Horizon Chimera MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Chimera
Abilities Flying,Trample, Flash
Power 3
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Horizon Chimera can draw cards on life gain, a boon for decks that thrive on card advantage.
  2. Its flash ability allows for surprise plays, bolstering both offense and defense strategies.
  3. With flying and trample, it bypasses blockers and deals damage, an asset to any collection.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.) Flying, trample Whenever you draw a card, you gain 1 life.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Horizon Chimera offers players an excellent source of card advantage. With its ability to draw a card whenever you gain life, it pairs well with lifelink creatures or other life-gaining strategies, ensuring you have a steady flow of new cards to your hand.

Resource Acceleration: Though not a direct resource accelerant, Horizon Chimera’s hybrid mana cost allows flexibility in deckbuilding, enabling a smoother mana curve and potentially speeding up your ability to cast multiple spells in a turn.

Instant Speed: The flash ability of Horizon Chimera is a significant strategic advantage. By allowing you to play it at the end of your opponent’s turn or in response to an action, it keeps your opptions open while threatening the board when least expected.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Horizon Chimera offers no direct discard requirement, managing your hand becomes critical as it features an ability that triggers on drawing cards. This paradigm can put players in a predicament where they have to choose between holding cards for strategic plays or drawing for life gain, potentially leading to suboptimal discard decisions.

Specific Mana Cost: Horizon Chimera requires a specific combination of green and blue mana. This restricts its playability primarily to Simic decks or those that can reliably generate both types of mana, potentially excluding it from mono-colored or other two-color decks that could benefit from its flash ability and life-gain on card draw.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including two that are color-specific, Horizon Chimera stands at a notably high cost for its stats and abilities. In the competitive landscape of MTG, players may find other creatures or cards that offer more impactful abilities or better stats for a similar or lower mana investment.


Reasons to Include Horizon Chimera in Your Collection

Versatility: Horizon Chimera offers a unique blend of abilities with its flying and trample, making it a suitable fit for decks that desire evasion and the capacity to deal damage through defenders. This creature adapts well whether you’re piloting an aggressive strategy or a more control-oriented build.

Combo Potential: Its ability to gain you life every time you draw a card presents numerous synergies with strategies that emphasize card draw or deck cycling. This can also lead to significant advantages when combined with cards that trigger off life gain or increased card flow.

Meta-Relevance: In formats where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Horizon Chimera’s hybrid mana cost and flash ability allow for a surprise blocker or an end-of-turn threat, keeping you versatile and reactive to the board state. Its staying power in relevant metas is upheld due to its ability to integrate into multiple strategies and answer to various board scenarios.


How to beat Horizon Chimera

Confronting Horizon Chimera on the battlefield can definitely be a challenge. This elusive creature from the Theros set brings a unique combination of flying and trample that enables it to slip past defenders and deal damage with relative ease. Additionally, its ability to grant you life each time you draw a card makes it a persistent threat that can contribute to your opponent’s life total climbing steadily turn after turn.

To effectively counter Horizon Chimera, consider using spot removal spells such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile, which can eliminate the creature before the life gain ability becomes too much of an issue. Cards like Essence Scatter or Negate are perfect for countering Horizon Chimera when it’s still a spell on the stack, preventing it from ever entering the battlefield and posing a threat. Board wipes, like Wrath of God or Damnation, also serve as reliable methods to clear the battlefield of not only Horizon Chimera but other creatures as well.

In summary, deploying removals that specifically target creatures directly or countering it before it hits the field are proven tactics. Balancing your gameplay with these strategies in place ensures that you stay one step ahead, keeping Horizon Chimera and the advantage it brings under control.


BurnMana Recommendations

The landscape of MTG constantly evolves, and Horizon Chimera remains a noteworthy card in numerous deck builds, reflecting the dynamics of the game. Appreciating the nuances in its strengths and limitations can vastly improve the strategic depth of your gameplay. Whether you’re summoning creatures or conjuring spells, knowledge is power. Expand your horizon and deepen your understanding of the multifaceted MTG realm with us. Get ahead of the curve by incorporating the unique talents of Horizon Chimera into your arsenal. Dive deeper with us and unlock the full potential of your deck, turning each duel into a testament of your growing mastery.


Exploring Horizon Chimera’s Place in MTG

Horizon Chimera stands as a unique hybrid among MTG’s creatures. Its Flash and Flying capabilities immediately draw parallels with creatures like Spellstutter Sprite, which also comes with Flash and Flying. However, Horizon Chimera’s additional Trample attribute and the life gain feature each time you draw a card set it significantly apart, offering diverse strategic advantages.

Cards like Horizon Chimera

In the vast realm of MTG, cards like Fleetfeather Cockatrice also blend Flash and Flying but introduce the monstrosity mechanic. While Horizon Chimera doesn’t boast a power boost like monstrosity, it compensates with its consistent life gain per card draw, benefiting decks with a heavy draw focus. Another similar card, Trygon Predator, offers a different kind of utility. With the same mana cost as Horizon Chimera, Trygon Predator allows you to destroy an artifact or enchantment upon dealing combat damage, which can be a game-changer despite lacking the life gain effect.

Ultimately, Horizon Chimera embodies a blend of abilities that cater to players seeking mid-game flexibility and life sustainability. No other creature in MTG combines Flash, Flying, Trample, and life gain from card draws in quite the same way, highlighting its unique value in a card lineup.

Spellstutter Sprite - MTG Card versions
Fleetfeather Cockatrice - MTG Card versions
Trygon Predator - MTG Card versions
Spellstutter Sprite - Lorwyn (LRW)
Fleetfeather Cockatrice - Journey into Nyx (JOU)
Trygon Predator - Dissension (DIS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Horizon Chimera MTG card by a specific set like Theros and Commander 2016, 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 Horizon Chimera and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Horizon Chimera Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-09-27 and 2016-11-11. Illustrated by Sam Burley.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12013-09-27TherosTHS 1942003normalblackSam Burley
22016-11-11Commander 2016C16 2042015normalblackSam Burley

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Horizon Chimera has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-09-15 If you draw multiple cards, Horizon Chimera's ability will trigger that many times. Each of these abilities will cause a separate life-gaining event.

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