Famished Paladin MTG Card
2018-01-19 - Number 8
2020-09-26 - Number RIX-8
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Vampire Knight |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
Key Takeaways
- The Paladin works with card draw engines, allowing for sustained hand advantage and defensive endurance against opponents.
- Its instant speed untap ability enables dynamic play, ensuring flexibility and surprise factor in various situations.
- Being combo-dependent, Famished Paladin’s power is unleashed when paired with specific life gain partners.
Text of card
Famished Paladin doesn't untap during your untap step. Whenever you gain life, untap Famished Paladin.
Loyal to his queen, slave to his thirst.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While the Famished Paladin itself doesn’t let you draw cards directly, it pairs wonderfully with card-drawing engines. The undying engagement of this Paladin can provide an endless blockade against your opponents, maintaining your cards in hand while wearing down the adversary.
Resource Acceleration: In combination with the right auras or equipment, Famished Paladin springs into action as the cornerstone of a rapid-fire combo. This creates an accelerated resource dynamic, as it synergistically untaps to help you amass an overwhelming board presence or to generate mana.
Instant Speed: The Paladin’s capacity to untap at instant speed, often through lifelink, lets you adapt swiftly to the changing battlefield. This flexibility can cause significant swings in momentum, enabling unexpected combos or responses during the course of a game.
Card Cons
Specific Mana Cost: Famished Paladin has a mana cost specifically tied to white, which can restrict deck-building options and make it less versatile in a multicolor deck environment.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While costing two mana might not seem much, for a 3/3 creature, there are more competitively costed creatures that offer additional abilities or have higher power and toughness for the same or lower cost.
Combo-Dependent: To unlock its full potential, Famished Paladin often requires specific combo pieces like a lifelink enabler. Without these pieces, it is less effective, and drawing it without the needed combo can hinder your game progression.
Reasons to Include Famished Paladin in Your Collection
Versatility: Famished Paladin presents flexibility in deckbuilding, performing well in life gain decks, strategies centered around untapping creatures, or as a defensive two-drop with its 3 toughness.
Combo Potential: This card shines in combinations, particularly with equipment or auras like “Squire’s Devotion,” enabling an infinite loop that can lead to a quick victory under the right conditions.
Meta-Relevance: In a metagame hosting aggressive strategies, Famished Paladin can serve as a recurring blocker while synergizing with popular life gain cards, making it a relevant pick for competitive play.
How to beat
Famished Paladin is a unique creature with an intriguing ability that allows it to untap whenever you gain life. This characteristic can make it a persistent threat in Magic: The Gathering, especially when combined with cards that offer frequent life gain. To counter this paladin, strategies involve preventing life gain or ensuring it cannot use its untap ability effectively.
Utilize removal spells that can bypass its untap potential like “Path to Exile” or “Dead Weight” to deal with it irrespective of its state. Alternatively, effects that stop triggered abilities, such as “Tocatli Honor Guard” or “Hushbringer,” can neutralize its untap trigger, stripping away the synergy it relies on. In matchups against Famished Paladin, it is essential to manage your opponent’s life gain avenues carefully, whether that’s through creature removal or preventing life gain spells from resolving.
Conclusively, with precise control over your opponent’s life gain triggers and strategic removal or ability negation, dominating over a deck with Famished Paladin becomes much more manageable. It’s all about understanding its mechanics and disrupting the potential combos that could turn this seemingly benign creature into an unstoppable force.
Cards like Famished Paladin
Famished Paladin is a unique creature card with an ability that has made waves among lifelink strategy enthusiasts. This card shares a kinship with creatures like Wall of Hope in MTG, which also thrives on lifelink mechanics. However, Famished Paladin stands out because it doesn’t just gain life but also untaps, a combo that can provide numerous advantages each turn.
Another card worth comparing is Sunstrike Legionnaire, which, similar to Famished Paladin, untaps every time you gain life. Although Sunstrike Legionnaire can tap to deal damage, it lacks the solid body Famished Paladin offers. Leonin Elder is another life-related card that resonates within this domain, reacting to artifacts rather than life gains, presenting a different avenue for synergies within an MTG deck.
Assessing Famished Paladin against its counterparts, it becomes clear that its synergistic potential, especially in decks that capitalize on lifelink triggers or infinite combos, signifies its distinctive place in MTG gameplay. As such, Famished Paladin is not just a creature; it’s a catalyst for combo enablers, ranking it highly when considering uncommon cards with powerful interactions.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Famished Paladin MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan and The List, 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 Famished Paladin and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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
See MTG Products
Printings
The Famished Paladin Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2018-01-19. Illustrated by Tommy Arnold.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018-01-19 | Rivals of Ixalan | RIX | 8 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Tommy Arnold | |
| 2 | The List | PLST | RIX-8 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Tommy Arnold |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Famished Paladin has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |