Slayer's Cleaver MTG Card

Slayer’s Cleaver boosts creatures, turning them into formidable threats, crucial for game-closing capability. Its presence can disrupt your opponent’s plays, indirectly serving as resource acceleration. Key to defeating Slayer’s Cleaver lies in strategic board control and artifact disruption.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact — Equipment
Abilities	Equip
Released	2016-07-22
Set symbol
Set name	Eldritch Moon
Set code	EMN
Number	198
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Daniel Ljunggren

Text of card

Equipped creature gets +3/+1 and must be blocked by an Eldrazi if able. Equip

"Don't stop chopping until the pieces stop wiggling." —Rem Karolus, Slayer of Eldrazi

Cards like Slayer's Cleaver

In the realm of equipment cards within Magic: The Gathering, Slayer’s Cleaver secures a niche spot. Not unlike Grafted Wargear, both cards amplify the offensive capabilities of creatures. Slayer’s Cleaver, unique for its focus on Werewolf and Horror creatures, bestows an impressive power boost with the trade-off of a mana cost. On the flip side, Grafted Wargear provides a cost-effective increase in power and toughness but comes at the expense of the equipped creature if the equipment is removed.

Delving further into the comparison, the ever-popular Fireshrieker stands as a related card based on its ability to grant double strike. While Fireshrieker does not give a power boost as sizable as Slayer’s Cleaver, the potential for double damage makes it a formidable asset in combat-centric decks. Then there’s the more costly but flexible Argentum Armor, which similarly increases power and offers a potent removal ability upon attacking, arguably providing a broader utility than the tribal-focused Slayer’s Cleaver.

Each equipment card serves a strategic purpose based on deck themes and desired tactics. Slayer’s Cleaver shines in a specific archetype, where it escalates the threat level of key creature types to dominate the battlefield.

Cards similar to Slayer's Cleaver by color, type and mana cost

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Slayer’s Cleaver can drastically increase your ability to close out games by boosting a creature’s damage output, which can translate into card advantage as your enhanced creatures potentially remove more of your opponent’s creatures from the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Although Slayer’s Cleaver itself doesn’t provide direct resource acceleration, it does allow you to put serious pressure on your opponent, making your threats more potent and forcing them to react. This can upset an opponent’s mana curve and pace, indirectly working as a resource acceleration for your strategy.

Instant Speed: While Slayer’s Cleaver isn’t an instant, its mere presence on the field has a psychological impact, making opponents wary of instant speed removals or tricks you could have in your hand, as they calculate the risk of blocking or taking hits from a creature equipped with this powerful artifact.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Slayer’s Cleaver requires discarding a creature card to activate its ability, which might deplete your hand and reduce your ability to respond to opponents’ threats.

Specific Mana Cost: To utilize Slayer’s Cleaver effectively, your mana base needs to accommodate its specific mana cost that includes both colorless and red mana, potentially limiting deck-building versatility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its casting cost plus the additional requirement to discard a creature, Slayer’s Cleaver can be a heavy investment in the early game, delaying your development compared to other equipment or creature plays.

Reasons to Include Slayer’s Cleaver in Your Collection

Versatility: Slayer’s Cleaver is a weapon of choice for aggressive strategies, seamlessly fitting into warrior or equipment-focused decks. It boosts any creature’s power significantly, turning even the smallest ally into a substantial threat.

Combo Potential: With its ability to grant a dramatic increase in power, Slayer’s Cleaver synergizes well with cards that capitalize on damage output or triggered abilities upon dealing combat damage, propelling your tactical advantage.

Meta-Relevance: The card can be a game-changer in environments teeming with creature-based decks. Equipping a swift attacker with Slayer’s Cleaver can shift the tide of battle, carving through opponents’ defenses or even closing out games unexpectedly.

How to beat

Slayer’s Cleaver often emerges as a formidable equipment in the realm of MTG, empowering creatures with a significant bonus when they attack Humans. With such a substantial power boost, it can turn any creature into a substantial threat on the battlefield. Recognizing this, the key to outmaneuvering Slayer’s Cleaver lies in crafting a strategy that prevents its optimal use.

One effective approach is to limit creature-based strategies, thus reducing the number of targets for Slayer’s Cleaver’s ability. Board control spells, efficient creature removal, or counterspells can play pivotal roles in hindering the creature to which Slayer’s Cleaver might be attached. Furthermore, cards that restrict the ability to equip or target artifacts directly can cripple the Cleaver’s impact, rendering it an inert piece on the board. Ensnaring spells like Disenchant or similar artifact disruption cards could also be advantageous additions to your deck, offering a way to neutralize the Cleaver’s presence and maintain the upper hand.

Ultimately, understanding and anticipating the substantial threat that Slayer’s Cleaver represents allows for strategic deck building. Including versatile answers to artifacts and a focus on controlling the board can ensure that this powerful equipment doesn’t determine the game’s outcome.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Slayer's Cleaver MTG card by a specific set like Eldritch Moon, 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 Slayer's Cleaver and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Slayer's Cleaver has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2016-07-13	If each Eldrazi that could block the equipped creature is tapped or is affected by a spell or ability that says it can’t block, then none of them block. If there’s a cost associated with having each of those creatures block, its controller isn’t forced to pay the cost, so they don’t have to block in that case either.
2016-07-13	One creature equipped with multiple Slayer’s Cleavers only requires a single Eldrazi to block it.
2016-07-13	Only one Eldrazi is required to block the equipped creature. Other Eldrazi and non-Eldrazi creatures may also block that creature, and are free to block other creatures or not block at all.
2016-07-13	The defending player, not the attacking player, chooses which Eldrazi blocks the equipped creature.