Nylea's Disciple MTG Card


Nylea's Disciple - Theros
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Centaur Archer
Released2013-09-27
Set symbol
Set nameTheros
Set codeTHS
Power 3
Toughness 3
Number167
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byTrevor Claxton

Key Takeaways

  1. A well-timed Nylea’s Disciple can provide significant lifegain, combating aggressive decks and altering game dynamics.
  2. Life gain scales with green devotion, making it highly effective in mono-green or green-heavy decks.
  3. Despite its strengths, it can be challenging to include in multicolored decks due to its specific mana requirement.

Text of card

When Nylea's Disciple enters the battlefield, you gain life equal to your devotion to green. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to green.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nylea’s Disciple brings a dual benefit to the battlefield, not only offering a solid creature presence but also allowing players to gain life equal to their devotion to green. This can often result in substantial life gain, providing a buffer against aggressive strategies and potentially swinging the game in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: While Nylea’s Disciple does not directly accelerate resources in terms of mana, the life gained can provide the necessary staying power to reach the late game, where more powerful spells and creatures can be played. This indirectly supports a strategy that relies on reaching critical turns for game-changing plays.

Instant Speed: Although Nylea’s Disciple itself is not cast at instant speed, the life gain effect it provides can be pivotal when timed correctly, often acting as a surprise element during combat or in response to direct damage spells, making it an integral part of any strategy that values resilience and flexibility on the battlefield.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Nylea’s Disciple doesn’t have an upfront discard requirement, it’s worth noting that many players prefer creatures that contribute to hand advantage rather than simply affecting the battlefield or life totals.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands both green mana and general mana to cast, making it somewhat restrictive. Deck builders need to ensure a stable green mana base to play Nylea’s Disciple reliably, which might not always be optimal in multicolored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a cost of two green and two colorless mana, Nylea’s Disciple is a moderate investment for its life gain ability tied to your devotion to green. For some players, the four mana slot may be too costly compared to other creatures or spells that offer more significant impact on the game state.


Reasons to Include Nylea’s Disciple in Your Collection

Versatility: Nylea’s Disciple is an adaptable card that can find a place in any green deck emphasizing life gain. Its ability to provide a significant life boost scales with your devotion to green, making it even more potent in mono-green decks or those heavily favoring green mana.

Combo Potential: This disciple synergizes well with strategies that exploit life total changes. It can be combined with cards that offer benefits for gaining life, adding an extra layer of utility and creating opportunities to swing games in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: Within a meta that favors aggressive strategies, Nylea’s Disciple shines by offering a life cushion that can be vital for stabilizing against fast-paced decks. This can buy the time needed to deploy your game-changing spells and turn the tide with its timely life gain.


How to beat

Nylea’s Disciple is a green creature card that provides a mix of lifegain and a solid body, making it a valuable asset for MTG players aiming to stabilize against aggressive strategies. Featuring a mechanic that allows you to gain life equal to your devotion to green, it can be a significant turning point in the game if not addressed promptly. Utilizing removal spells that can bypass its enter-the-battlefield ability is key when up against this card. Cards like “Doom Blade” or “Go for the Throat” offer a mana-efficient answer to get rid of this creature without triggering its lifegain effect.

Alternatively, counter strategies utilizing blue spells such as “Essence Scatter” ensure Nylea’s Disciple never hits the battlefield to begin with, completely negating its life-giving benefits. In multicolored decks, a blend of efficient removal and counter spells can offer a robust line of defense. Managing your opponent’s creatures and preventing them from establishing a significant green presence will also minimize the impact of Nylea’s Disciple’s lifegain, keeping the advantage on your side of the field and paving the way towards victory.


Cards like Nylea's Disciple

Nylea’s Disciple is a card that finds its identity nestled within the realm of life-gain creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its most direct comparison is to Centaur Healer, another creature that bolsters a player’s life total upon entering the battlefield. Both cards offer a solid body in terms of power and toughness, but a key difference is the static amount of life Centaur Healer provides versus the variable gain offered by Nylea’s Disciple, which is dependent on the devotion to green.

Looking further, Kitchen Finks is a creature that not only provides a life boost but also comes with the persist mechanic, allowing for additional life-gain when it dies. Although Kitchen Finks doesn’t offer the potential for massive life swings like Nylea’s Disciple, its resilience makes it a recurring threat. Comparatively, Nylea’s Disciple’s life gain can be a significant one-time event that swings the game, particularly in decks heavy with green symbols.

Ultimately, Nylea’s Disciple plays a pivotal role in any MTG deck focused on utilizing life as a resource or in need of a substantial one-time life uptick, especially in decks that favor a strong devotion to green, illustrating its unique place within the pantheon of life-gain creatures.

Centaur Healer - MTG Card versions
Kitchen Finks - MTG Card versions
Centaur Healer - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Kitchen Finks - Shadowmoor (SHM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nylea's Disciple MTG card by a specific set like Theros, 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 Disciple and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nylea's Disciple has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Nylea's Disciple 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 Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).
2013-09-15 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.
2013-09-15 Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.
2013-09-15 Numeric mana symbols (, , and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.

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