Undergrowth Champion MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Undergrowth Champion can grow in power and toughness, effectively becoming a larger threat each time a land enters the battlefield under your control. This incremental advantage can quickly turn the Champion into a formidable force without the need to draw or play additional creatures.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana, Undergrowth Champion encourages land ramp strategies. This synergizes well with decks that focus on putting extra lands onto the battlefield, leading to a more impressive mana base and the ability to deploy high-cost cards more quickly.

Instant Speed: Undergrowth Champion’s ability to gain a +1/+1 counter whenever a land enters your battlefield can be leveraged at instant speed in combination with effects that put lands into play during your opponents’ turns. Additionally, if it’s about to be damaged, a sudden land drop can beef it up and potentially save it from destructive spells and abilities, making it a resilient threat.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Even though Undergrowth Champion doesn’t itself require a discard, in a deck centered around it, optimizing the land drop mechanic could pressure your hand, potentially leading to a drawback where discarding becomes a necessity to maintain board presence.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature requires precisely one green mana along with two others. While the color requirement isn’t excessive, it does mean that it is less flexible in multicolored decks that may struggle with acquiring the necessary green mana efficiently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a three-mana investment, Undergrowth Champion must compete with other three-drop creatures or spells. In formats where the pace is critical, dedicating the early game mana to summoning this card might put you at a tempo disadvantage against faster strategies.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Undergrowth Champion thrives in decks that interact with +1/+1 counters and landfall mechanics. Its ability to grow and avoid damage makes it adaptable to various board states, serving both defensive and offensive roles.

Combo Potential: Paired with cards that consistently trigger landfall or proliferate counters, Undergrowth Champion can quickly become a formidable presence. Its ability to accumulate counters links seamlessly with strategies that capitalize on +1/+1 synergies.

Meta-Relevance: In metas with prevalent direct damage spells or combat-heavy decks, Undergrowth Champion shines by negating damage and sustaining its presence on the board, thus aligning perfectly with the current game dynamics.

How to beat

Undergrowth Champion is a resilient creature in MTG that poses a challenge with its unique growth mechanics and damage prevention ability. To effectively counter this formidable card, you’ll want to leverage removal spells that don’t deal damage. For instance, cards such as Path to Exile or Murderous Rider target creatures directly, bypassing Undergrowth Champion’s land-based fortification. Another strategy is to use exile effects, like Merciless Eviction, which can remove the Champion regardless of how many counters it has accumulated.

Control decks have an advantage here with access to counterspells like Cancel or Sinister Sabotage to prevent the Champion from hitting the board in the first place. When facing Undergrowth Champion, it’s also wise to limit landfall triggers that the creature benefits from; restraining the use of fetch lands or other land-dropping effects can curb its growth. Lastly, edict effects, which force a player to sacrifice a creature, can be useful if the Champion is the only or most strategic creature to sacrifice on the opponent’s battlefield. Remember, timing and clever maneuvering of resources are key to dealing with this verdant adversary.

BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering Undergrowth Champion requires a blend of smart deck building and strategic gameplay. This card excels in environments rich with landfall opportunities and synergizes well with +1/+1 counter mechanics. If you’re ready to harness the full potential of Undergrowth Champion, consider integrating it into a deck that can consistently trigger its ability. Remember to balance your strategy between defense and aggressive land drops. We invite you to deep dive into the multifaceted nature of this card and explore further synergies and deck ideas with us. Elevate your MTG experience and strengthen your collection with Undergrowth Champion.