Oni of Wild Places MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Demon Spirit
Abilities Haste
Power 6
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Oni’s ability to reuse red creatures’ enter-the-battlefield effects increases card advantage with each turn.
  2. Its playstyle flexibility is enhanced by promoting instant speed interactions and resourceful strategy crafting.
  3. The mandatory return of red creatures can disrupt board presence, requiring careful tactical consideration.

Text of card

Haste At the beginning of your upkeep, return a red creature you control to its owner's hand.

The oni leapt easily from peak to peak, toying with its victims, its voice a purr from the rumbling depths of nightmare.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Oni of Wild Places provides an interesting dynamic in terms of card advantage. By returning a red creature to your hand at the beginning of your upkeep, you’re effectively able to replay creatures with valuable enter-the-battlefield effects, making every turn potentially more potent.

Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly generating additional mana, the ability to bounce creatures back to your hand can synergize with cards that grant bonuses upon being cast. This can indirectly lead to accelerated resource utilization, as the Oni helps you make the most of your red creatures, over and over again.

Instant Speed: While the Oni itself is not an instant, it shapes your playstyle to favor instant speed actions. Knowing that you can replay a creature next turn, you may opt to leave mana open for instant-speed interactions, making your strategy more flexible and responsive to threats or opportunities as they occur during a match.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike other creatures that offer beneficial effects with no strings attached, Oni of Wild Places comes with the stipulation that you must return a red creature you control to your hand during your upkeep. This can disrupt your board presence and slow down your momentum, especially when you’re trying to establish a strong lineup of creatures for an aggressive strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Sitting at a specific mana cost of six, which includes four generic and two red mana, Oni of Wild Places demands a significant commitment to red mana sources. This can make it a less flexible option for decks that span multiple colors or need to manage their mana development carefully.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of six mana to get Oni of Wild Places onto the battlefield, it’s considered to have a high mana investment compared to other creatures in the six-mana slot. Cards like Inferno Titan or other high-impact red creatures often provide more immediate board impact or additional value, which can outclass Oni of Wild Places in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.


Reasons to Include Oni of Wild Places in Your Collection

Versatility: Oni of Wild Places offers players the flexibility to manipulate their mana curve effectively. This card, with its ability to return a red creature to your hand, allows for reusing enter-the-battlefield effects, or saving your creatures from imminent threats.

Combo Potential: This demon’s ability to bounce creatures back to your hand each turn sets the stage for powerful combos. It synergizes with cards that have impactful enter-the-battlefield triggers, thus providing a continuous loop of advantage.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where board wipes and control decks abound, Oni of Wild Places can give red decks a resilience they often lack, allowing players to replay their key creatures and maintain board presence despite opponents’ attempts to clear the board.


How to Beat

The Oni of Wild Places is a unique card in the world of Magic the Gathering, offering strategic advantages to players who can harness its power effectively. But, like all cards, it has its vulnerabilities, and understanding them can be key to overcoming this formidable creature. To counter the Oni, it’s essential to disrupt the advantage it grants. Since the Oni returns a red creature to its owner’s hand at the beginning of their upkeep, aim to limit the number of red creatures on the battlefield. Control spells, removals, and counterspells are efficient ways to keep the board clear and reduce the Oni’s impact.

Players can also leverage exile effects or utilize creature abilities that prevent the opponent from benefiting from returning creatures to their hand. Moreover, employing cards that restrict or penalize the opponent when they play creatures repeatedly can turn the Oni’s ability into a disadvantage. Tactics should be focused on neutralizing the Oni before its bouncing ability can be used to the opponent’s benefit or constructing a board state that is resilient to its influence. This way, the Oni of Wild Places becomes less of a threat and more of a manageable challenge during gameplay.


Cards like Oni of Wild Places

Oni of Wild Places stands as an interesting addition to the pantheon of red creatures in Magic: The Gathering, reminiscent of creatures like Anger, which grants haste to all of your creatures as long as it’s in the graveyard with a Mountain. Differently, Oni of Wild Places provides a continuous returns-to-hand ability, ensuring your hand is never empty of options. Anger works from the graveyard and requires no further investment once it’s in place, while the Oni demands active management and a more engaged strategy.

In line with this effect, we can look at Tuktuk Scrapper. This ally not only provides a means of removal when another Ally enters the battlefield but also aligns with the Oni’s capacity to exploit come-into-play effects by returning Allies to your hand and replaying them. Although Tuktuk Scrapper doesn’t affect the hand directly, the synergy with the Oni’s ability creates dynamic gameplay opportunities.

When assessing the value and utility of Oni of Wild Places against other red creatures, it stands out due to its unique hand recycling feature, which can be pivotal for maintaining board presence and recurring value from your creature’s enter-the-battlefield effects, making it a worthwhile consideration for deck-building in Magic: The Gathering.

Anger - MTG Card versions
Tuktuk Scrapper - MTG Card versions
Anger - Judgment (JUD)
Tuktuk Scrapper - Worldwake (WWK)

Cards similar to Oni of Wild Places by color, type and mana cost

Shivan Dragon - MTG Card versions
Firestorm Phoenix - MTG Card versions
Crater Hellion - MTG Card versions
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Shivan Dragon - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Firestorm Phoenix - Legends (LEG)
Crater Hellion - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Callous Giant - Invasion (INV)
Halam Djinn - Invasion (INV)
Bloodshot Cyclops - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Worldgorger Dragon - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Two-Headed Dragon - From the Vault: Dragons (DRB)
Ryusei, the Falling Star - Iconic Masters (IMA)
Ronin Cavekeeper - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Thundermare - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Pardic Dragon - Time Spiral (TSP)
Tectonic Fiend - Time Spiral (TSP)
Etali, Primal Storm - Dominaria United Commander (DMC)
Kamahl, Pit Fighter - Duels of the Planeswalkers (DPA)
Sunrise Sovereign - Lorwyn (LRW)
Lu Bu, Master-at-Arms - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Inferno Titan - Commander Masters (CMM)
Bogardan Rager - Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons (DDG)
Chartooth Cougar - The List (PLST)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Oni of Wild Places MTG card by a specific set like Saviors of Kamigawa and Commander 2011, 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 Oni of Wild Places and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Oni of Wild Places Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2005-06-03 and 2017-06-09. Illustrated by Mark Tedin.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12005-06-03Saviors of KamigawaSOK 1082003normalblackMark Tedin
22011-06-17Commander 2011CMD 1302003normalblackMark Tedin
32014-09-05Duel Decks: Speed vs. CunningDDN 192015normalblackMark Tedin
42017-06-09Commander AnthologyCMA 852015normalblackMark Tedin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Oni of Wild Places has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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