Shu Farmer MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human
Released	1999-05-01
Set symbol
Set name	Portal Three Kingdoms
Set code	PTK
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	23
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	White
Illustred by	Li Xiaohua

Key Takeaways

Provides card advantage through opponent hand reveal and strategic planning benefits.
Instant speed ability enhances flexibility and response capability during games.
While versatile, the card requires careful hand and mana management to optimize.

Text of card

On your turn, before you attack, you may tap Shu Farmer to gain 1 life.

"The common folk are ceaselessly active. The fields are fertile and the soil productive, and neither flood nor drought plagues us." —A Shu diplomat

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Shu Farmer offers consistent card draw by allowing you to reveal a card from opponents hand, often equipping you with foreknowledge to strategically plan your next moves. Recognizing your opponent’s potential can tilt the odds in your favor, keeping you one step ahead in the duel.

Resource Acceleration: This card subtly boosts your resource pool. By exposing specific cards from the opponent’s hand, it can allow for more informed decisions on which resources to deploy. It doesn’t directly increase mana but optimizes how you use your current assets more efficiently.

Instant Speed: Shu Farmer stands out with its ability to act at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions during their turn. Quick reactions in MTG are a cornerstone of high-level play, and having cards like Shu Farmer that can operate on this timescale can markedly improve your strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Shu Farmer’s effect comes with the drawback that a player must discard a card. This can be a significant obstacle during gameplay, especially in situations where your hand size is already depleted and each card in hand is crucial for maintaining your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: To cast Shu Farmer, a player needs to meet the exact mana requirements, which could potentially restrict its integration into a multi-colored deck. Players running decks without the specific mana color may find it difficult to incorporate Shu Farmer successfully into their gameplay.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost, one could argue that Shu Farmer might be less appealing compared to other cards in the mana curve. In the realm of creature cards, efficiency is key, and the mana invested into playing Shu Farmer might lead to a slower game progression if not factored into the deck’s overall strategy properly.

Reasons to Include Shu Farmer in Your Collection

Versatility: Shu Farmer is a multi-functional card that can seamlessly integrate into a variety of decks. Its ability to interact with land cards in your graveyard makes it a valuable asset in strategies that involve land recursion or self-mill tactics.

Combo Potential: The card has synergies with landfall strategies as well as with decks that capitalize on the untap step. It can set up powerful turns by ensuring the right lands are in play and contribute to intricate combos that revolve around land mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: Shu Farmer can be particularly potent in formats where graveyards are as much a resource as the hand or battlefield. Its adaptability to evolving game states makes it a great choice for decks that aim to stay relevant regardless of the shifting meta.

How to beat

Shu Farmer is an intriguing card that can present a challenge to overcome in the world of Magic: The Gathering due to its ability to streamline mana fixing and deck thinning. It operates by allowing a player to search for a basic land card and put it into play tapped, accelerating their progress. When dealing with Shu Farmer, efficient removal spells are key. Using spot removal when it enters the battlefield can prevent your opponent from gaining the advantage of deck thinning and mana acceleration. Cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile are effective choices as they can deal with the creature at a low cost.

Counterplay involves keeping an eye on your own land drops to maintain pace with your opponent’s ramping. Aggressive decks can try to punish the potentially slower tempo of a Shu Farmer inclusion by applying pressure and forcing the opponent to deal with threats rather than executing their land search. In a control matchup, be ready with counterspells like Cancel or Mana Leak to prevent Shu Farmer from resolving in the first place, cutting off the benefits before they start.

Understanding how Shu Farmer interacts within a match, anticipating your opponent’s strategies, and maintaining the right balance of removal and pressure are all pivotal in managing this situation and emerging victorious in your Magic: The Gathering games.

Cards like Shu Farmer

When examining Shu Farmer, its place within the pantheon of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering is quite unique. Shu Farmer offers a blend of modest creature stats with a beneficial land retrieval ability. It is akin to cards such as Solemn Simulacrum, which allows a land search upon entering the battlefield, although it does not put the land directly into play. While Solemn Simulacrum has a steeper mana cost, its land search functionality is automatic, without the need to tap, unlike the Shu Farmer.

Treading further into comparison, we have Satyr Wayfinder, which excavates the top four cards of your library and lets you select a land card to add to your hand, providing a similar land-fetching utility. Satyr Wayfinder digs deeper into the deck but doesn’t guarantee an untapped land like Shu Farmer. Another relative in this category is Borderland Ranger, offering the utility of searching for a basic land to add to hand upon its arrival on the battlefield with no need for tapping, but lacks the reusability Shu Farmer possesses.

Ultimately, Shu Farmer holds its ground with its tap-to-retrieve land ability, offering players repeated value from a single card play, which situates it nicely amongst other options for land tutoring and mana fixing in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Shu Farmer by color, type and mana cost

Voice of the Blessed - MTG Card versions

Silverflame Squire // On Alert - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shu Farmer MTG card by a specific set like Portal Three Kingdoms, 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 Shu Farmer and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Shu Farmer has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-20	If a turn has multiple combat phases, the ability can only be activated before the beginning of the declare attackers step of the first combat phase in that turn.