Run Aground MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Run Aground presents the opportunity to disrupt your opponent’s board presence by putting an artifact or creature back on top of their library, delaying them and effectively causing them to draw the same card again, thereby generating indirect card advantage for you.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana or resources, Run Aground can help you maintain tempo by setting your opponent back and accelerating your position in the game relative to theirs, especially when removing a costly or key piece from their side of the board.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Run Aground at instant speed offers great flexibility for countering opponent strategies during their turn. You can effectively disrupt their plays or remove blockers or attackers at critical moments, allowing you to better navigate through the complexities of a dynamic game state.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Run Aground does not have a discard requirement, which is beneficial for maintaining card advantage in your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: The card requires both blue and generic mana, necessitating a commitment to blue mana sources within a deck’s manabase.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost requiring four mana total, including one blue, it may be deemed costly for its relatively straightforward effect of putting an artifact or creature on top of its owner’s library.

Reasons to Include Run Aground in Your Collection

Versatility: Run Aground offers a proactive response to a wide range of threats on the board, making it a flexible addition to decks that prioritize control and tempo. It can handle creatures and artifacts alike, ensuring your deck isn’t caught off-guard.

Combo Potential: This card becomes particularly powerful in decks that manipulate the top of the library. By putting an opponent’s key card on top of their library, you can effectively delay their plans and set up for potential card-draw denial or milling strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In a game dominated by big creatures and artifact synergies, having a card like Run Aground can be a game-changer. It helps maintain board control and puts the tempo in your favor, especially when facing decks that rely heavily on specific permanents to win.

How to beat

Run Aground is a somewhat niche but impactful control card used to set back opponents in Magic: The Gathering. This card shines in moments where it can effectively remove an attacker or blocker by putting an opponent’s creature or artifact on top of their library, delaying their strategy and providing you with a crucial tempo advantage. To confront Run Aground, one should consider employing cards with hexproof to protect valuable creatures from being targeted. Alternatively, utilizing cards that allow you to scry or manipulate the top of your library can mitigate the tempo loss by ensuring the next draw is useful. Playing with instant-speed threats that can be cast on the end of your opponent’s turn can also reduce the opportunity for Run Aground to disrupt your game plan during your turn.

Keeping in mind its limitations can also be key to getting ahead – Run Aground can’t touch what’s not on the battlefield. By pacing the casting of high-value creatures and artifacts, or using counterspells to protect them, you can lessen Run Aground’s impact. It’s essential to navigate around the potential setback it represents, making smart, predictive plays to maintain leverage and control of the board.