Old Fogey MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Old Fogey provides a unique and playful twist on card advantage. It’s packed with obscure abilities from previous MTG sets, which can interact with older cards in your library in unexpected ways, potentially overwhelming your opponent with a barrage of tricks and tactics they may not be prepared for.

Resource Acceleration: Although Old Fogey doesn’t directly generate additional mana, its cumulative upkeep cost includes putting age counters on it, which can synergize with cards that manipulate or benefit from counters. This interaction can indirectly lead to a sort of resource acceleration by enhancing the existing board state and leveraging counters for a strategic advantage.

Instant Speed: With abilities like flanking, rampage, and phasing, Old Fogey can create advantageous combat interactions at unexpected moments. While it cannot be played at instant speed itself, the card’s extensive array of abilities can give an MTG player a wide variety of responses to an opponent’s actions, much like having a set of instant speed effects always at the ready.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One downside of Old Fogey is that in some formats, its unique ability might force the player to discard cards to fulfill various preconditions. This can put the player at a disadvantage, particularly in games where maintaining card advantage is crucial.

Specific Mana Cost: Old Fogey requires a very specific mana cost that includes one of each color, which makes it a challenging card to play in a deck that doesn’t reliably produce all types of mana or that isn’t designed around a five-color strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana cost for Old Fogey is relatively high, especially considering that it’s a creature with limited impact on its own. Despite its nostalgic appeal and humorous nature, the cost of getting Old Fogey onto the battlefield may be too steep compared to other creatures with more immediately impactful abilities or lower mana requirements.

Reasons to Include Old Fogey in Your Collection

Versatility: Old Fogey is a unique card with an extensive array of keyword abilities. It can shine in various situations and different deck builds that emphasize diversifying threat capabilities.

Combo Potential: Despite its humorous nature, the card carries a potential for intricate combos. Its many keyword abilities can synergize with a wide range of cards to create unexpected advantages on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: Old Fogey’s satirical take on the ever-expanding complexity of MTG makes it a collector’s gem. While not a staple in competitive play, its presence reflects an understanding of the game’s history and evolution, appealing to both veterans and enthusiasts who appreciate MTG’s rich lore.

How to beat

Overcoming the quirks of the Old Fogey in Magic: The Gathering can be a real head-scratcher due to its myriad of abilities inspired by MTG’s storied past. This dinosaur from the Unhinged set is more of a puzzle than a powerhouse. It has a slew of keyword abilities, some of which are outdated and outmoded in today’s game. Knowing this, the best approach is to exploit its downsides. For starters, its cumulative upkeep cost goes up every turn, so time is on your side. Also, while Old Fogey has protection from Homarids, an almost extinct creature type, it doesn’t guard against common removal spells you can employ.

Another angle is to utilize board wipes, which bypass its abilities altogether. As a singular creature with dino-sized targets painted on its scaly hide, Old Fogey often falls prey to the simplest of spells. In short, patience, popular removals, or global resets are your keys to suppressing this blast from the past.