Samite Pilgrim MTG Card

Samite Pilgrim indirectly creates card advantage by saving your creatures from opponent removals. The card requires white mana and another card to activate, potentially limiting its use. It adds utility to any white-centered deck, enhancing both offensive and defensive strategies.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Cleric
Abilities	Domain
Released	2001-02-05
Set symbol
Set name	Planeshift
Set code	PLS
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	15
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	D. J. Cleland-Hura

Text of card

oc T: Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn, where X is the number of basic land types among lands you control.

Cards like Samite Pilgrim

Samite Pilgrim is an intriguing card that offers a unique blend of life gain and damage prevention in Magic: The Gathering. If we look at Leonin Elder, it shares the life gain trait, awarding you a life point whenever an artifact arrives on the battlefield. However, unlike Leonin Elder, Samite Pilgrim grants you the proactive ability to control when and how to prevent the damage from occurring, making it a more versatile option.

In the realm of damage prevention, the card Benevolent Bodyguard is another comparable card that provides a way to protect your creatures. While Benevolent Bodyguard can sacrifice itself for the cause, Samite Pilgrim remains on the battlefield, ready to assist multiple times. Moreover, the Bodyguard can prevent damage from any source once, while the Pilgrim focuses on preventing the damage from red spells specifically multiple times over.

Ultimately, Samite Pilgrim holds its ground as a valuable asset among damage prevention and life gain cards in Magic: The Gathering. Its targeted protection against red spells gives players a strategic edge in certain matchups, distinguishing the card as both a defensive and tactical tool in the game.

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: While not directly providing card draw, Samite Pilgrim’s ability to protect your key creatures lets you maintain board presence, effectively offering an indirect card advantage by negating your opponent’s removal efforts.

Resource Acceleration: Samite Pilgrim might not accelerate your mana resources, but it saves resources over time. By shielding vital creatures, it prevents you from having to spend additional mana on recasting those creatures, leading to a more efficient use of your mana pool in prolonged matches.

Instant Speed: The protection ability Samite Pilgrim grants can be used at instant speed, allowing you to respond to threats on the fly. This tactical element increases the element of surprise, making it more difficult for your opponents to anticipate and counter your defensive strategies.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Samite Pilgrim offers useful abilities, it necessitates the sacrifice of another white card in your hand, which could weaken your grip on the game when you’re pressed for cards.

Specific Mana Cost: Samite Pilgrim requires a precise combination of mana to cast, with a necessary allocation of white mana. This limits its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce white mana, potentially excluding it from a variety of multi-color strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The casting cost of Samite Pilgrim may be challenging to meet in the early game, hindering its potential as an early defensive play. Given that MTG offers a plethora of creatures that may provide equivalent functionality at a lower cost, its mana requirements could detour players seeking more cost-effective alternatives.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Samite Pilgrim offers great flexibility in deck building. With its ability to protect your creatures and contribute to life gain strategies, it adapts to a variety of white-based decks, functioning well in both aggressive and defensive roles.

Combo Potential: This card shines in combos with other life gain mechanics, enabling synergies that can rapidly overwhelm opponents. Its interplay with cards that trigger on life gain or require protection from certain colors can turn the tide in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: Given the fluctuating nature of the meta, Samite Pilgrim’s capability to protect important creatures is increasingly vital. In environments heavy with targeted removal or burn strategies, having an affordable protective option can be the difference-maker in tight matches.

How to beat

Samite Pilgrim blends seamlessly into the panorama of lifegain strategies within MTG. This white creature card weaves together elements of defense and incremental advantage, playing a supportive role much like other lifelink staples. Yet, despite its benefits, there are proven tactics to counter it.

One effective strategy hinges on removal spells that can bypass the Pilgrim’s defense. For example, cards with exile effects sidestep lifegain by removing the Pilgrim from play altogether. A spell like Path to Exile works wonders by eliminating it without triggering any life gain. Direct damage spells also serve as a straightforward solution. By dealing damage equal to or greater than the Pilgrim’s toughness, you can remove it before lifegain becomes a factor. Board wipes can equally disrupt the Pilgrim’s presence, clearing the path for a more dominant board state of your own.

In essence, countering Samite Pilgrim requires a blend of precision and power. Recognizing the ideal moment to use removal or leverage board control is key to undermining the Pilgrim’s value, thus encapsulating the strategic depth that fans cherish in MTG.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Samite Pilgrim MTG card by a specific set like Planeshift, 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 Samite Pilgrim and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Samite Pilgrim has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Samite Pilgrim card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2009-02-01	A number of nonbasic lands have basic land types. Domain abilities don’t count the number of lands you control — they count the number of basic land types among lands you control, even if that means checking the same land twice. For example, if you control a Tundra, an Overgrown Tomb, and a Madblind Mountain, you’ll have a Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest among the lands you control. Your domain abilities will be maxed out.
2009-02-01	How many lands you control of a particular basic land type is irrelevant to a domain ability, as long as that number is greater than zero. As far as domain is concerned, ten Forests is the same as one Forest.
2009-02-01	To determine the number of basic land types among lands you control, look at the lands you have on the battlefield and ask yourself whether the subtypes Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest appear within that group. The number of times you say yes (topping out at five) tells you how powerful your domain abilities will be.