Gloomwidow's Feast MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	2008-05-02
Set symbol
Set name	Shadowmoor
Set code	SHM
Number	118
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Thomas M. Baxa

Key Takeaways

Creates multiple Insect tokens, building an army or enabling other strategic maneuvers.
Can be cast at instant speed, providing flexibility and surprise defensive options.
Diverse mana cost and discard requirement may limit its use in some decks.

Text of card

Destroy target creature with flying. If that creature was blue or black, put a 1/2 green Spider creature token with reach into play. (It can block creatures with flying.)

Each night, gloomwidows cull fresh prey for their ravenous hatchlings.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gloomwidow’s Feast enables you to garner additional resources by creating a horde of Insect tokens. This influx of creatures can quickly tilt the scales in your favor, overwhelming your opponent with sheer numbers or providing fodder for other strategic plays.

Resource Acceleration: Each Insect token generated by Gloomwidow’s Feast can be leveraged as a potential resource. Whether you’re ramping up for a pivotal spell or need extra blockers on the fly, these tokens serve as a versatile tool to speed up your game plan.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Gloomwidow’s Feast at instant speed gives you the upper hand by allowing strategic flexibility. React to your opponent’s moves during their turn or surprise them with unanticipated blockers, all while keeping your mana untapped for other threats and opportunities as they emerge.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the notable downsides to Gloomwidow’s Feast lies in its demand for you to pitch another card. This can create an unfavorable scenario when you’re already struggling to maintain a sufficient hand size, making the cost sometimes burdensome.

Specific Mana Cost: The deck-building implications of Gloomwidow’s Feast cannot be ignored as it necessitates a precise mana setup of two green and one colorless. This requirement might deter players with more diverse or color-intensive decks from including this card in their build.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When evaluating its four total mana cost against other options available in the game, some players find that the outcomes provided by Gloomwidow’s Feast do not quite justify the investment, especially in fast-paced matches or when facing off against decks that place early pressure.

Reasons to Include Gloomwidow’s Feast in Your Collection

Versatility: Gloomwidow’s Feast is a card that can be slotted into multiple deck archetypes with ease. Its ability to handle creatures both big and small makes it a valuable addition to sideboards where flexibility is key.

Combo Potential: As a card that enables graveyard interaction, Gloomwidow’s Feast can synergize with strategies centered around self-mill or reanimation. This opens up opportunities for various combo plays in constructed formats.

Meta-Relevance: Given a meta that’s heavy on creature-based strategies, Gloomwidow’s Feast can be a crucial tech choice. Its presence alone can disrupt your opponent’s game plan, giving you an important edge on the battlefield.

How to beat

Gloomwidow’s Feast emerges as a nuanced card in Magic: The Gathering, enticing players with its potential for powerful graveyard manipulation. This card allows a player to target and exile cards from their opponent’s graveyard, which could interfere with strategies dependent on graveyard recursion. To effectively overcome this card, smart play and strategic deck building are key. Cards like Relic of Progenitus could serve as a countermeasure, providing a way to selectively exile one’s own graveyard to limit Gloomwidow’s Feast’s impact.

Another tactic might involve the inclusion of cards that grant hexproof to your graveyard, such as Silent Gravestone, preventing your opponent from targeting cards within it. Aggressive deck types, capable of applying early pressure, may also diminish the feast’s relevance, outpacing the setup required for its optimal use. Ultimately, understanding the timing of Gloomwidow’s Feast and being able to predict when an opponent may play it gives a player the upper hand, enabling preemptive measures that can secure victory despite the card’s lurking presence.

Cards like Gloomwidow's Feast

Gloomwidow’s Feast brings a unique twist to the removal spells corner of Magic: The Gathering. It echoes cards such as Deathsprout, which also allows for destroying a creature, adding value by ramping up mana. Gloomwidow’s Feast, in comparison, might lack the mana ramp but compensates with a swarm of Insect creature tokens, providing board presence.

Arachnogenesis is another spell that can be juxtaposed with Gloomwidow’s Feast. While Arachnogenesis also creates Insect tokens and fogs the combat damage, it doesn’t destroy a creature outright, which is crucial for immediate threat removal that Gloomwidow’s Feast offers. Additionally, Gloomwidow’s Feast requires strict color commitment to green, unlike the flexibility offered by Deathsprout’s black and green mana costs. And while comparing it to Hero’s Downfall, a straight-forward creature or planeswalker removal spell, Gloomwidow’s Feast adds the potential for an escalated advantage with multiple tokens.

Even so, when evaluating the balance between immediate board impact and long-term gains, Gloomwidow’s Feast stands out in its role within creature removals, especially for those leveraging insect synergies or token-based strategies.

Cards similar to Gloomwidow's Feast by color, type and mana cost

Stonewood Invocation - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gloomwidow's Feast MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor, 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 Gloomwidow's Feast and other MTG cards: