Stinkweed Imp MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Imp
Abilities Dredge,Flying,Mill
Power 1
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Dredge 5 mechanic of Stinkweed Imp ensures constant graveyard replenishment and card advantage.
  2. Instant-speed death-trigger ability serves as a deterrent and a strategic combat tool.
  3. The card’s inclusion enhances graveyard-synergized decks and combines well with various strategies.

Text of card

Flying Whenever Stinkweed Imp deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature. Dredge 5 (If you would draw a card, instead you may put exactly five cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Otherwise, draw a card.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Stinkweed Imp is renowned for its Dredge 5 ability, allowing you to replace a normal draw with dredging five cards from your graveyard back into your hand. This mechanic not only fills your graveyard with potential resources but also ensures that you’re almost never without this pesky flyer.

Resource Acceleration: While Stinkweed Imp itself doesn’t directly accelerate your resources, its Dredge ability plays a pivotal role in strategies focused on utilizing the graveyard. By consistently filling your graveyard, it accelerates your access to other cards that thrive on being in or interacting with the graveyard.

Instant Speed: Although Stinkweed Imp is a creature, its death-triggered ability to give a creature -1/-1 until end of turn happens at instant speed. This can deter attackers or be tactically used following a block to ensure the demise of an opposing creature, making it a valuable combat trick as well as a resilient threat.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Stinkweed Imp demands that you pitch another card if you want to take advantage of its Dredge ability. This can be a downside if your hand is already scant, reducing your strategic options.

Specific Mana Cost: Stinkweed Imp has a black mana cost, which means it’s not always the best fit for decks that don’t have a heavy black mana base or are aiming for a multicolored strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its Dredge cost outclassing its casting cost, Stinkweed Imp can be costly in terms of mana economy. There are creatures and spells at a similar cost that could be more impactful in a game immediately upon hitting the board.


Reasons to Include Stinkweed Imp in Your Collection

Versatility: Stinkweed Imp can be a key card in a multitude of decks, notably in those requiring graveyard synergy. Its ability to dredge and return to hand makes it a resilient threat and a consistent card advantage engine.

Combo Potential: This card is notorious for its compatibility with graveyard-centric combos. Its Dredge 5 ability fuels strategies with cards that benefit from having a high card count in the graveyard, such as reanimator decks or other graveyard mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where small creatures dominate the battlefield, Stinkweed Imp’s pseudo-deathtouch ability ensures that it can deter attacks or trade favorably, maintaining board control. Furthermore, its recurring nature makes it a persistent nuisance that can adapt to various meta shifts.


How to beat

The Stinkweed Imp is a unique creature card that emerges as a persistent hurdle on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. Its menace is twofold: not only does it deter attackers with its deathtouch-like ability but its dredge feature offers a recurring obstacle for opponents. It’s crucial to acknowledge the Imp’s resilience; destroying it only addresses the issue momentarily, since it can return from the graveyard to the player’s hand through its dredge 5 ability.

To overcome this evasive creature, exile effects or graveyard manipulation are effective strategies. Cards that can exile creatures, such as Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares, ensure the Imp doesn’t return once it’s dealt with. Alternatively, employing graveyard hate strategies like Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace can undercut the recurring dredge ability, addressing the root of its strength. Thus, the key to triumph over Stinkweed Imp lies not in direct combat but in circumspecting its abilities which hinge on the graveyard mechanics.

Anticipating such strategies to bypass conventional removal can enhance your approach in matches featuring this formidable card, adding a layer of subtlety and foresight into your game plan against Stinkweed Imp and similar resilient threats.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the capabilities of Stinkweed Imp in your MTG decks can significantly influence your gameplay, especially if you’re venturing into graveyard-based strategies. The nuanced intricacies of its dredge mechanic and the defensive advantage it provides make it a noteworthy addition. Understanding how to effectively counter it or integrate it into your deck construction is vital for any discerning player. Are you ready to dive deeper into the strategic use of Stinkweed Imp and other synergistic cards? Join our community, where we delve into optimizing your deck’s potential and keeping you ahead in the ever-evolving meta. Broaden your horizons in MTG with us today.


Cards like Stinkweed Imp

Stinkweed Imp is a unique card in MTG that offers players not only a flying creature but also a potent self-milling ability. It’s often compared to cards like Golgari Thug, which also mills upon death but only targets the top two cards of the library versus the five of Stinkweed Imp. Unlike the Imp, Golgari Thug cannot block flying creatures, giving Stinkweed Imp an edge in defensive maneuvers.

Another comparable card is Dakmor Salvage, which shares the dredge mechanic, allowing for strategic graveyard filling to fuel various game plans. Although it’s a land and not a creature, Dakmor Salvage dredges fewer cards, showing that Stinkweed Imp excels in its milling capacity. Meanwhile, cards like Narcomoeba have an entirely different synergy with the graveyard, automatically hitting the battlefield when milled, unlike our subject which requires a strategic decision to replace a draw.

When scrutinizing the role of Stinkweed Imp among similar MTG mechanics, its combination of evasion, pseudo deathtouch, and exceptional dredge ability clearly establish it as a staple in decks that exploit the graveyard for their advantage.

Golgari Thug - MTG Card versions
Dakmor Salvage - MTG Card versions
Narcomoeba - MTG Card versions
Golgari Thug - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Dakmor Salvage - Future Sight (FUT)
Narcomoeba - Future Sight (FUT)

Cards similar to Stinkweed Imp by color, type and mana cost

Nettling Imp - MTG Card versions
Royal Assassin - MTG Card versions
Plague Rats - MTG Card versions
El-Hajjâj - MTG Card versions
Frozen Shade - MTG Card versions
Scathe Zombies - MTG Card versions
Sorceress Queen - MTG Card versions
Wall of Bone - MTG Card versions
Lost Soul - MTG Card versions
Mindstab Thrull - MTG Card versions
Mischievous Poltergeist - MTG Card versions
Strongarm Thug - MTG Card versions
Razortooth Rats - MTG Card versions
Ghastly Remains - MTG Card versions
Lord of the Undead - MTG Card versions
Deepwood Ghoul - MTG Card versions
Dross Prowler - MTG Card versions
Nim Lasher - MTG Card versions
Nim Abomination - MTG Card versions
Vesper Ghoul - MTG Card versions
Nettling Imp - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Royal Assassin - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Plague Rats - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
El-Hajjâj - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Frozen Shade - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Scathe Zombies - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Sorceress Queen - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Wall of Bone - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Lost Soul - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Mindstab Thrull - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Mischievous Poltergeist - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Strongarm Thug - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Razortooth Rats - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Ghastly Remains - Legions (LGN)
Lord of the Undead - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Deepwood Ghoul - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Dross Prowler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Nim Lasher - Mirrodin (MRD)
Nim Abomination - Darksteel (DST)
Vesper Ghoul - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Stinkweed Imp MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica: City of Guilds and Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic, 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 Stinkweed Imp and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Stinkweed Imp Magic the Gathering card was released in 10 different sets between 2005-10-07 and 2021-03-19. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12005-10-07Ravnica: City of GuildsRAV 1072003normalblackEdward P. Beard, Jr.
22009-04-10Duel Decks: Divine vs. DemonicDDC 362003normalblackNils Hamm
32010-11-08Magic Online Theme DecksTD0 A492003normalblackEdward P. Beard, Jr.
42012-09-07Duel Decks: Izzet vs. GolgariDDJ 542003normalblackNils Hamm
52013-06-07Modern MastersMMA 982003normalblackNils Hamm
62014-12-05Duel Decks Anthology: Divine vs. DemonicDVD 362015normalblackNils Hamm
72018-11-02GRN Guild KitGK1 532015normalblackNils Hamm
82019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 7822015normalblackNils Hamm
92020-09-26The ListPLST GK1-532015normalblackNils Hamm
102021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 3321997normalblackNils Hamm

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Stinkweed Imp has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-03-19 Dredge can replace any card draw, not only the one during your draw step.
2021-03-19 If an effect puts a card into your hand without specifically using the word “draw,” you’re not drawing a card. Dredge can’t replace this event.
2021-03-19 If you’re drawing multiple cards, each draw is performed one at a time. For example, if you’re instructed to draw two cards and you replace the first draw with a dredge ability, another card with a dredge ability (including one that was milled by the first dredge ability) may be used to replace the second draw.
2021-03-19 Notably, Stinkweed Imp’s ability isn’t deathtouch. It’s a triggered ability that triggers only on combat damage.
2021-03-19 Once you’ve announced that you’re applying a card’s dredge ability to replace a draw, players can’t take any actions until you’ve put that card into your hand and milled cards.
2021-03-19 One card draw can’t be replaced by multiple dredge abilities.
2021-03-19 You can’t attempt to use a dredge ability if you don’t have enough cards in your library.

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