Setessan Petitioner MTG Card

It offers substantial life gains when entering the battlefield, supporting endurance in prolonged games. As a lifegain creature, its repeatable effect can be a game-changer in the right deck. Exile removals are effective counters, bypassing its potential to return to play.

Setessan Petitioner - Theros Beyond Death

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Human Druid
Released	2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set name	Theros Beyond Death
Set code	THB
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	199
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Livia Prima

Text of card

When Setessan Petitioner enters the battlefield, you gain life equal to your devotion to green. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to green.)

"Cypress leaves for family, larkspur for protection, amaranth for a bountiful harvest."

Cards like Setessan Petitioner

Setessan Petitioner carves out its own niche within the Magic: The Gathering realm of life gain creatures. It offers a direct way to bolster your life total when it enters the battlefield, similar to the Centaur Healer. Yet, Setessan Petitioner can repeatedly provide this benefit if returned to your hand and replayed, distinguishing itself with enhanced resilience in longer matches.

Another card that parallels this effect is Nyx-Fleece Ram, which also focuses on sustaining your life, albeit in a more gradual manner by offering life at the beginning of your upkeep. However, unlike the Petitioner, the Ram is not bound by conditions such as requiring devotion to a color. Conversely, Arashin Cleric provides an immediate albeit lesser life gain effect upon entry without further conditions while being more cost-effective.

After evaluating life gain strategies in MTG, Setessan Petitioner deserves attention for its flexibility and the potential for repeated use. It’s a valuable asset for decks aiming to stay afloat in the face of aggressive strategies, providing a repeatable source of life that can be critical to enduring till the late game.

Decks using this card

MTG decks using Setessan Petitioner. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#	Name	Format	Archetype	Event
	Nykthos Ramp	Pioneer	Nykthos Ramp	Pioneer League 2024-04-24

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Setessan Petitioner provides a beneficial ETB (Enter the Battlefield) effect which lets you gain life equal to your devotion to green. While it doesn’t draw you cards directly, the life gained can help sustain your presence in the game, potentially outlasting opponents and drawing more cards over time.

Resource Acceleration: While Setessan Petitioner does not ramp or accelerate your resources in the traditional sense, a stable life total gives more leeway to utilize life as a resource for cards or abilities that require life payment without compromising your position in the game.

Instant Speed: Though Setessan Petitioner is a creature card and not an instant, its defensive capabilities can have a pseudo-instant effect by discouraging opponents from attacking, acting as a sort of life buffer that can interfere with an opponent’s aggressive strategy during their turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Setessan Petitioner does not directly require a discard, it is prone to being discarded if your hand is full and the additional life gain is not immediately needed, especially in games with a high card draw strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: The Setessan Petitioner requires both green mana and generic mana, which could be problematic in multicolored decks that are tight on mana fixing or in situations where gathering the right mana combination could be delayed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes two mana, one of which must be green, the Setessan Petitioner may arrive a bit too late on the battlefield, especially when considering that there are lower-cost creatures that can present a faster response to threats or offer similar utility without the constraint of additional life gain.

Reasons to Include Setessan Petitioner in Your Collection

Versatility: Setessan Petitioner can be a key component of any deck that aims to stabilize life totals. With its efficient mana cost and the ability to gain life upon entering the battlefield, it fits well in decks focused on lifegain strategies or as a defensive measure against aggressive opponents.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with synergistic abilities that benefit from life gain. It can be used to trigger effects that activate when you gain life, thus empowering your overall board presence and providing you with sustainable advantages as you head into the later stages of the game.

Meta-Relevance: In a metagame populated with aggressive decks, Setessan Petitioner can serve as an essential buffer, fortifying your life total to help you survive early onslaughts. It’s a solid addition if the current landscape rewards decks with mechanisms that revolve around life gain and resilience.

How to Beat Setessan Petitioner

Setessan Petitioner adds a unique dimension to creature-based life gain in Magic: The Gathering. Echoing the mechanics of cards like Kitchen Finks, the Petitioner can be a thorn in an opponent’s side thanks to its ability to pad life totals every time it hits the board. However, unlike Kitchen Finks, the Setessan Petitioner requires devotion to green for its full effect, which can be both an advantage and a limiting factor depending on the deck’s construction.

To effectively counter the Setessan Petitioner, players may consider including more removal spells that exile rather than destroy, such as Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares. Such spells ensure that the Petitioner can’t be recycled with effects like Eternal Witness or Ghostly Flicker. Board wipes like Damnation or Wrath of God also bypass the life gain by removing the Petitioner without targeting it directly. Players might also opt to exploit the devotion requirement by using color hate cards like Flashfreeze, which can handle creatures and other spells that rely heavily on green mana.

Understanding the dynamics of life gain and devotion are key when facing Setessan Petitioner. With smart removal choices and strategic play, overcoming this resilient creature becomes a manageable challenge on the battlefield.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Setessan Petitioner MTG card by a specific set like Theros Beyond Death, 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 Setessan Petitioner and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Setessan Petitioner has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-01-24	Colorless and generic mana symbols (, , , , , and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don’t count toward your devotion to any color.
2020-01-24	Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).
2020-01-24	If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be counted if it’s still on the battlefield at that time.
2020-01-24	If you put an Aura on an opponent’s permanent, you still control the Aura, and mana symbols in its mana cost count towards your devotion.
2020-01-24	Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don’t count toward your devotion to any color.