Octopus Umbra MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant,Totem armor

Key Takeaways

  1. Octopus Umbra transforms creatures into major threats, offering significant card and board advantage.
  2. An enchantment for acceleration, it turns creatures into mana sources and unlocks combo potential.
  3. Boasting meta relevance, it consistently protects creatures in control-heavy environments.

Text of card

Enchant creature Enchanted creature has base power and toughness 8/8 and has "Whenever this creature attacks, you may tap target creature with power 8 or less." Totem armor (If enchanted creature would be destroyed, instead remove all damage from it and destroy this Aura.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Octopus Umbra is not just a creature enhancement—it’s a card advantage engine. When attached to a creature, it transforms even the smallest of creatures into a formidable threat that must be answered, often resulting in a two-for-one scenario where opponents need to deal with both the Umbra and the buffed creature.

Resource Acceleration: The potency of Octopus Umbra lies in its ability to turn any creature into a ramping tool. Thanks to the enchanted creature’s newfound toughness, converted into mana with effects that allow tapping for mana equal to a creature’s toughness, this Aura can significantly hasten your game plan.

Instant Speed: While Octopus Umbra itself isn’t an instant, the Totem Armor ability it grants can serve as a surprise trick during combat or in response to your creatures being targeted. Effectively, it can catch opponents off guard, protecting your investments on the battlefield at crucial times and disrupting the opponents’ strategies, akin to the instant-speed responses.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Octopus Umbra’s requirement for both blue and colorless mana can be restrictive for decks that aren’t focused on blue mana resources. This can make it challenging to cast for multi-colored decks not heavily invested in blue.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost of five, including three colorless and two blue, it’s a considerable investment, especially when you’re aiming for an efficient curve in your gameplay. This can be cumbersome in fast-paced games where lower-cost cards could provide a quicker board presence or immediate impact.

Discard Requirement: While Octopus Umbra does not directly prompt a discard, its high mana cost may pressure players to discard it for better tempo plays or to make room for more immediate answers to opponents’ threats. Managing hand size to maintain card advantage can be tricky with such high-cost cards in your deck.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Octopus Umbra is not just an enchantment, it’s a powerful tool that can transform any creature into a formidable threat with a +8/+8 boost. Its ability to turn even the smallest of creatures into a major player on the board makes it a flexible addition to several deck archetypes.

Combo Potential: This card brings more to the table than just a mere power increase. It also grants the enchanted creature the ability to tap and untap it, opening up numerous synergies with cards that capitalize on tapping mechanics. Hence, its inclusion might be the keystone for a clever and unexpected combo setup.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where control decks are prominent, the totem armor ability of Octopus Umbra serves as a safeguard, protecting your key creatures from potentially devastating removal spells. Its enduring presence makes it relevant in a meta where creature survivability can mean the difference between victory and defeat.


How to beat

Octopus Umbra is a unique enchantment in the vast sea of MTG cards, offering not only a formidable boost to a creature’s size but also the tenacious Totem Armor ability. This combination makes any creature a serious threat and an octopus with a penchant for squashing opponents. Like auramancy, where enchantments decide the fate of the game, removing Octopus Umbra efficiently requires smart play.

One effective strategy is to bypass the Totem Armor—in essence, ignoring the buff and focusing on removing the creature underneath. Enchantment exile effects like Oblivion Ring or countermagic such as Negate target the source of the problem, leaving your opponent’s investments sunk. Another route is to use board wipes like Wrath of God that clear everything in one fell swoop, Totem Armor included. This tactic is akin to drawing a line in the sand, saying no creatures shall pass, regardless of their armors or enhancements.

In a duel where the deep sea merges with strategy, overcoming the might of Octopus Umbra means being one step ahead, ready with answers in your deck to ensure your opponent’s tide doesn’t turn into a tsunami against you.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the ins and outs of every MTG card is pivotal to your success as a player. With Octopus Umbra, you manipulate the battlefield, converting any creature into a massive threat with its +8/+8 bonus and strategically safeguarding it with Totem Armor. Our review digs into its potential and limitations, offering insights that ensure your deck can harness its full power or cleverly dismantle its defenses. Keen to expand your card knowledge and sharpen your strategies? Dive deeper with us into the MTG realm, where every card, combo, and play can tip the scales in your favor.


Cards like Octopus Umbra

Octopus Umbra is an intriguing enchantment card that stands out in the realm of aura spells in Magic: The Gathering. It’s reminiscent of other creature-powering auras, such as Eldrazi Conscription, which significantly boosts a creature’s power and toughness. Yet, Octopus Umbra carves its own niche with the ability to transform any creature into a formidable 8/8 octopus with the tentacle-themed ability to ink out opposing strategies.

In comparison, other enchantments like Bear Umbra focus on protecting a creature and untapping lands, providing a different form of utility. While Bear Umbra impacts the game by bolstering resources, Octopus Umbra changes the combat dynamic with its substantial power upgrade and offering Totem Armor as a protective shield. Then there’s the card Gigantiform, granting a similar power boost but without the crucial Totem Armor that shields from destruction.

After analyzing the subtle nuances and strengths of each card, Octopus Umbra earns its place in many decks as a valuable enchantment. Its capability of turning any creature into a significant threat while defending it from one instance of harm makes it a card that opponents must carefully play around in the landscape of Magic: The Gathering.

Eldrazi Conscription - MTG Card versions
Bear Umbra - MTG Card versions
Gigantiform - MTG Card versions
Eldrazi Conscription - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)
Bear Umbra - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)
Gigantiform - Zendikar (ZEN)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Octopus Umbra MTG card by a specific set like Treasure Chest and Commander 2018, 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 Octopus Umbra and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Octopus Umbra Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2018-08-09. Illustrated by Howard Lyon.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 707252015normalblackHoward Lyon
22018-08-09Commander 2018C18 112015normalblackHoward Lyon
32020-09-26The ListPLST C18-112015normalblackHoward Lyon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Octopus Umbra has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-07-13 Any power- or toughness-modifying effects (those that give +N/+N, for example) and counters will apply to the creature’s new base power and toughness, even if they started to apply before Octopus Umbra became attached.
2018-07-13 If a permanent enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor has indestructible, lethal damage and effects that try to destroy it simply have no effect. Totem armor won’t do anything because it won’t have to.
2018-07-13 If a permanent enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor would be destroyed by multiple state-based actions at the same time (most likely because a creature with deathtouch has dealt damage to that creature greater than or equal to its toughness) totem armor’s effect will replace all of them and save the creature.
2018-07-13 If a permanent you control is enchanted with multiple Auras that have totem armor, and the enchanted permanent would be destroyed, one of those Auras is destroyed instead — but only one of them. You choose which one because you control the enchanted permanent.
2018-07-13 If a spell or ability (such as Akroma’s Vengeance) would destroy both an Aura with totem armor and the permanent it’s enchanting at the same time, totem armor’s effect will save the enchanted permanent from being destroyed. Instead, the spell or ability will destroy the Aura in two different ways at the same time, but the result is the same as destroying it once.
2018-07-13 If a spell or ability says that it would “destroy” a permanent enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor, that spell or ability is what causes the Aura to be destroyed instead. Totem armor doesn’t destroy the Aura; rather, it changes the effects of the spell or ability. On the other hand, if a spell or ability deals lethal damage to a creature enchanted with an Aura that has totem armor, the game rules regarding lethal damage cause the Aura to be destroyed, not that spell or ability.
2018-07-13 Octopus Umbra overwrites all previous effects that set the creature’s base power and toughness to specific values. Any power- or toughness-setting effects that start to apply to a creature after Octopus Umbra becomes attached to it will overwrite this effect.
2018-07-13 Totem armor has no effect if the enchanted permanent is put into a graveyard for any other reason, such as if it’s sacrificed, if the “legend rule” applies to it, or if its toughness is 0 or less.
2018-07-13 Totem armor’s effect is applied no matter why the enchanted permanent would be destroyed: because it’s been dealt lethal damage, or because it’s being affected by an effect that says to “destroy” it (such as Putrefy). In either case, all damage is removed from the permanent and the Aura is destroyed instead.
2018-07-13 Totem armor’s effect is mandatory. If the enchanted permanent would be destroyed, you must remove all damage from it (if it has any) and destroy the Aura that has totem armor instead.
2018-07-13 Totem armor’s effect is not regeneration. Specifically, if totem armor’s effect is applied, the enchanted permanent does not become tapped and is not removed from combat as a result. Effects that say the enchanted permanent can’t be regenerated (as Putrefy does) won’t prevent totem armor’s effect from being applied.

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