Verdant Touch MTG Card
1998-03-02 - Number 123
2015-05-06 - Number 203
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Buyback |
Key Takeaways
- Verdant Touch offers versatility as it can transform lands into creatures, increasing board state while maintaining hand size.
- Capable of instant speed play, this card allows for strategic surprise plays by animating lands unpredictably.
- The requirement to discard for an alternative cost and specific mana needs can limit its use in some decks.
Text of card
Buyback o3 (You may pay an additional o3 when you play this spell. If you do, put it into your hand instead of your graveyard as part of the spell's effect.) Target land becomes a 2/2 creature permanently. (This creature still counts as a land.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Verdant Touch has the potential to turn any of your lands into creatures, increasing your board presence without losing card resources. This versatility means you maintain the same number of cards in hand while advancing your board state.
Resource Acceleration: By utilizing Verdant Touch, you can essentially animate your lands to become creatures that can attack or block. This transformation can unlock new strategies, enabling quicker deployment of your game plan and accelerating your resource utilization without further depleting your mana pool.
Instant Speed: The ability to cast Verdant Touch at instant speed provides strategic flexibility, allowing you to wait for the perfect moment to surprise your opponent by turning a land into a creature either defensively or offensively, without sacrificing the element of surprise or the option to respond to threats as they arise.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Verdant Touch comes with a specific condition of discarding another card when using its alternative mana cost. This can be a drawback as it depletes your hand, potentially costing you vital resources or the opportunity to play multiple spells in a turn.
Specific Mana Cost: The card has a particular mana requirement that includes green mana. Players not running decks with heavy green mana may find it challenging to accommodate Verdant Touch, reducing its versatility across different deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a required investment of two mana, one of which must be green, Verdant Touch’s cost is on the higher side when considering the single target, land-to-creature transforming ability. Other cards in the same mana range may provide more immediate board impact or card advantage.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Verdant Touch offers a unique ability to turn lands into creatures, making it a multi-purpose card that can serve different roles depending on the situation. In a pinch, it can create surprise blockers or, in the right deck, become a tool for aggressive strategies.
Combo Potential: This card can work wonders in decks that capitalize on the number of creatures you control. Combining it with cards that benefit from creature count or landfall triggers can lead to powerful and unexpected combos.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where control decks reign supreme, Verdant Touch can swiftly turn an otherwise innocuous set of lands into a formidable army, bypassing traditional removal and disrupting your opponent’s plans.
How to beat Verdant Touch
Verdant Touch presents a unique challenge as it possesses the ability to turn any land into a creature permanently. This card offers strategic flexibility but can leave a player vulnerable to mass removal spells. Addressing Verdant Touch effectively requires foresight and the appropriate countermeasures such as keeping instant-speed removal spells or board wipes at hand. Land destruction can also cripple the setup by targeting newly animated lands.
Interaction is key; spells like Path to Exile or Rapid Hybridization offer a way to neutralize the threat immediately without losing card advantage. Moreover, sweepers like Wrath of God or Damnation can clean the board of all creatures, including those formerly mere lands, negating the card’s effect. Players can also opt for enchantment removal like Naturalize to deal with Verdant Touch itself if it’s recurring through means such as graveyard recursion. Strategy becomes paramount when navigating around this card’s capacity to modify the game state.
Ultimately, like with any MTG card, understanding and anticipating your opponent’s possible moves with Verdant Touch and having a plan to disrupt their strategy is the best way to ensure victory. Observation and timely reactions are crucial to beating this enchantment and maintaining control of the game.
Cards like Verdant Touch
Verdant Touch stands out in the world of sorcery spells in Magic: The Gathering by offering the unique ability to bestow lands with a living essence, turning them into creatures. This is somewhat akin to the classic spell Living Terrain, which also animates lands. Verdant Touch allows any land to become a 2/2 creature temporarily with its staple ability, different from Living Terrain that permanently animates a single land while also making it a more robust 3/3.
Reflecting on other similar spells, we see a connection with Earth Surge, where all lands become 2/2 creatures, yet this effect is more widespread and less controlled than what Verdant Touch offers. This global approach contrasts sharply with Verdant Touch’s selective targeting, which allows for tactical maneuvering during gameplay. Additionally, Sylvan Awakening is a card with a comparable effect, giving all lands you control indestructible until end of turn while also turning them into 2/2 creatures. The key difference here lies in Verdant Touch’s choice of individual versus global transformation and the lack of the indestructibility feature.
In essence, Verdant Touch presents a strategic utility for MTG players looking for targeted land animation, holding its place as a unique card that offers precision and flexibility in gameplay, distinguishing it from other nature-inspired sorcery options.
Cards similar to Verdant Touch by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Verdant Touch MTG card by a specific set like Stronghold and Tempest Remastered, 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 Verdant Touch and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Verdant Touch Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1998-03-02 and 2015-05-06. Illustrated by 3 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1998-03-02 | Stronghold | STH | 123 | 1997 | Normal | Black | M. W. Kaluta & DiTerlizzi | |
| 2 | 2015-05-06 | Tempest Remastered | TPR | 203 | 2015 | Normal | Black | M. W. Kaluta & DiTerlizzi |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Verdant Touch has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Verdant Touch card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | The land is still a land and retains all its abilities, plus any other characteristics. |
| 2008-08-01 | A noncreature permanent that turns into a creature can attack, and its abilities can be activated, only if its controller has continuously controlled that permanent since the beginning of their most recent turn. It doesn’t matter how long the permanent has been a creature. |
