Growth-Chamber Guardian MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Elf Crab Warrior
Abilities Adapt
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Accelerates card advantage, ensuring a steady flow of creatures to your hand each time it adapts.
  2. Thins the deck and hastens access to key cards, bolstering its utility in gameplay.
  3. Instant speed adaptability gives Growth-Chamber Guardian a surprise element in combat.

Text of card

: Adapt 2. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put two +1/+1 counters on it.) Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Growth-Chamber Guardian, you may search your library for a card named Growth-Chamber Guardian, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Growth-Chamber Guardian shines in the card advantage department by capitalizing on its adaptability. Each time you adapt Growth-Chamber Guardian, you can search your library for a card with the same name, ensuring a steady flow of creature cards to your hand.

Resource Acceleration: This creature facilitates resource acceleration by itself. With Growth-Chamber Guardian, you effectively thin out your deck each time you adapt it, inching you faster towards your key cards and presenting a recurrent threat that must be answered by your opponent.

Instant Speed: Offering flexibility, the adapt feature of Growth-Chamber Guardian can be activated at instant speed. This allows you to adapt in response to an opponent’s action, potentially surprising them with a suddenly increased creature size during combat or at the end of their turn, thus maximizing the card’s efficiency and impact on the game state.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Growth-Chamber Guardian boasts an adaptability feature, it requires you to discard a card to trigger its tutoring ability. This action can sometimes be a disadvantage, particularly if you are strategizing to maintain card advantage on the battlefield.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature card has a specific mana cost that demands both green mana and generic mana, which may not seamlessly fit into multicolored decks that aren’t heavily green-focused. Players may find the mana requirement restrictive if their deck’s mana base isn’t optimized for green mana acceleration or fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The need to pay the adaptation cost of two green mana in addition to its initial casting cost means that Growth-Chamber Guardian has a somewhat high effective mana cost compared to other creatures with similar abilities. This cost could deter players who are looking for more immediate or less mana-intensive board presence.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Growth-Chamber Guardian flourishes in various deck builds due to its unique adapt ability. Whether it’s an elf tribal, +1/+1 counter synergies, or a deck utilizing creature-based strategies, this card can easily find its place and significantly bolster your board presence.

Combo Potential: With the capacity to fetch copies of itself from the deck, Growth-Chamber Guardian escalates its combo potential immensely. It works effectively with simic, evolve, and proliferate mechanics, granting dynamic interactions and continuous threats that opponents must answer.

Meta-Relevance: Adapting to a meta that’s rife with creature-based strategies can be challenging, but this card ensures that you remain competitive. Due to its scalable nature and the capacity to create card advantage over time, Growth-Chamber Guardian remains relevant in matchups that require a consistent board state to overcome adversaries.


How to Beat

Growth-Chamber Guardian is a formidable force in MTG, known for its evolutionary trait that allows it to strengthen and pull similar creatures from the deck. However, players can outmaneuver this Guardian by focusing on timely removal. One strategy is to play instant-speed removal spells before its controller has the opportunity to activate its ability and cause it to adapt, preventing the chain reaction of fetching additional copies.

Another approach is to utilize exile or bounce effects that prevent the creature from hitting the graveyard, thereby bypasssng its ability to search for comrades. Countering it when it’s cast will also cut the momentum that this creature relies on to gain value. Patience can be key—waiting for the opponent to invest in its adapt ability before reacting can result in a two-for-one scenario, removing the Guardian and wasting the opponent’s resources.

In summary, Growth-Chamber Guardian’s strength lies in its ability to adapt and replicate, but its weakness is the timing required to exploit this. Utilize this small window wisely with precise removal or counter strategies to keep this Guardian at bay and maintain control of the battlefield.


Cards like Growth-Chamber Guardian

Growth-Chamber Guardian is a standout among adaptable creature cards in Magic: The Gathering. It shares traits with other like-minded creatures, such as Scavenging Ooze. Both creatures possess the ability to grow in strength, with Scavenging Ooze gaining power as it exiles cards from graveyards. However, Growth-Chamber Guardian’s novel ability lies in its capacity to fetch copies of itself from the deck, ensuring consistent board presence and an escalating threat.

Another card worth mentioning is Experiment One. It shares Growth-Chamber Guardian’s potential for becoming a larger threat over time through its evolve mechanic. Experiment One can often grow faster in a creature-heavy deck compared to Growth-Chamber Guardian’s need for a mana investment. Still, the Guardian’s self-replicating ability gives it a unique advantage in providing card advantage and deck thinning.

Considering the nuts and bolts of card utility, Growth-Chamber Guardian’s blend of repeatable search ability and its inherent resilience by adapting in size makes it a versatile choice for decks looking to maintain a steady creature presence.

Scavenging Ooze - MTG Card versions
Experiment One - MTG Card versions
Scavenging Ooze - Commander 2011 (CMD)
Experiment One - Gatecrash (GTC)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Growth-Chamber Guardian MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica Allegiance and Ravnica Allegiance Promos, 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 Growth-Chamber Guardian and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Growth-Chamber Guardian Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-01-25 and 2019-01-25. Illustrated by Bram Sels.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-01-25Ravnica AllegianceRNA 1282015normalblackBram Sels
22019-01-25Ravnica Allegiance PromosPRNA 128s2015normalblackBram Sels
32019-01-25Ravnica Allegiance PromosPRNA 128p2015normalblackBram Sels

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Growth-Chamber Guardian has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-01-25 An ability that triggers when counters are put on a permanent will trigger if that permanent somehow enters the battlefield with those counters.
2019-01-25 If a creature somehow loses all of its +1/+1 counters, it can adapt again and get more +1/+1 counters.
2019-01-25 You can always activate an ability that will cause a creature to adapt. As that ability resolves, if the creature has a +1/+1 counter on it for any reason, you simply won’t put any +1/+1 counters on it.

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