Survival Cache MTG Card
2010-04-23 - Number 48
2013-11-01 - Number 23
2017-11-17 - Number 34
2020-09-26 - Number IMA-34
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Rebound |
Text of card
You gain 2 life. Then if you have more life than an opponent, draw a card. Rebound (If you cast this spell from your hand, exile it as it resolves. At the beginning of your next upkeep, you may cast this card from exile without paying its mana cost.)
Cards like Survival Cache
Survival Cache stands out as a versatile card among life gain and card draw spells in Magic: The Gathering. When we look at the card’s kin, we see a resemblance to Renewed Faith, which also offers life gain with the additional benefit of versatility, allowing the player to cycle it for a new card if the life isn’t as critical at the moment. Survival Cache, however, doubles down on its effect if you have more life than your opponent, granting you an extra card draw on your next upkeep.
Casting a wider net in the comparison, we encounter Revitalize. This spell costs one less mana and provides immediate gratification with life gain and card draw, but doesn’t have the recurring benefit Survival Cache potentially offers. Then, juxtaposing with Stream of Thought, which repopulates your library and disrupts your opponent’s plans, Survival Cache doesn’t affect deck contents but can consistently provide an advantage over two turns.
To wrap it up, the repetitive nature of Survival Cache may place it in a sweet spot for those looking to gain incremental life and draw more cards across multiple turns in Magic: The Gathering, making it a worthy consideration for decks that thrive on life points as a resource.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Survival Cache provides you with the opportunity to draw a card over two consecutive turns, potentially offering a significant advantage as you access more of your deck’s resources.
Resource Acceleration: With Survival Cache, if you have more life than an opponent when it resolves, it also grants you a section of life gain. This can equate to an indirect resource boost, putting you ahead in the race for life totals, which often translates to more strategic freedom.
Instant Speed: While Survival Cache isn’t an instant itself, the life you gain can help you leave mana open for instant-speed interactions. This way, you can still affect the board state while benefiting from the card’s effects on your next turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Even though Survival Cache doesn’t immediately require a discard to play, it does necessitate that you have the highest life total or tie for it to get its reap the full benefits. In some situations, especially in competitive play, this precondition can be restrictive and hard to satisfy.
Specific Mana Cost: Survival Cache demands a specific combination of mana to cast—one colorless and two white. This requirement may hinder its inclusion in multi-colored decks that can’t reliably produce the necessary white mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Survival Cache could be considered costly when compared to other life gain or card draw options that are available at a lower cost. This might detract from its appeal, given that many decks aim for optimal efficiency in both mana use and card effect.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Survival Cache seamlessly integrates into various deck archetypes, particularly those that thrive on life gain and repeated card advantage mechanisms.
Combo Potential: This card interacts well with strategies that capitalize on having higher life totals, possibly unlocking powerful synergies or enabling alternative win conditions.
Meta-Relevance: With a meta that frequently sees aggressive and burn strategies, Survival Cache’s life gain can provide the necessary edge to stabilize and outlast opponents while refueling your hand.
How to beat
Survival Cache is a card that can repeatedly provide both life gain and card draw, presenting a moderate challenge to overcome in a MTG match. To effectively neutralize this card’s advantage, it’s critical to either keep your life total higher than your opponent’s or remove Survival Cache from the game entirely. One approach is to use direct life-gain counteractions like spells that cause loss of life or effects that prevent life gain. Another strategy is to employ counter spells to prevent Survival Cache from resolving or recurring graveyard removal to inhibit its rebound ability. Discard effects can also be proactive, taking Survival Cache out of the opponent’s hand before it can impact the board. Applying constant pressure to reduce your opponent’s life total below yours can also deny them the card draw benefit of Survival Cache, thus dulling its effectiveness. These tactics combined can help tilt the match in your favor, mitigating the edge that Survival Cache offers in card sustainability and life gain.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Survival Cache MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi and Commander 2013, 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 Survival Cache and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
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Printings
The Survival Cache Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2010-04-23 and 2017-11-17. Illustrated by Scott Chou.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010-04-23 | Rise of the Eldrazi | ROE | 48 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Scott Chou | |
| 2 | 2013-11-01 | Commander 2013 | C13 | 23 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Scott Chou | |
| 3 | 2017-11-17 | Iconic Masters | IMA | 34 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Scott Chou | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | IMA-34 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Scott Chou |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Survival Cache has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Survival Cache card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2010-06-15 | At the beginning of your upkeep, all delayed triggered abilities created by rebound effects trigger. You may handle them in any order. If you want to cast a card this way, you do so as part of the resolution of its delayed triggered ability. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type (if it’s a sorcery) are ignored. Other restrictions are not (such as the one from Rule of Law). |
| 2010-06-15 | If a replacement effect would cause a spell with rebound that you cast from your hand to be put somewhere else instead of your graveyard (such as Leyline of the Void might), you choose whether to apply the rebound effect or the other effect as the spell resolves. |
| 2010-06-15 | If a spell with rebound that you cast from your hand doesn’t resolve for any reason (due being countered by a spell like Cancel, or because all of its targets are illegal), rebound has no effect. The spell is simply put into your graveyard. You won’t get to cast it again next turn. |
| 2010-06-15 | If you are unable to cast a card from exile this way, or you choose not to, nothing happens when the delayed triggered ability resolves. The card remains exiled for the rest of the game, and you won’t get another chance to cast the card. The same is true if the ability is countered (due to Stifle, perhaps). |
| 2010-06-15 | If you cast a card from exile this way, it will go to your graveyard when it resolves, fails to resolve, or is countered. It won’t go back to exile. |
| 2010-06-15 | If you cast a spell with rebound from anywhere other than your hand (such as from your graveyard due to Sins of the Past, from your library due to cascade, or from your opponent’s hand due to Sen Triplets), rebound won’t have any effect. If you do cast it from your hand, rebound will work regardless of whether you paid its mana cost (for example, if you cast it from your hand due to Maelstrom Archangel). |
| 2010-06-15 | If you cast a spell with rebound from your hand and it resolves, it isn’t put into your graveyard. Rather, it’s exiled directly from the stack. Effects that care about cards being put into your graveyard won’t do anything. |
| 2010-06-15 | In a Two-Headed Giant game, anything that cares about your life total checks the life total of your team. For example, say that your team has 10 life and your opponent’s team has 11 life when you cast Survival Cache. You’ll gain 2 life, so your team’s life total becomes 12. Since your life total (12) is greater than an opponent’s life total (11), you’ll draw a card. |
| 2010-06-15 | Rebound will have no effect on copies of spells because you don’t cast them from your hand. |