River Kelpie MTG Card
2008-05-02 - Number 49
2019-08-23 - Number 93
2023-06-23 - Number 524
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Beast |
| Abilities | Persist |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
Text of card
Whenever River Kelpie or another permanent is put into play from a graveyard, draw a card. Whenever a spell is played from a graveyard, draw a card. Persist (When this creature is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to play under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.)
Cards like River Kelpie
River Kelpie has its own unique niche within the realm of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering, drawing parallels to several others based on drawing cards. A key card for comparison is Mulldrifter, which also grants the advantage of card draw upon entering the battlefield or when evoked. Yet, River Kelpie steps further by providing continuous draw opportunities upon the play of persist cards or the usage of graveyard spells.
Baleful Strix is another card to consider against River Kelpie; it draws a card upon entry to the field and offers deathtouch, making it a defensive asset. However, it doesn’t match the recurrent draw potential that River Kelpie presents. Next in the comparison is The Gitrog Monster, a heavyweight that digs through your deck by drawing cards whenever a land heads to the graveyard, offering a different yet resourceful draw mechanic that’s both powerful and synergistic in land-focused decks.
To sum up, River Kelpie holds its ground within the Magic: The Gathering card pool, especially in decks built around graveyard interactions and persist mechanics, offering consistent card advantage that is hard to replicate with other similar creatures.
Cards similar to River Kelpie by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: River Kelpie’s abilities synergize with numerous strategies, allowing you to draw additional cards whenever a permanent is put into play from a graveyard or when another card is unearthed, thereby adding to your hand and giving you more options as the game progresses.
Resource Acceleration: Although not a direct source of mana, River Kelpie can lead to resource acceleration by consistently replenishing your hand, ensuring you never miss a land drop and always have spells to cast.
Instant Speed: While River Kelpie itself doesn’t function at instant speed, it promotes a reactive playstyle. This is due to its ability to draw you cards during the opponent’s turn as they bring back creatures or other permanents from their graveyard, keeping your resources flowing and allowing you to adapt quickly to the changing state of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While River Kelpie itself doesn’t call for discarding, any synergy with it may require you to discard cards to maximize its retrace, potentially depleting your hand.
Specific Mana Cost: River Kelpie has a targeted mana cost that includes two blue, which may be somewhat restricting, requiring a focused mana base that can consistently produce both blue and hybrid blue/black mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With five mana required to summon River Kelpie to the battlefield, it’s a commitment, especially when you weigh other creatures or card draw engines that can be played sooner for similar or greater impact.
Reasons to Include River Kelpie in Your Collection
Versatility: River Kelpie proves to be a dynamic addition to any deck focusing on casting spells from the graveyard or utilizing creature recursion. Its ability to draw a card whenever an instant or sorcery spell is cast from a graveyard, or a creature enters the battlefield from a graveyard, makes it an invaluable source of card advantage.
Combo Potential: This creature meshes well with self-mill strategies and synergizes with persistent cards such as those with the ‘Persist’ mechanic, which sees creatures return to play with a -1/-1 counter after death. Each loop of such interactions guarantees further card draw, feeding into powerful combo engines.
Meta-Relevance: As graveyard strategies frequently ebb and flow in popularity within MTG’s ever-changing meta, River Kelpie remains a relevant card for keeping your hand stocked with options. It particularly shines in Commander, where games are longer and establishing dominance through incremental advantage is key.
How to beat
River Kelpie is an impactful creature card in Magic: The Gathering, recognized for its ability to provide continuous card advantage in decks that capitalize on graveyard interactions. It’s especially potent in strategies where cards are regularly entering the graveyard from anywhere, such as through self-mill, discard, or creature sacrifice mechanisms. However, bypassing the standout perks of River Kelpie requires strategic planning.
To effectively counteract River Kelpie’s advantages, players may consider incorporating graveyard disruption into their deck. Tools like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can render River Kelpie’s ability obsolete by removing the possibility of cards entering the graveyard. Alternatively, instant-speed removal, such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push, can eliminate River Kelpie before the opponent can fully capitalize on its potential. A proactive approach involves using counter spells to prevent River Kelpie from hitting the board in the first place. Keeping ahead in the card advantage race or applying enough pressure to force the River Kelpie player on the defensive can also diminish its impact.
In summation, planning around River Kelpie’s strengths and being prepared with graveyard control and efficient removal plays a crucial role in maintaining control against decks that wield this persistent sea sprite.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase River Kelpie MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor and Commander 2019, 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 River Kelpie 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
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Printings
The River Kelpie Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2008-05-02 and 2023-06-23. Illustrated by 3 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008-05-02 | Shadowmoor | SHM | 49 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Jeff Easley | |
| 2 | 2019-08-23 | Commander 2019 | C19 | 93 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jeff Easley | |
| 3 | 2023-06-23 | Tales of Middle-earth Commander | LTC | 524 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Greg Hildebrandt & Tim Hildebrandt |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where River Kelpie has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering River Kelpie card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2008-05-01 | If River Kelpie and another permanent are each put onto the battlefield from a graveyard at the same time, River Kelpie’s first ability will trigger twice. (It will see the other permanent entering the battlefield.) |
| 2008-05-01 | If you cast River Kelpie itself from your graveyard (by using Yawgmoth’s Will, for example), neither ability triggers. The first ability doesn’t trigger because River Kelpie is put onto the stack; the second ability doesn’t trigger because it works only while River Kelpie is already on the battlefield. |
| 2008-05-01 | If you cast another artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker spell from a graveyard, only the second ability triggers. That’s because the card is put onto the stack, not onto the battlefield. |
| 2008-05-01 | If you play a land card from a graveyard (by using Crucible of Worlds, for example), only the first ability triggers. That’s because the land (which isn’t a spell) is put directly onto the battlefield from the graveyard. |
| 2008-05-01 | River Kelpie doesn’t give you the ability to cast spells from graveyards. Its second ability merely triggers whenever a spell is cast this way (by using Memory Plunder, for example). |
| 2013-06-07 | If a creature with persist stops being a creature, persist will still work. |
| 2013-06-07 | If a creature with persist that has +1/+1 counters on it receives enough -1/-1 counters to cause it to be destroyed by lethal damage or put into its owner’s graveyard for having 0 or less toughness, persist won’t trigger and the card won’t return to the battlefield. That’s because persist checks the creature’s existence just before it leaves the battlefield, and it still has all those counters on it at that point. |
| 2013-06-07 | If a permanent has multiple instances of persist, they’ll each trigger separately, but the redundant instances will have no effect. If one instance returns the card to the battlefield, the next to resolve will do nothing. |
| 2013-06-07 | If a token with no -1/-1 counters on it has persist, the ability will trigger when the token is put into the graveyard. However, the token will cease to exist and can’t return to the battlefield. |
| 2013-06-07 | If multiple creatures with persist are put into the graveyard at the same time (due to combat damage or a spell that destroys all creatures, for example), the active player (the player whose turn it is) puts all of their persist triggers on the stack in any order, then each other player in turn order does the same. The last trigger put on the stack is the first one that resolves. That means that in a two-player game, the nonactive player’s persist creatures will return to the battlefield first, then the active player’s persist creatures do the same. The creatures return to the battlefield one at a time. |
| 2013-06-07 | The persist ability triggers when the permanent is put into a graveyard. Its last known information (that is, how the creature last existed on the battlefield) is used to determine whether it had a -1/-1 counter on it. |
| 2013-06-07 | When a permanent with persist returns to the battlefield, it’s a new object with no memory of or connection to its previous existence. |