Rhizome Lurcher MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Fungus Zombie |
| Abilities | Undergrowth |
| Released | 2018-10-05 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Guilds of Ravnica |
| Set code | GRN |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
| Number | 196 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Mathias Kollros |
Text of card
Undergrowth — Rhizome Lurcher enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
"The dead gain new purpose here. What is strange in the eyes of other guilds is harmonious in ours." —Devesh, Golgari shaman
Cards like Rhizome Lurcher
Rhizome Lurcher is an intriguing card in MTG’s pantheon of creature spells. It shares the battlefield with other creatures that get stronger as the game progresses. One such card is Scavenging Ooze, which not only increases in power and toughness via consuming cards in graveyards but also provides you with life gain. While Rhizome Lurcher doesn’t offer the life gain, it does give you a considerable power boost, especially in decks that fill the graveyard quickly.
Another card that echoes Rhizome Lurcher’s essence is Boneyard Wurm. Both creatures flourish in a graveyard-centric environment, with Boneyard Wurm’s strength directly depending on the number of creature cards in your graveyard. However, Rhizome Lurcher’s Undergrowth ability sets a final power and toughness upon entering the battlefield, which remains unchanged regardless of subsequent graveyard changes.
Delving deeper, Splinterfright parallels Rhizome Lurcher’s theme, but with an ongoing ability to become stronger as your graveyard grows each turn. An integral difference, though, is that Splinterfright also contributes to its power enhancement by milling your deck. Together, these cards offer diverse strategies for leveraging graveyard synergies in MTG, making Rhizome Lurcher a solid player in decks designed around such mechanics.
Cards similar to Rhizome Lurcher by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Rhizome Lurcher enters the battlefield not merely as a creature but as a way to potentially dig through your deck. Its undergrowth ability tallies the number of creature cards in your graveyard, potentially setting you up for strategic plays ahead by sculpting your hand and ensuring you aren’t left wanting for options.
Resource Acceleration: While this card itself doesn’t directly generate mana, its undergrowth ability works in tandem with your graveyard, making it a vibrant addition to decks that focus on self-milling or filling the graveyard with creatures, hence accelerating the efficiency of drawing and playing powerful spells that thrive with a stocked graveyard.
Instant Speed: Although Rhizome Lurcher operates at sorcery speed, it fits snugly into a strategy with other instant speed graveyard fillers, allowing you to beef up this creature unexpectedly before it hits the board. Timing your graveyard fill spells can turn Rhizome Lurcher into a formidable force just as it comes into play.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Rhizome Lurcher does not mandate discarding directly, it does rely on creatures in your graveyard to optimize its entry effect, effectively demanding prior discard plays or creature deaths, challenging your resource management.
Specific Mana Cost: Necessitating both green and black mana narrows its deck compatibility, causing potential issues in deckbuilding and limiting its playability strictly to Golgari or multi-color decks requiring those mana types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing four mana, Rhizome Lurcher may come into play too late against rapid aggro decks. Plus, considering its potential as a power booster, there are more mana-efficient creatures or combat tricks that could serve a similar role in bolstering your battlefield presence earlier in the game.
Reasons to Include Rhizome Lurcher in Your Collection
Versatility: Rhizome Lurcher finds a home in decks that capitalize on the graveyard. This creature can become significantly larger as it counts the number of creatures in your graveyard upon entering the battlefield, making it a flexible addition to any Golgari (black-green) strategy.
Combo Potential: With the inherent synergy in decks focused on self-mill or dredge mechanics, Rhizome Lurcher can be a powerful asset. It plays well with cards that fill the graveyard, turning a standard play into a game-changing move by escalating its power and toughness.
Meta-Relevance: In metas where graveyard strategies are prevalent, Rhizome Lurcher can quickly become a high-value creature. It’s particularly advantageous in games that extend into the mid to late stages, where it can outsize most common threats.
How to beat
Rhizome Lurcher serves as a noteworthy creature in Magic: The Gathering, with its power and toughness determined by the number of creature cards in your graveyard when it enters the battlefield. Understanding this, a key strategy to undermine the Lurcher’s effectiveness is by managing graveyard populations. Cards such as Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can be exceptionally effective, as they prevent cards from hitting the graveyard altogether.
Another approach is to employ removal tools before the Lurcher can feed off the graveyard’s creature count. Instant-speed spells such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push can disrupt your opponent’s plans by removing the Lurcher before it gains the counters. Using these spells in response to the Lurcher’s triggered ability can minimize the impact it has on the game. Control decks that can counter creature spells also pose a tough barrier for the Lurcher.
To sum up, minimizing graveyard interactions and wielding timely removal or countermagic are solid tactics to diminish the Rhizome Lurcher’s impact on the battlefield. These approaches can ensure that your opponent’s Lurcher doesn’t grow out of control and dominate the game.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rhizome Lurcher MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica, 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 Rhizome Lurcher 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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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Rhizome Lurcher has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Rhizome Lurcher card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-05 | Because tokens aren’t cards, they never count for undergrowth abilities. |
| 2018-10-05 | Creature cards with other types, such as artifact creature cards, count for undergrowth abilities. |
| 2018-10-05 | If you return Rhizome Lurcher from your graveyard to the battlefield, its undergrowth ability counts itself. |