Thunderkin Awakener MTG Card

It gains card advantage by reanimating creatures, increasing board presence without depleting your hand. Mana cost and graveyard setup are crucial for optimizing Thunderkin Awakener’s potential in your deck. Its unique elemental focus and combo potential make it a worthwhile addition for specific MTG strategies.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Elemental Shaman
Abilities	Haste
Released	2019-07-12
Set symbol
Set name	Core Set 2020
Set code	M20
Power	1
Toughness	2
Number	162
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Yongjae Choi

Text of card

Haste Whenever Thunderkin Awakener attacks, choose target Elemental creature card in your graveyard with toughness less than Thunderkin Awakener's toughness. Return that card to the battlefield tapped and attacking. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.

Cards like Thunderkin Awakener

Thunderkin Awakener is a unique card in MTG with a specific role in decks built around elemental creatures. This card is similar in function to cards like Flamewake Phoenix, which also has the potential for recursion based on the power of the creatures you control. However, the Awakener is more restricted as it only targets elementals, but it can potentially bring back creatures with higher power due to its triggered ability depending on the creature cards in your graveyard.

Another card that shares thematic similarity is Rekindling Phoenix, a resilient creature known for its ability to return to the battlefield. Though not an elemental, its recursive nature echoes Thunderkin Awakener’s ethos of enduring threats. Unearth is also relevant to the discussion, as it brings creatures back from the graveyard for a turn. While Unearth is a more general mechanic that can apply to any creature card and isn’t limited to elementals, it doesn’t provide the same level of continuous threat that Thunderkin Awakener does in the right deck.

Overall, Thunderkin Awakener stands out in MTG for its synergy with elemental strategies, offering a distinctive twist on reanimation tactics that can yield significant value over the course of a game when paired with the appropriate creature cards.

Decks using this card

MTG decks using Thunderkin Awakener. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

Name	Format	Archetype	Event
Skelementals	Modern	Skelementals	Modern Preliminary 2024-02-21 (1)
Temur Combo	Pioneer	Temur Grinning Ignus Combo	ReCQ - Pioneer - SCG CON Philadelphia - Sunday - 1:00 pm (Bronze)
Rakdos Elementals	Modern	Skelementals	$10K RCQ - Modern - SCG CON Philadelphia - Saturday - 9:00 am
Grinning Ignus Combo	Pioneer	Temur Grinning Ignus Combo	ReCQ - Pioneer - SCG CON Philadelphia - Friday - 1:30 pm (Bronze)
Rakdos Aggro	Modern	Skelementals	$5K RCQ - Modern - SCG CON Philadelphia - Friday - 1:00 pm

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Thunderkin Awakener shines in decks that benefit from recurring creatures from the graveyard. By bringing back creatures with lesser toughness, it effectively amplifies your board presence each turn without sacrificing additional cards from your hand.

Resource Acceleration: While the card itself does not directly accelerate resources like mana, its ability to reanimate creatures at no extra cost accelerates your board state, effectively saving mana and resources you would otherwise spend on casting creatures from your hand.

Instant Speed: Although Thunderkin Awakener operates at sorcery speed, its interactions can be paired with instant-speed spells to great effect. For example, by reviving creatures with abilities that can be activated at instant speed, it opens up more flexible and potentially disruptive plays during your opponent’s turn, readying you for swift and decisive action.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Thunderkin Awakener requires a careful balancing of resources, as its core mechanic is reliant on having the right creatures in your graveyard. Without a strategic setup, this could lead to a reduction in your hand advantage and may hamper the overall efficiency of your deck play.

Specific Mana Cost: With a mana cost that demands both red and generic mana, Thunderkin Awakener can be somewhat restrictive to deck building. Players must ensure that their mana base is adequately prepared to consistently produce the necessary red mana, potentially limiting the card’s inclusion in multi-colored decks that don’t heavily favor red.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: On the surface, the mana value of Thunderkin Awakener may seem manageable, but when assessing the momentum of gameplay, its cost can be a hindrance. The two mana investment—particularly requiring red mana—can be steep in situations where the board state demands a more immediate or impactful presence, or when other cards in the same cost bracket might offer more versatile or powerful effects without such specific board state requirements.

Reasons to Include Thunderkin Awakener in Your Collection

Versatility: Thunderkin Awakener shows its adaptability by being a key player in decks centered around Elemental creatures. Its ability to resurrect Elementals from the graveyard adds a layer of resilience to your strategy, ensuring your board presence remains strong, even after a sweeper.

Combo Potential: With Thunderkin Awakener, synergy is just a breath away. It can reanimate powerful Elementals with haste, setting the stage for explosive turns. Perfectly paired with cards that have enter the battlefield effects or sacrifice triggers, it can create recurring value and game-ending combos.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that plays around the graveyard and quick aggro tactics, Thunderkin Awakener shines brightly. It has the potential to cycle through your Elementals, maintaining pressure on your opponents and keeping your offense on the front foot.

How to Beat Thunderkin Awakener

Thunderkin Awakener is a formidable force in MTG, known for its capability to reanimate smaller creatures with its attack trigger. This card shines in decks with numerous creatures with power less than or equal to Thunderkin Awakener’s toughness, presenting a recurring threat that demands a strategic response. Fortunately, there are a few reliable methods to dampen the Awakener’s impact.

Strategic removal is the key. Instant-speed spells that exile or deal with creatures at a low cost, such as Path to Exile or Fatal Push, can efficiently handle the Awakener before it resurrects other threats. Furthermore, graveyard hate cards, like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void, prevent it from harnessing its full potential by eliminating the graveyard as a resource altogether. Prioritize keeping the board clear of the Awakener’s targets, and you’ll neutralize the crux of this strategy.

Ultimately, knowing when to time your spells and being aware of graveyard interactions are crucial in suppressing Thunderkin Awakener’s synergy-based offense, rendering it a much less daunting component of your opponent’s game plan.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Thunderkin Awakener MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2020, 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 Thunderkin Awakener and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Thunderkin Awakener has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2019-07-12	Although the returned creature is an attacking creature, it was never declared as an attacking creature. This means that abilities that trigger whenever a creature attacks (such as that of Thunderkin Awakener itself) won’t trigger when it enters the battlefield attacking.
2019-07-12	If Thunderkin Awakener leaves the battlefield after it has attacked but before its triggered ability resolves, use its toughness as it last existed on the battlefield to determine whether the card is still a legal target.
2019-07-12	If the new creature leaves the battlefield before the end step, that card remains in its current zone. It won’t be sacrificed.
2019-07-12	The target card must have lesser toughness both as Thunderkin Awakener attacks and as its triggered ability resolves. Other abilities that trigger whenever Thunderkin Awakener attacks can’t raise its toughness in time to allow the ability to target cards with greater toughness.
2019-07-12	You choose which player or planeswalker the returned creature is attacking. It doesn’t have to be attacking the same player or planeswalker that Thunderkin Awakener is attacking.