Rock Jockey MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Goblin |
| Released | 2003-05-26 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Scourge |
| Set code | SCG |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 101 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Glen Angus |
Key Takeaways
- Cycling for new cards maintains resources, essential in drawn-out matches to keep your hand flush.
- Reduced red spell costs foster swift, multi-spell turns, granting a tempo advantage over opponents.
- Instant speed cycling of Rock Jockey permits real-time strategy adjustments, crucial for optimal play.
Text of card
You can't play Rock Jockey if you played a land this turn. You can't play lands if you played Rock Jockey this turn.
Goblins don't know much about physics, but they know lots about falling and rocks.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Rock Jockey’s unique cycling ability can be a game-changer. By discarding it from your hand, you get to draw a new card, effectively replacing itself and maintaining the flow of your resources. This can be vital in long games where every card counts.
Resource Acceleration: Rock Jockey shines in decks that capitalize on playing red spells. By reducing the cost of red spells, it accelerates your ability to cast multiple spells in a turn, effectively giving you a resource advantage that’s hard for opponents to match.
Instant Speed: Though Rock Jockey itself is not an instant, its cycling ability can be activated at instant speed. This provides the flexibility to adjust your strategy on the fly, responding to the battlefield conditions without missing a beat, particularly when you’re looking for that perfect top-deck to answer your opponent’s threats.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Rock Jockey’s play condition necessitates discarding a card which can set you back, especially when you’re struggling to maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Rock Jockey calls for red mana in its cost, making it potentially restrictive and not a fit for every deck archetype, limiting its versatility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although charging three mana might seem fair, there are alternatives in red that provide quicker and sometimes more impactful plays earlier in the game.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Rock Jockey offers real flexibility for players who are building red-centric or artifact-heavy decks. With its unique ability to untap during each player’s upkeep, it ensures a recurrent boost of resources in multiplayer settings.
Combo Potential: Pairing Rock Jockey with cards that leverage untapped creatures can set off a chain of potent interactions, maximizing value each turn. In environments where tapping and untapping are key, Rock Jockey stands out as a dynamic engine.
Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to swiftly enhance your mana pool, Rock Jockey could play a crucial role in decks aiming to outpace opponents in fast-paced metagames. Its relentless energy is a boon for strategies focused on maintaining pressure and tempo.
How to beat Rock Jockey
Rock Jockey emerges as an intriguing card for aggressive strategies in the battlefield of MTG, offering players a cost-effective means to launch hefty creatures or spells. Its unique ability, which allows casting it with no mana cost, given that you’ve played another red spell this turn, provides a momentum swing often needed to outpace opponents.
Despite its potential, countering Rock Jockey can be straightforward. Control decks should prioritize removal spells to take it off the board before it can make an impact. Keeping a watchful eye on your opponent’s graveyard is also key; Rock Jockey’s constraint of being unable to play it from the graveyard limits its recurrence, making exile effects particularly potent against it.
Timing is everything when dealing with such a card. Strategic land destruction or counter-magic, when appropriate, can disrupt the synchronization required to make the most of Rock Jockey. By deterring your opponent’s initial red spell, you effectively block the pathway for Rock Jockey to enter the fray, maintaining your control over the game’s tempo.
Cards like Rock Jockey
Rock Jockey finds its niche among a broad selection of goblin cards in Magic: The Gathering, offering a unique angle on creature deployment. It shares some similarities with goblin cards like Goblin Guide, which is also known for its aggressive one-mana cost and hastened gameplay. Both cards excel in fast-paced strategies, getting players off to a quick start. However, while Goblin Guide is advantageous in immediately dealing damage, Rock Jockey presents an alternate benefit—its cost reduction ability for other goblins, potentially accelerating the player’s board presence.
Goblin Chieftain is another card worth comparing. Like Rock Jockey, it empowers other goblins—this time through a stat boost and granting haste to the entire tribe. It’s more costly, mana-wise, but the immediate effect on the battlefield can be substantial. Rock Jockey, on the other hand, is less about instant impact and more about investing in a longer-term goblin strategy. Lastly, Skirk Prospector is another goblin that allows for mana acceleration by sacrificing other goblins, but it lacks the proactive board development potential that Rock Jockey offers.
When considering Rock Jockey in a goblin-themed deck, its unique cost reduction ability for goblin spells stands out, encouraging a different strategic approach within the rich tapestry of goblin cards in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Rock Jockey by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Rock Jockey MTG card by a specific set like Scourge, 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 Rock Jockey 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
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Rock Jockey 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 Rock Jockey card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | The first ability applies only while this card is in your hand (or someplace else you can cast it from). |
| 2004-10-04 | The second ability applies only while this card is on the battlefield. |
