Blight-Breath Catoblepas MTG Card


Blight-Breath Catoblepas - Theros Beyond Death
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Beast
Released2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set nameTheros Beyond Death
Set codeTHB
Power 3
Toughness 2
Number86
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byAntonio José Manzanedo

Key Takeaways

  1. The card excels in card advantage by combining creature play with a removal ability, especially in limited formats.
  2. Cost reduction via black devotion can lead to efficient mana usage, allowing flexibility with other spells.
  3. Strategic timing of its battlefield entry can disrupt opponents, providing multiple uses in flicker decks.

Text of card

When Blight-Breath Catoblepas enters the battlefield, target creature an opponent controls gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is your devotion to black. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)

Wherever it walks, famine follows behind.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Blight-Breath Catoblepas stands out with its ability to potentially remove a creature upon entering the battlefield, essentially working as a removal spell attached to a creature. This two-for-one scenario can tip the scales in your favor, offering significant card advantage especially in limited formats where removal options are at a premium.

Resource Acceleration: Although Blight-Breath Catoblepas doesn’t directly accelerate resources, the potential cost reduction from devotion to black can make it more efficient to cast. This efficiency can free up mana for other spells in your turn, making it an economical addition to your creature lineup.

Instant Speed: While the Blight-Breath Catoblepas doesn’t have instant speed itself, its enter-the-battlefield effect can have an instant impact on the board. This brings a strategic element to the game, where timing your plays to maximize its impact becomes crucial. It also interacts favorably in environments that can recur or flicker creatures, allowing you to exploit its enter-the-battlefield effect multiple times.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Blight-Breath Catoblepas may not require you to discard cards, but it does need a clear path to make its ability worth the cost. If your board is empty or dominated by the opponent, its impact significantly lessens.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature necessitates a precise blend of mana sources—three black mana and three of any type—making it somewhat challenging to cast, especially in multicolored decks that might struggle to consistently provide the required black mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total casting cost of six mana, including a substantial amount in a specific color, Blight-Breath Catoblepas leans towards the pricier end. Alternative cards might offer similar or broader board impact at a more competitive mana investment, giving them an advantage in deckbuilding consideration.


Reasons to Include Blight-Breath Catoblepas in Your Collection

Versatility: Blight-Breath Catoblepas offers flexibility in control or midrange decks. When you play it, you can leverage its ability to weaken or potentially remove a troublesome creature on the board, regardless of the type of strategy you face.

Combo Potential: This card’s synergies with decks that manipulate the devotion to a particular color are noteworthy. As your devotion to black increases, so does the potential to affect the battlefield when it enters, offering a dynamic interaction with other devotion-related cards.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where key creatures dictate the pace of the game, having an answer like Blight-Breath Catoblepas could tip the scales in your favor. Its creature-targeting ability keeps it relevant, especially against decks that rely on important utility creatures.


How to Beat Blight-Breath Catoblepas

Blight-Breath Catoblepas presents a unique challenge for players navigating the battleground of Magic: The Gathering. The card brings to the table a powerful interaction, not just a creature but a potential game-changer when it enters the battlefield—especially if you have a hefty devotion to black. The ability to potentially wipe out an opponent’s key creature can pivot the match in your favor, making it essential to understand how to effectively neutralize this threat.

To outmaneuver Blight-Breath Catoblepas, it’s critical to limit its impact. Instant speed removals such as Path to Exile or Rapid Hybridization enable you to respond immediately before its triggered ability has a chance to resolve. Similarly, counterspells like Cancel or Essence Scatter can prevent this creature from ever posing a threat. Should the Catoblepas make it onto the board, having evasive or indestructible creatures offers a steady defense against its -X/-X ability. Lastly, increasing your creature’s toughness beyond the range of Blight-Breath Catoblepas’s ability ensures they survive its entrance, keeping your board state strong against its potentially devastating effect.


Cards like Blight-Breath Catoblepas

Blight-Breath Catoblepas stands out in the Magic: The Gathering creature landscape with its unique set of abilities. Comparable creatures, such as Pharika’s Chosen, also carry deathtouch, making any amount of damage lethal to other creatures, but lack Blight-Breath Catoblepas’s impact when it enters the battlefield. On the other hand, Gray Merchant of Asphodel offers a similar devotion-based effect, rewarding players with life gain and opponent life loss based on the black mana symbols among permanents they control.

However, what makes Blight-Breath Catoblepas different is its “when you cast” triggered ability, which can take down an opponent’s creature, dependent on your devotion to black. While creatures like Slum Reaper provide a universal sacrifice effect upon entering the battlefield, Blight-Breath Catoblepas allows for targeted removal, making it more strategic in creature-heavy matchups where you need to clear a path for lethal damage or eliminate an opposing threat.

Therefore, Blight-Breath Catoblepas offers MTG players a nuanced choice in black’s creature toolkit. Its combination of deathtouch and targeted removal based on devotion proves advantageous in games where board control and creature removal are paramount to victory.

Pharika's Chosen - MTG Card versions
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - MTG Card versions
Slum Reaper - MTG Card versions
Pharika's Chosen - Journey into Nyx (JOU)
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Theros (THS)
Slum Reaper - Return to Ravnica (RTR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Blight-Breath Catoblepas MTG card by a specific set like Theros Beyond Death, 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 Blight-Breath Catoblepas and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Blight-Breath Catoblepas has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-01-24 Colorless and generic mana symbols (, , , , , and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don’t count toward your devotion to any color.
2020-01-24 Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).
2020-01-24 If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be counted if it’s still on the battlefield at that time.
2020-01-24 If you put an Aura on an opponent’s permanent, you still control the Aura, and mana symbols in its mana cost count towards your devotion.
2020-01-24 Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don’t count toward your devotion to any color.
2020-01-24 The value of X is determined only as the triggered ability resolves. Once that happens, the value of X won’t change later in the turn even if your devotion to black changes.

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