Guttural Response MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Guttural Response counters blue or black spells, protecting your strategic moves and maintaining card advantage.
  2. With a low mana cost, it supports mana curve efficiency, enabling a steady play of threats and resources.
  3. Instant speed allows for surprise plays, catching opponents off-guard and potentially turning the game around.

Text of card

Counter target blue instant spell.

Wort had a raiding-bellow that could shatter steel, melt auras, and slice countermagic in half.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Guttural Response itself doesn’t directly provide card advantage, it ensures key spells in your hand make it to the battlefield by countering blue or black counter spells that would otherwise negate your important moves. Thus, it effectively acts as a shield for your card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Guttural Response is lean on mana cost, requiring only one red or green mana. This minimalist requirement helps maintain resource acceleration as it doesn’t set you back in your mana curve, allowing you to continue deploying threats or resources without significant delays.

Instant Speed: Its instant speed means you have the flexibility to respond immediately to an opponent’s actions, catching them off guard when they’re most vulnerable – during their own turn while committing to a strategic play. This surprise factor can shift the momentum of the game in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: This card doesn’t have a discard requirement, which means you won’t have to sacrifice any cards from your hand to play it. However, it’s important for players to be aware of the trade-offs with each card they include in their decks.

Specific Mana Cost: Guttural Response can only be cast with one red and one green mana, which locks it into specific deck archetypes that can reliably produce both types of mana, potentially excluding it from mono-colored decks or those that don’t complement these colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although it costs only two mana, Guttural Response may seem costly in scenarios where mana efficiency is paramount, especially when considering that the card only counters blue or black spells, which may not always be relevant depending on the opponent’s deck.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Guttural Response provides an unusual angle of defense for red and green decks by countering blue noncreature spells, a trait not commonly found in these color’s arsenals. This makes it a versatile sideboard card against control decks.

Combo Potential: As a quick-response card, it can protect your key spells during a combo turn or disrupt an opponent’s combo, ensuring your strategy isn’t easily interrupted.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where blue control decks are prevalent and instant-speed interaction is key, including Guttural Response can give a strategic edge. It allows players to operate on their own terms without the fear of their spells being countered.


How to beat

Guttural Response is a unique counterspell that defies conventional tactics in Magic: The Gathering. Unlike traditional counters that target a wide range of spells, Guttural Response specifically zeroes in on blue spells—providing red or green decks with a rare disruptive tool. To outwit this card, consider adapting your playstyle. Deploying non-blue instants or supporting spells that are resilient to being countered can mitigate its impact. Alternatively, baiting out Guttural Response with less crucial spells, thus clearing a path for your more vital blue spells, can be an effective strategy.

When it comes to planning your plays, paying close attention to your opponent’s mana pool is key. Since Guttural Response only costs a single red or green mana, being aware of when this mana is available can inform you when to hold back or proceed with casting important blue instants. Flexibility plays a crucial role as well. Having a diverse spell arsenal that isn’t solely reliant on blue instants can prevent your opponent from fully capitalizing on the narrow scope of Guttural Response’s countering capabilities.

Ultimately, awareness and adaptability are your best assets in circumventing the constraints this card introduces. By carefully considering when and how to play your spells, you can render Guttural Response nothing more than a minor hurdle in your path to victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of Guttural Response is essential for any MTG enthusiast looking to sharpen their tactics and refine their deck building skills. With its ability to protect your key plays and catch opponents off guard, this card offers a significant edge in just the right scenarios. Considering its unique role in the current meta and its potential for combo disruption, it’s a card worth exploring for those looking to innovate within the red and green spectrum. If you’re eager to discover how Guttural Response can bolster your deck’s defenses and turn the tides of battle in your favor, delve deeper with us and learn more about optimizing your gameplay with this and other strategic cards.


Cards like Guttural Response

Guttural Response is a unique spell in the world of Magic: The Gathering, offering red and green decks a rare tool to counter noncreature spells. In comparison to traditional blue counterspells like Counterspell or Mana Leak, Guttural Response provides a reactive play style for colors not typically associated with counterspells. Its specificity to targeting only blue spells makes it a niche sideboard card, especially useful in formats where blue control decks dominate.

Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast are close relatives in functionality, allowing red players to counter or destroy blue spells and permanents. These older cards offer broader targets at the same low mana cost. Whereas Guttural Response is restricted to instant targets, Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast can be used against any blue spell or permanent, providing more utility in various situations.

However, the allure of Guttural Response lies in its color flexibility, being accessible to green players. Guttural Response shines in the context of red-green decks, where players wish to protect their strategies without altering their deck’s fundamental color identity. This card ensures that vital spells and creatures can be shielded from the powerful countermagic that blue is notorious for.

Counterspell - MTG Card versions
Mana Leak - MTG Card versions
Red Elemental Blast - MTG Card versions
Pyroblast - MTG Card versions
Counterspell - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Mana Leak - Stronghold (STH)
Red Elemental Blast - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Pyroblast - Ice Age (ICE)

Cards similar to Guttural Response by color, type and mana cost

Undergrowth - MTG Card versions
Undergrowth - Alliances (ALL)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Guttural Response MTG card by a specific set like Shadowmoor and Treasure Chest, 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 Guttural Response and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Guttural Response Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2008-05-02 and 2017-03-31. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12008-05-02ShadowmoorSHM 2082003normalblackMatt Cavotta
22016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 658452015normalblackBen Wootten
32017-03-31Duel Decks: Mind vs. MightDDS 562015normalblackBen Wootten
42020-09-26The ListPLST DDS-562015normalblackBen Wootten

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Guttural Response has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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