Genetic Recombinator MTG Card

Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact — Contraption
Released	2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set name	Unstable
Set code	UST
Number	182
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Borderless
Illustred by	Chuck Lukacs
Un-set :-)	This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

Card offers deck sifting plus creature card grabbing, enhancing your strategic options in-game.
Enables more powerful plays by discarding lesser value creatures for mana optimization.
Instant speed activation of its ability provides flexibility and reactionary potential.

Text of card

Whenever you crank Genetic Recombinator, up to two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Genetic Recombinator offers a unique ability to sift through your deck and put a creature card into your hand, thus bolstering your resources and potential plays. This effect can set you up for strategic maneuvers, keeping you a step ahead of your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: This card can act as a form of resource acceleration by enabling you to cheat the usual casting costs. By discarding a creature card with lesser value and potential, you pave the way for a more powerful creature to enter the battlefield, effectively optimizing your mana usage.

Instant Speed: The adaptability of Genetic Recombinator is further highlighted by its instant speed activation. This allows you to wait for the perfect moment during your turn or even in response to an opponent’s actions, ensuring that every play counts and no opportunity is missed strategically.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Genetic Recombinator is that it requires the player to discard a card to activate its key ability. This condition can be particularly challenging when you are already facing a shortage of cards in your hand, thereby risking your late-game potential.

Specific Mana Cost: Although versatile, this card necessitates a specific combination of mana types to be played effectively. Its requirement of not only generic but also blue mana restricts its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce both types, potentially sidelining it in a mono-colored or color-restricted strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The card comes with a somewhat hefty mana investment to get it on the board. While the ability it offers can be powerful, various alternatives might provide more immediate or less costly board impact, making it a less attractive option in some scenarios, especially in fast-paced or aggressive deck archetypes.

Reasons to Include Genetic Recombinator in Your Collection

Versatility: Genetic Recombinator offers a unique place in decks that thrive on creature manipulations and genetic themes. Its ability to mutate creatures can be a game changer in the right setup, bolstering both offensive and defensive capabilities.

Combo Potential: This card pairs well with a variety of combos, especially in decks that capitalize on +1/+1 counters or enter-the-battlefield effects. The synergies it creates can lead to explosive turns and unexpected victories.

Meta-Relevance: Considering the ever-shifting landscape of competitive play, Genetic Recombinator’s adaptability makes it a strong contender against various popular deck archetypes, potentially giving its wielder a notable edge in matches.

How to beat

The Genetic Recombinator card opens up a plethora of possibilities with its ability to mutate creatures on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. This powerful artifact has the capability to catch opposing players off guard and potentially swing the game. When approaching the challenge of disabling or overcoming this card’s advantage, there are several strategies worth considering.

First, direct removal spells are a straightforward solution. Cards like Doom Blade or Naturalize can dismantle the Genetic Recombinator before it becomes a major threat. Interrupting its synergy early on is crucial as it prevents your opponent from establishing a dominant board presence. Another key strategy is employing counter spells. Waiting for your opponent to invest mana into activating Genetic Recombinator and then countering with a spell like Negate can lead to pivotal tempo gains.

It’s also effective to approach the challenge on a meta level, by shaping your deck to include cards that neutralize or bypass abilities. Creatures with the “can’t be mutated” clause or enchantments that restrict activated abilities can prevent the Recombinator from altering the game state. By understanding the nuances of such interactions, players can craft a battle plan that not only mitigates the impacts of this card but can also turn the tides in their favor.

Cards like Genetic Recombinator

The Genetic Recombinator offers a unique twist to the pool of blue spells in Magic: The Gathering. It stands out with its ability to engineer creatures by exchanging counters between any number of target creatures. This ability subtly echoes the mechanics found in cards like Cytoplast Manipulator, which similarly allows the transfer of +1/+1 counters among creatures. Nevertheless, the Genetic Recombinator does not require control over the creatures, giving it a broader reach.

Comparatively, Evolution Sage is another card that deals with proliferating counters. While it doesn’t exchange counters, it proliferates each time a land enters the battlefield under your control, which can impact multiple permanents across the board. The Genetic Recombinator’s role as a utility card is further amplified when compared to Master Biomancer’s static ability, which merely adds +1/+1 counters to creatures as they enter, as opposed to the dynamic shifting of counters that the Genetic Recombinator can achieve.

Ultimately, within the strategy of manipulating counters, Genetic Recombinator carves its niche. It stands as a highly flexible option for players looking to maximise the potential of counter interactions in their decks, presenting new avenues for tactical plays in Magic: The Gathering.

Cytoplast Manipulator - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Genetic Recombinator by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Genetic Recombinator MTG card by a specific set like Unstable, 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 Genetic Recombinator and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2018-01-19	Any Contraption that’s on the battlefield and wasn’t assembled immediately heads to the scrapyard. However, if it’s a not an actual Contraption card (like Copy Artifact isn’t), it goes to your graveyard as normal. Non-Contraption cards can’t be in the scrapyard.
2018-01-19	At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control any Contraptions, move the CRANK! counter to the next sprocket. You may then crank any number of Contraptions on that sprocket, causing their abilities to trigger. Cranking a Contraption is always optional.
2018-01-19	Contraptions are artifacts. Anything that interacts with artifacts will interact with Contraptions.
2018-01-19	Contraptions aren’t put into your main deck. They go into a separate deck called the Contraption deck.
2018-01-19	If a Contraption would leave the battlefield and go to any zone other than exile, it instead goes to the scrapyard, the Contraption deck’s version of the graveyard. Things that affect the graveyard do not affect the scrapyard. You can exile Contraptions just fine.
2018-01-19	If you crank multiple Contraptions, their abilities can be put onto the stack in any order. The ability put onto the stack will resolve first.
2018-01-19	If you or a permanent you control are instructed to assemble a Contraption, reveal the top card of your Contraption deck. Put it onto the battlefield on one of the three sprockets.
2018-01-19	If you or a permanent you control assembles a Contraption and your Contraption deck is empty, nothing happens. You don’t lose the game.
2018-01-19	In Constructed formats, a Contraption deck must have at least fifteen different Contraption cards and no more than one of each.
2018-01-19	In Limited formats, a Contraption deck may include any number of Contraption cards in your card pool. You don’t have to include every Contraption card you draft or open in sealed deck. In those formats, your Contraption deck may include duplicates.
2018-01-19	In silver-bordered games using Contraptions, you have three sprockets, illustrated on the back of Contraption cards. At the start of the game, put a CRANK! counter on sprocket 3.
2018-01-19	While Contraptions you control are on the battlefield, the Contraption deck is not, even if you are using it to signify the three sprockets.