Lava Zombie MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Zombie
Released	2001-02-05
Set symbol
Set name	Planeshift
Set code	PLS
Power	4
Toughness	3
Number	113
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Tom Wänerstrand

Key Takeaways

Lava Zombie provides significant card advantage by reusing enter-the-battlefield effects.
Resource optimization is a benefit, as it allows for multiple plays of the same mana.
It demands careful hand and mana management due to specific costs and discard requirements.

Text of card

When Lava Zombie comes into play, return a black or red creature you control to its owner's hand. : Lava Zombie gets +1/+0 until end of turn.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lava Zombie offers a compelling benefit as it allows you to return a creature to your hand when it enters the battlefield. This can be skillfully utilized to reuse creatures with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects, essentially doubling their impact and providing a significant card advantage over your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: Integrating this card into your deck opens strategies for resource acceleration. By virtue of its ability to be recast repeatedly through its own bounce mechanism, Lava Zombie helps you to optimize your mana usage each turn, ensuring that you get the most out of your available resources.

Instant Speed: While Lava Zombie itself doesn’t have an instant-speed ability, its potential in a deck filled with instant speed spells cannot be overstated. Its return creature ability can be synchronized with your instants, ensuring you’re always prepared to respond to an opponent’s actions while maintaining a formidable presence on the battlefield.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To play Lava Zombie, you need to pitch another card, a step that might deplete your hand at critical moments. This can be especially painful if you’re clinging to key pieces of your strategy or if your hand size is already diminished.

Specific Mana Cost: Casting this creature requires a precise blend of mana, including both black and red. For players running multi-color decks, meeting this casting cost could present some challenges, particularly when you need flexibility to respond to an evolving board state.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Demanding three mana for a 4/3 creature, Lava Zombie’s cost-effectiveness is up for debate when pitted against other options. The mana investment might not equate to a substantial return when faster, more impactful creatures are available at a similar, or even lower, cost point. This could lead players to opt for alternatives that promise a more immediate impact on the game.

Reasons to Include Lava Zombie in Your Collection

Versatility: Lava Zombie offers great versatility for fans of black and red deck strategies. Its ability to act as both a creature and a control tool allows it to find a place in various deck archetypes that require dynamic play options.

Combo Potential: This card has sizable combo potential, with its enter-the-battlefield trigger necessitating the return of a creature to its owner’s hand. This can be tactically leveraged with creatures that have beneficial entry effects or in decks that exploit returning permanent cards to hand for value.

Meta-Relevance: With an ever-changing MTG meta, a card like Lava Zombie can adapt to the pace, serving as a useful tool against slower control decks by offering recurring creature plays, or as a surprise blocker in more aggressive metas.

How to beat

Lava Zombie is a unique creature card that blends control elements with the ability to impact the battlefield by forcing one of your own creatures back to your hand upon entering the field. This ability, while seemingly a downside, can be quite strategic, especially when you want to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects of creatures you control.

If you’re facing a Lava Zombie, it’s essential to anticipate this play and have a response ready. Utilize removal spells efficiently, targeting the Lava Zombie either before the return trigger resolves or by removing the creature that’s about to be replayed. Counterspells are also effective, as they can prevent the Lava Zombie from ever entering play and causing its disruptive effect.

Another strategy to overcome Lava Zombie involves outracing your opponent with aggressive decks. By applying pressure early on, you can force Lava Zombie to be a defensive play rather than an offensive setup. Prioritize maintaining board control and be mindful of your creature resources, as Lava Zombie requires a creature on the field to bounce back. In summary, understanding and interrupting your opponent’s game plan is key in gaining the upper hand against Lava Zombie.

Cards like Lava Zombie

Lava Zombie brings a unique blend of creature and control elements to the MTG gameplay experience. When looking at creatures with a similar impact, Anarchist comes to mind, offering the ability to return a sorcery card from the graveyard to your hand. While both cards share the reclamation of past spells or creatures, Lava Zombie stands out by requiring you to return a creature to your hand to play it, leading to potential strategic advantages.

Comparing to other zombies, such as Gempalm Polluter, which provides a cycling ability and life loss to an opponent equal to the number of zombies in play, Lava Zombie focuses on battlefield presence and reusing creatures with enter-the-battlefield effects. Then there’s Sedris, the Traitor King, sharing the theme of reanimating creatures, yet it functions on a more global level by allowing you to unearth any creature from your graveyard.

With these comparisons, Lava Zombie positions itself as a tactical option in zombie-themed decks that benefit from repeated casting of creatures, affirming a solid niche within MTG’s vast array of undead warriors and spell-twisting minions.

Sedris, the Traitor King - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Lava Zombie by color, type and mana cost

Vial Smasher the Fierce - MTG Card versions

Lyzolda, the Blood Witch - MTG Card versions

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lava Zombie MTG card by a specific set like Planeshift, 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 Lava Zombie and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Lava Zombie has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Lava Zombie card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.