Rhonas's Stalwart MTG Card

Deathtouch ability of Rhonas’s Stalwart ensures efficient creature trades, preserving hand resources. Exert mechanic accelerates damage output, compelling opponents to address it promptly. While functionally slower, its game-changing exert feature can turn the tide of combat.

Rhonas's Stalwart - Hour of Devastation (HOU)

Hour of Devastation (HOU)
2017-07-14 - Number 133

Rhonas's Stalwart - Amonkhet Remastered (AKR)

Amonkhet Remastered (AKR)
2020-08-13 - Number 214

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Warrior
Abilities	Exert
Power	2
Toughness	2

Text of card

You may exert Rhonas's Stalwart as it attacks. When you do, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn and can't be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less this turn. (An exerted creature won't untap during your next untap step.)

"Give me some room."

Cards like Rhonas's Stalwart

When we delve into the realm of efficient creature spells within Magic: The Gathering, Rhonas’s Stalwart often draws comparison to other two-cost creatures. Its unique exert ability to become unreblockable when attacking alongside its solid stat line parallels the utility of cards like Gust Walker. Gust Walker, likewise, utilizes exert but adds flying to the mix. While Rhonas’s Stalwart focuses on direct attacking, it doesn’t impose any additional condition to achieve unblockability, unlike Gust Walker’s need for exertion each time it aims to soar overhead.

Another creature that echoes the strengths of Rhonas’s Stalwart is the Nef-Crop Entangler. Both cards share the exert mechanic, but the Entangler bestows a power boost during exertion rather than evasiveness. It shifts the focus from guaranteed damage to a more formidable board presence. This provides an interesting choice for players: the certainty of hitting an opponent with Rhonas’s Stalwart or wrestling with board control using Nef-Crop Entangler’s power.

Ultimately, Rhonas’s Stalwart shines within its niche of two-drop creatures. It offers a strategic blend of aggression and board influence that can pivot the flow of a match, situating it as a versatile pick in both aggressive and exert-centric decks.

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Rhonas’s Stalwart may not directly allow you to draw cards, but it supports card advantage through its efficient creature trade potential. By utilizing its deathtouch ability, it can neutralize threats one for one without losing board presence, thus keeping your hand fuller while depleting the opponent’s resources.

Resource Acceleration: While Rhonas’s Stalwart doesn’t directly ramp up your mana, its ability to exert and give +1/+1 to itself can accelerate your damage output. This increased combat efficiency can force opponents to deal with it quickly, potentially diverting their resources away from other strategies that would target your mana base or hand.

Instant Speed: Rhonas’s Stalwart operates at sorcery speed, but its exert mechanic can be a game-changer during your turn. The creature’s instant impact when it attacks can shift the tides of combat favorably without needing to rely on additional instant-speed spells or effects.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Rhonas’s Stalwart requires you to exert it as part of attacking. While not a discard, exerting inhibits usability by keeping the creature from untapping during your next untap step, potentially leaving you vulnerable and unable to capitalize on its abilities in successive turns.

Specific Mana Cost: Rhonas’s Stalwart demands one green mana. This cost confines the card to green-centric or compatible multicolored decks, reducing its flexibility across the diverse tapestry of MTG archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a 2/2 creature, the requirement of two mana may appear steep, especially when faced against the vast selection of one-mana creatures that are capable of offering efficient battlefield presence or utility effects early in the game.

Reasons to Include Rhonas’s Stalwart in Your Collection

Versatility: Rhonas’s Stalwart is adaptable to various green-centric decks, particularly those focusing on aggressive strategies. With its efficient mana cost and the Exert mechanic, it can become a significant early-game pressure tool.

Combo Potential: The card synergizes well with strategies that capitalize on exertion and untapping creatures. Its ability to exert provides excellent synergy with cards that benefit from tapping and untapping, enabling powerful combo plays.

Meta-Relevance: In a metagame that favors creature-based combat, Rhonas’s Stalwart stands out due to its ability to bypass blockers when exerted, making it relevant in battling through stalled board states or securing critical points of damage.

How to Beat Rhonas’s Stalwart

The prowess of Rhonas’s Stalwart in MTG lies in its deathtouch ability and its potential to become unblockable when exerted. This green creature excels in early aggression, carving a path through enemy lines with relative ease. To counteract this threat, players need to adopt strategies that neutralize these strengths effectively.

One approach is using instant-speed removal spells before the Stalwart can be exerted, thus preempting its unblockable attack. Cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile are excellent tools for this purpose. Another tactic is utilizing creatures with reach or those that can block multiple creatures. By establishing such defenders, you can deter attacks or force your opponent to consider alternative combat strategies.

Finally, keeping pressure on your opponent’s life total can be crucial. By maintaining a fast-paced offense, you force the wielder of Rhonas’s Stalwart to use their creatures defensively. This deviates from their original aggressive game plan, possibly giving you the upper hand. As a versatile creature card, Rhonas’s Stalwart can be challenging to deal with, but with the right tactics and cards, you can tip the scales in your favor.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Rhonas's Stalwart MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation and Amonkhet Remastered, 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 Rhonas's Stalwart and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Rhonas's Stalwart Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-07-14 and 2020-08-13. Illustrated by Bram Sels.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2017-07-14	Hour of Devastation	HOU		133	2015	Normal	Black	Bram Sels
2	2020-08-13	Amonkhet Remastered	AKR		214	2015	Normal	Black	Bram Sels

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Rhonas's Stalwart 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 Rhonas's Stalwart card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2017-04-18	All cards in the Amonkhet set that let you exert a creature let you do so as you declare it as an attacking creature, as do some of the cards in the Hour of Devastation set. You can’t do so later in combat, and creatures put onto the battlefield attacking can’t be exerted. Any abilities that trigger on exerting an attacking creature will resolve before blockers are declared.
2017-04-18	If an exerted creature is already untapped during your next untap step (most likely because it had vigilance or an effect untapped it), exert’s effect preventing it from untapping expires without having done anything.
2017-04-18	If you gain control of another player’s creature until end of turn and exert it, it will untap during that player’s untap step.
2017-04-18	You can’t exert a creature unless an effect allows you to do so. Similar effects that “tap and freeze” a creature (such as that of Decision Paralysis) don’t exert that creature.
2017-07-14	Once a creature with power 3 or greater has blocked an exerted Rhonas’s Stalwart, changing the power of the blocking creature won’t cause Rhonas’s Stalwart to become unblocked.