox of Agonas proves to be a formidable asset, aligning well with the dynamics of current competitive play.
How to beat
Ox of Agonas packs a punch in MTG with its robust reanimation ability and the draw potential it brings to red decks. This formidable creature becomes a key player once it hits the graveyard, offering a fresh hand of cards upon its escape. To outmaneuver opponents harnessing the Ox’s might, foresight, and strategic graveyard management become crucial. Interacting with the graveyard is your best move – effects such as Tormod’s Crypt, or Leyline of the Void hinder the Ox’s escape utility by exiling it directly from the graveyard, blunting the threat before it can manifest.
Countering the Ox’s cast is another strategic layer – cards like Negate or Dovin’s Veto can intercept its entrance onto the battlefield, ensuring your opponent’s resources are spent without benefit. Additionally, controlling the pace of the game is key. Slowing down the flow of cards and resources to your opponent’s side can limit the opportunities to cast or escape the Ox. Utilize removal spells for creatures that filter or draw cards, and strategize your attacks to keep the opponent’s graveyard sparsely populated, inhibiting the full potential of the Ox of Agonas.
BurnMana Recommendations
If you’re intrigued by the potential that Ox of Agonas brings to your MTG strategy, remember that its strengths lie in its dual role of providing card advantage and utilizing the graveyard. As you look to enhance your collection and gameplay, consider how this formidable creature can reignite your red deck’s firepower. It’s essential to balance its high mana cost and hand discard requirement with your overall strategy. For those keen on deepening their understanding and refining their tactics, our platform is a veritable treasure trove of insights. Dive deeper into the strategic folds of MTG, learn how to optimally harness cards like Ox of Agonas, and continuously improve your deck’s resilience. Join us for a comprehensive guide to mastering MTG and ensuring your deck is always battle-ready.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Ox of Agonas MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and 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 Ox of Agonas 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
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Printings
The Ox of Agonas Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2020-01-24 and 2022-02-18. Illustrated by Lie Setiawan.
# | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 79943 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | ||
2 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death | THB | 147 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | |
3 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death Promos | PTHB | 147s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | |
4 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death Promos | PTHB | 147p | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | |
5 | 2020-01-24 | Theros Beyond Death | THB | 318 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | |
6 | 2021-01-25 | Year of the Ox 2021 | PL21 | 2 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan | |
7 | 2022-02-18 | Neon Dynasty Commander | NEC | 108 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Lie Setiawan |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Ox of Agonas has restrictions
Format | Legality |
---|---|
Historicbrawl | Legal |
Commander | Legal |
Historic | Legal |
Legacy | Legal |
Modern | Legal |
Oathbreaker | Legal |
Vintage | Legal |
Duel | Legal |
Explorer | Legal |
Gladiator | Legal |
Pioneer | Legal |
Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ox of Agonas card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
Date | Text |
---|---|
2020-01-24 | After an escaped spell resolves, it returns to its owner's graveyard if it's not a permanent spell. If it is a permanent spell, it enters the battlefield and will return to its owner's graveyard if it dies later. Perhaps it will escape again—good underworld security is so hard to come by these days. |
2020-01-24 | Escape's permission doesn't change when you may cast the spell from your graveyard. |
2020-01-24 | If a card has multiple abilities giving you permission to cast it, such as two escape abilities or an escape ability and a flashback ability, you choose which one to apply. The others have no effect. |
2020-01-24 | If a card with escape is put into your graveyard during your turn, you'll be able to cast it right away if it's legal to do so, before an opponent can take any actions. |
2020-01-24 | If you cast a spell with its escape permission, you can't choose to apply any other alternative costs or to cast it without paying its mana cost. If it has any additional costs, you must pay those. |
2020-01-24 | Once you begin casting a spell with escape, it immediately moves to the stack. Players can't take any other actions until you're done casting the spell. |
2020-01-24 | To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as an escape cost), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was and no matter whether an alternative cost was paid. |
2020-01-24 | You draw three cards, even if you discard no cards. |