Wavecrash Triton MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Merfolk Wizard
Abilities	Heroic
Released	2013-09-27
Set symbol
Set name	Theros
Set code	THS
Power	1
Toughness	4
Number	74
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ryan Barger

Key Takeaways

Wavecrash Triton offers card advantage and can disrupt opponent strategies with its instant speed heroic ability.
However, the card’s effectiveness is reduced by its discard requirement and specific mana cost.
Despite its shortcomings, its versatility and combo potential make it a worthy addition to blue-focused decks.

Text of card

Heroic — Whenever you cast a spell that targets Wavecrash Triton, tap target creature an opponent controls. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Wavecrash Triton can be a strategic addition to your deck, allowing you to potentially draw extra cards when combined with spells that target your own creatures. This synergizes with decks designed to cycle through cards quickly and keep your hand full.

Resource Acceleration: While Wavecrash Triton itself does not directly accelerate resources, its ability to generally tap potential threats on your opponent’s board can indirectly serve your resource management by saving your removal spells. This allows you to use your mana more efficiently on your own turn for playing spells and advancing your board state.

Instant Speed: The heroic ability of the Wavecrash Triton can be triggered at instant speed, providing flexibility in your gameplay. You can respond to your opponent’s actions during their turn, potentially disrupting their strategy and gaining a tactical edge by tapping their attacking or blocking creatures.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Wavecrash Triton mandates that you commit another card from your hand to activate its heroic ability. This requirement can sometimes backfire, particularly when your hand is nearly empty and every card counts.

Specific Mana Cost: With blue mana needed to cast Wavecrash Triton, its usage becomes restricted to decks that run blue or have the means to generate various colors of mana, potentially limiting its versatility across different strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The three mana investment for a 1/4 creature might be steep, given that the heroic trigger requires additional actions to be worthwhile. Other creatures or spells at a similar cost might provide immediate impact without the added steps to utilize their potential.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Wavecrash Triton is a flexible card that can be slotted into various decks. With its ability to tap creatures, it can be a valuable control element in tempo or midrange blue-focused strategies.

Combo Potential: This card has inherent synergy with any strategy involving Heroic abilities or spells that target your own creatures, opening up possibilities for intricate combos that can overwhelm your opponent.

Meta-Relevance: Given that the meta often swings between fast-paced aggro and slower control decks, having Wavecrash Triton can offer you the adaptability to manage opposing threats, making it a practical inclusion for a dynamic meta.

How to beat

Wavecrash Triton brings a twist to the battlefield with its heroic ability, which can create repeatable control by tapping potential threats. While formidable, overcoming this merfolk wizard involves a strategic approach. A simple yet effective method is to target it with removal spells before its controller gets the chance to trigger its ability. Cards like Doom Blade or Shock offer quick and cost-efficient solutions to dispatch the Triton from play.

Alternatively, counterspells can preemptively stop Wavecrash Triton from resolving in the first place, preventing its synergies from ever posing a problem. In more aggressive decks, fast, early pressure can force the opponent to use their resources defensively, reducing the opportunities for them to exploit the Triton’s tap ability. Additionally, employing creatures with hexproof or shroud can nullify the Triton’s ability since it would be unable to target them. Lastly, leveraging cards that grant your creatures indestructible for a turn can safeguard your board from the controlling influence of Wavecrash Triton, allowing you to maintain your offensive stance.

Cards like Wavecrash Triton

Wavecrash Triton holds a distinctive place within the pantheon of heroic creatures in Magic: The Gathering. This enchanting Merfolk Wizard, when paired with spells that target it, can tap any creature your opponents control, which is akin to the frosty abilities of creatures like Frost Lynx. The Lynx, upon entering the battlefield, taps a creature and that creature doesn’t untap during the next untap step, but lacks the recurring utility that Wavecrash Triton offers through multiple heroic triggers.

Looking at other similar cards, Merfolk Trickster stands out with its ability to tap and nullify a creature’s abilities until the end of turn when it enters the battlefield. While the Trickster serves as excellent disruption, it does not benefit from the same synergies with spells that target like Wavecrash Triton. Meanwhile, Tidal Courier provides a different kind of advantage by allowing you to look at the top four cards of your deck and potentially grabbing all Merfolk you find, though it does not directly interact with opponents’ creatures.

The value of Wavecrash Triton in MTG lies in its versatility and repeatable interaction in a game largely revolving around creatures. It navigates through the game’s tempo, directly affecting the flow of opponents’ strategies with its heroic potential, making it a formidable card in its own right.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Wavecrash Triton 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 Wavecrash Triton and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Wavecrash Triton has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-15	Heroic abilities will resolve before the spell that caused them to trigger.
2013-09-15	Heroic abilities will trigger only once per spell, even if that spell targets the creature with the heroic ability multiple times.
2013-09-15	Heroic abilities won't trigger when a copy of a spell is created on the stack or when a spell's targets are changed to include a creature with a heroic ability.
2013-09-15	Wavecrash Triton's ability can target a creature that's already tapped. That creature still won't untap during its controller's next untap step.
2013-09-15	Wavecrash Triton's ability tracks the creature, but not its controller. If the creature changes controllers before its first controller's next untap step has come around, then it won't untap during its new controller's next untap step.