Thrun, the Last Troll MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Thrun, the Last Troll offers an implicit card advantage by being incredibly difficult to remove from the battlefield. Its regeneration ability means it can survive most removal spells, preserving your board presence and forcing opponents to use multiple resources to deal with it. This resilience often leads to one-for-none situations, effectively giving you a leg up in the resource battle.

Resource Acceleration: While this esteemed creature doesn’t directly ramp your mana, its mere presence can accelerate your game plan. By demanding answers from your opponents and enduring through their responses, Thrun ensures your other resources can be allocated towards advancing your board state, rather than constantly rebuilding it. Moreover, it sets a steadfast four mana value on the field which aids in consistent pressure and threat deployment.

Instant Speed: Thrun may not be cast at instant speed, but its regeneration can be activated whenever needed, making it a perpetual threat during both your turn and your opponent’s. This forces your adversaries to play around it as if it were an instant, considering every move they make while Thrun is untapped and able to regenerate, thereby impacting the whole pace and strategy of the game.

Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Thrun, the Last Troll requires a specific combination of green and generic mana (2GG) which could restrict it from seamlessly entering a variety of deck builds, especially those with a tighter mana base that may not necessarily support a heavy green component.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana including two green, Thrun may come out a bit too late in the game when players might prefer to cast creatures with immediate board impact or lower-costing creatures that allow them to hold up mana for other spells and interactions.

Discard Requirement: While Thrun himself does not have a discard requirement, his regeneration ability necessitates a player to keep green mana open which could hinder them from utilizing their full pool of resources each turn, effectively increasing the cost of keeping Thrun on the field in a ready state.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Thrun, the Last Troll is an adaptable asset for green decks, able to act as a resilient threat that’s hard to remove due to its hexproof ability. Its capacity to regenerate means it can endure most board wipes, offering consistency in various game scenarios.

Combo Potential: With Thrun’s innate protection from targeted spells, it serves as a reliable component for combos that require a stable board presence. It works well with equipment and auras, amplifying its threat level without fear of being easily disrupted by opponents.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where control decks flourish, Thrun stands out by being nearly impervious to common removal spells. Its relevance increases in metas filled with targeted removal, making it a persistent problem for opponents and a valuable inclusion for players looking to evade such strategies.

How to Beat

Thrun, the Last Troll stands as a resilient creature in Magic: The Gathering, characterized by its hexproof ability and regeneration. These features together make Thrun an asset that repels most targeted removal spells and can recover from lethal damage. However, this doesn’t mean it’s unbeatable.

To circumvent Thrun’s hexproof, consider strategies that don’t target him directly. Board wipes like Supreme Verdict or Terminus can clear Thrun away without needing to target him. Alternatively, you could use cards that force sacrifices, such as Liliana of the Veil, which can bypass hexproof by making the opponent choose a creature to sacrifice.

Avoiding combat with Thrun is also key. You can employ cards like Ensnaring Bridge to keep Thrun at bay and prevent him from attacking effectively. Additionally, counteracting his regeneration is possible through using cards like Rest in Peace, which can stop any graveyard recursion that Thrun might benefit from once destroyed.

The key is foresight and a diverse playstyle. A combination of global effects, sacrifice inducers, and strategic impediments can neutralize even the heartiest of creatures like Thrun, the Last Troll, solidifying your control over the game.