Cathartic Adept MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Wizard
Abilities	Mill
Released	2008-10-03
Set symbol
Set name	Shards of Alara
Set code	ALA
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	34
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Carl Critchlow

Key Takeaways

Optimizes card draws by selectively milling, thus enhancing access to pivotal cards within a player’s deck.
Instant-speed activation offers strategic flexibility, allowing for graveyard sculpting on an opponent’s turn.
Though it requires discarding, its utility in graveyard-centric strategies can outweigh the potential card loss.

Text of card

: Target player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

"Forget. Only then will there be space for hope between the pain and fear."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cathartic Adept shines as a tool for players looking to cycle through their decks efficiently. Each activation grants the ability to sift through your deck, enhancing the chances of drawing into key cards.

Resource Acceleration: Although the Cathartic Adept itself doesn’t produce additional mana or tokens, it synergizes incredibly well with graveyard strategies. It can set up powerful reanimation spells or synergize with cards that thrive on having a stocked graveyard.

Instant Speed: The ability to use Cathartic Adept’s effect at instant speed gives players flexibility. During an opponent’s turn, you can maximize downtime by sculpting your graveyard, all while keeping mana open for other crucial responses and interactions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Cathartic Adept’s ability mandates discarding a card, potentially depleting your hand and pressuring valuable resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Its casting requirement of a single blue mana confines it primarily to blue-based decks, limiting cross-archetype compatibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering options for self-mill or card selection, other offerings in the game may provide more impact for the same, if not lower, mana investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Cathartic Adept is a flexible choice for decks that need to manage graveyard interactions. Its ability to shuffle a card from a graveyard into the library can be utilized in various strategic setups, making it a useful sideboard card against graveyard-centric decks.

Combo Potential: This card can serve as an integral part of a mill strategy, enabling repetitive milling in combination with untap effects or cards that allow for additional activations. Its potential to disrupt your opponent’s plans by targeting key cards makes it a sneaky addition to any combo-centric collection.

Meta-Relevance: In formats where graveyard strategies are prevalent, having Cathartic Adept can prove to be a game-changer. It offers a low-cost way to interfere with your opponent’s tactics, keeping important reanimation targets out of reach and mitigating the power of graveyard-based combos.

How to Beat

Cathartic Adept is a niche card in Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to target a player and make them put the top card of their library into their graveyard with each activation. The card poses a unique challenge in that it can systematically deplete an opponent’s library, leading to a potential win through mill strategy. To counteract the Adept’s milling effect, consider using spells that can shuffle your graveyard back into your library, such as Elixir of Immortality or Gaea’s Blessing.

Moreover, players can utilize instant-speed removal spells or abilities to deal with Cathartic Adept before it can become a recurring nuisance. Cards like Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt are effective at this for their low mana cost and instant execution. Additionally, controlling the board with counterspells such as Counterspell or Negate when Adept is cast can prevent the milling mechanic from coming into play entirely.

In essence, the key to beating Cathartic Adept lies in promptly disrupting the milling process, efficiently managing resources with spells to counteract or negate the ability, and maintaining a healthy mix of graveyard shuffling mechanics within your deck to mitigate the potential threat this card represents.

Cards like Cathartic Adept

Cathartic Adept is a unique addition to the pool of creatures that interact with libraries in Magic: The Gathering. While the Adept allows a player to target a library and put the top card into their graveyard, it echoes the abilities of cards like Hedron Crab. However, the Crab necessitates a landfall trigger to enact a similar milling effect for potentially more cards. Cathartic Adept, on the other hand, requires no such condition, offering more controlled milling with a single card per turn.

Analogous in function is Merfolk Secretkeeper, a creature with a Venture Deeper sorcery adventure that mills four cards at once. Although it’s a heftier mill on a single use compared to Cathartic Adept, it doesn’t provide the flexibility of repeated use. Then, there’s the Drowned Rusalka, another blue creature that can influence the graveyard by sacrificing a creature to draw and discard, though not directly milling as the Adept does.

Overall, Cathartic Adept presents itself as a moderate, yet enduring milling option for Magic: The Gathering players looking to subtly influence either their own or their opponent’s libraries over the course of a game.

Cards similar to Cathartic Adept by color, type and mana cost

Merfolk of the Pearl Trident - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cathartic Adept MTG card by a specific set like Shards of Alara, 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 Cathartic Adept and other MTG cards: