Nylea's Huntmaster MTG Card


Nylea's Huntmaster - Theros Beyond Death
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Centaur Shaman
Released2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set nameTheros Beyond Death
Set codeTHB
Power 4
Toughness 3
Number187
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byWinona Nelson

Key Takeaways

  1. Nylea’s Huntmaster generates creature tokens, enhancing your board and providing multiple potential threats.
  2. This card accelerates resources, allowing for earlier plays of impactful creatures and effects.
  3. Operates effectively with flash enablers, adding a surprising tactical edge during gameplay.

Text of card

When Nylea's Huntmaster enters the battlefield, target creature you control gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is your devotion to green. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to green.)

Nature is stillness and savagery in equal measure.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nylea’s Huntmaster can create a favorable shift in card advantage by generating creature tokens. This not only adds to your battlefield presence but effectively means you are getting multiple potential threats from a single card.

Resource Acceleration: By putting additional creatures onto the battlefield, Nylea’s Huntmaster can contribute to resource acceleration. This can enable more significant effects or creatures to be played earlier than would otherwise be possible, especially in green decks that might benefit from creatures to help with mana ramp.

Instant Speed: Although Nylea’s Huntmaster operates at sorcery speed, it interacts well with cards that allow you to flash creatures in. This interaction can be a surprise element in a game, catching opponents off guard during their turns and turning the tides when they least expect it.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Though Nylea’s Huntmaster doesn’t require a discard, managing your hand to optimize its constellation ability could indirectly influence your discard choices, potentially causing an unwanted hand depletion.

Specific Mana Cost: Nylea’s Huntmaster demands a precise mana arrangement with green mana. This cost may present a challenge for multi-colored decks wanting to include this card but lacking consistent green mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost sitting on the higher end of the spectrum, Nylea’s Huntmaster competes with other impactful four-mana creatures. Players must consider whether the benefits of its abilities outweigh the costs compared to more mana-efficient creatures.


Reasons to Include Nylea’s Huntmaster in Your Collection

Versatility: Nylea’s Huntmaster adds value to a variety of decks, shining brightly in those that capitalize on creature heavy strategies and seek to maintain a strong board presence.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with decks focused on +1/+1 counters, as it can quickly enhance your creatures, leading to more formidable forces on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment that favors creatures and combat, Nylea’s Huntmaster can be a game-changer, providing your deck with the momentum it needs to outpace opponents and dominate the green-centric matches.


How to beat

Nylea’s Huntmaster is an impactful creature card that can significantly bolster a player’s board presence in Magic: The Gathering. When Nylea’s Huntmaster enters the battlefield, its ability to create a token creature not only adds to your creature count but also potentially increases your offensive capabilities. However, it is not invincible, and understanding how to effectively neutralize this threat is key to maintaining control of the game.

To counteract Nylea’s Huntmaster, consider utilizing removal spells that can target the Huntmaster before its token-generating effect can be fully exploited. Instant-speed removal like Murder or Fatal Push can efficiently dispatch the creature, thus mitigating its impact. Board wipes are another effective strategy; Wrath of God or Damnation will clear the board, including the tokens generated by the Huntmaster. It’s also prudent to keep a watchful eye on cards that bolster your opponent’s creatures and have counter spells ready for such enhancements. Strategies that limit the usefulness of tokens, such as mass -1/-1 counter placements, like with Black Sun’s Zenith, can also diminish the overall threat posed by the Huntmaster and its generated tokens.

Strategically speaking, staying ahead of the Huntmaster means actively managing the board and neutralizing threats before they escalate. By employing targeted removal, board wipes, or token-specific counters, you can prevent this creature from taking over the game and maximize your chances of victory.


Cards like Nylea's Huntmaster

Nylea’s Huntmaster is an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering, resembling other creatures with the ability to generate tokens. It bears similarity to Tendershoot Dryad, which also focuses on populating the battlefield. Both cards share a propensity to escalate board presence, yet Nylea’s Huntmaster offers the advantage of putting a +1/+1 counter on a target creature whenever a token is created, potentially turning any creature into a considerable threat.

Parallel to this card is Dragon Fodder, known for its straightforward approach to token creation. While it doesn’t bolster creatures with counters or have the staying power of a creature itself, its lower mana cost makes it a quick way to multiply tokens on the field. Another card worthy of mention is Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin, which not only creates tokens as it attacks but scales in potential with each subsequent attack, similar to the Huntmaster’s continuous effect.

Assessing these alternatives, Nylea’s Huntmaster holds up well, especially in decks that capitalize on +1/+1 counters and token strategies. Its ability to enhance creatures while expanding your army offers a dual-threat that many token-generating spells or creatures lack.

Tendershoot Dryad - MTG Card versions
Dragon Fodder - MTG Card versions
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin - MTG Card versions
Tendershoot Dryad - Rivals of Ixalan Promos (PRIX)
Dragon Fodder - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin - War of the Spark (WAR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nylea's Huntmaster 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 Nylea's Huntmaster and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nylea's Huntmaster has restrictions

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

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Nylea's Huntmaster 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 green changes.

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