Disease Carriers MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Rat
Released	1999-06-07
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Destiny
Set code	UDS
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	57
Frame	1997
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Chippy & Matthew D. Wilson

Key Takeaways

Card advantage is gained as Disease Carriers enable creature removal while upgrading your own board position.
Disease Carriers’ instant-speed play disrupts opponents, aligning well with decks designed for death triggers.
The card’s specific mana and discard requirements may limit deck-building options and hinder tempo.

Text of card

When Disease Carriers is put into a graveyard from play, target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.

Rath is a disease all its inhabitants carry.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Disease Carriers on the field, you have the potential to remove opponent’s creatures while simultaneously advancing your board state, leading to a favorable shift in card economy.

Resource Acceleration: This card slots seamlessly into decks that capitalize on death triggers, effectively turning each loss into a strategic gain and rapidly propelling your game plan forward.

Instant Speed: The utility of Disease Carriers extends to its interaction potential, enabling you to disrupt the opponent’s moves at critical moments, all without sacrificing the pace of your own strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Using Disease Carriers comes with the price of discarding another card. This effect can further deplete your hand, making it challenging to maintain card advantage or respond to your opponent’s moves.

Specific Mana Cost: Disease Carriers commands a very particular mana cost that requires black mana. This can potentially restrict deck-building options, as the card integrates less flexibly outside of mono-black or specific multi-color decks that support the black mana symbol.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Casting Disease Carriers comes at a significant mana investment. In games where tempo is crucial, its high cost can put players at a disadvantage when faster, more efficient creatures or spells might contribute more heavily to board presence and match momentum.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Disease Carriers are a dynamic addition to any deck that’s set up to exploit the loss of life and creature control elements. These cards often thrive in various environments, providing you with flexible answers to opponents’ strategies, and at times, can help stabilize your board presence during the game.

Combo Potential: There’s exciting synergy to explore with Disease Carriers. They pair well with other cards that trigger from death or life loss, offering a strategic advantage by setting up powerful combos that can turn the tide of a match.

Meta-Relevance: As the meta shifts and tactics evolve, Disease Carriers retain their place by consistently challenging enemy setups. Their ability to disrupt opponents’ plans and potentially weaken their creatures makes them a smart pick for keeping your collection aligned with ever-changing competitive play.

How to beat

Disease Carriers presents a unique challenge on the MTG battlefield. This card requires strategic plays, drawing on the importance of removal spells or abilities that bypass the triggered abilities. A direct way to counteract Disease Carriers is through instant-speed removal spells that can eliminate it before its last ability triggers. One efficient tool for this is a simple ‘Murder’ spell, seamlessly removing the creature without the life-point penalty.

Alternatively, employing exile-based removal such as ‘Path to Exile’ can bypass the issue entirely, avoiding Disease Carriers’ detrimental last ability when it’s put into a graveyard. Cards like ‘Scavenging Ooze’ also stand out, not only removing Disease Carriers from the game entirely but also serving dual purposes by bolstering your own creatures and life points. This pivotal interaction can swing the momentum in your favor without giving your opponent the upper hand.

Understanding and preparing for Disease Carriers is critical for maintaining control of the game. Successfully managing this card can often mean the difference between victory and defeat, illustrating the importance of tactical deck construction and in-game decision-making within MTG.

Cards like Disease Carriers

Disease Carriers is an intriguing creature card that finds its niche within the pantheon of creatures in Magic: The Gathering. It bears similarities to creatures like Festering Goblin, which also offer a death-triggered ability resulting in a negative impact on the opponent’s creatures. Unlike Festering Goblin, Disease Carriers extracts a toll on the opponent’s life total when it dies, making it a different sort of threat on the board.

When examining Phyrexian Ghoul, there is a shared theme of utilizing death for an advantage. Both creatures can leverage the act of dying for a gain in the gameplay, however, Phyrexian Ghoul is more about self-sacrifice for power, while Disease Carriers imposes a loss of life upon its expiration. Plague Dogs is another comparable card, with its death triggering a universal effect—both players drawing a card—and it further establishes the flexible utility found in this suite of creatures.

Ultimately, Disease Carriers stands out for its ability to threaten an opponent’s life total upon demise, offering a unique angle of play. Such attributes afford it a curious role in strategies focused around creature sacrifice and death-triggered value, distinctly contributing to its space within creature-based tactics.

Cards similar to Disease Carriers by color, type and mana cost

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - MTG Card versions

Demon of Catastrophes - MTG Card versions

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)

Demon of Catastrophes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Bold Plagiarist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Scourge of Numai - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)

Faceless Butcher - Time Spiral Timeshifted (TSB)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Disease Carriers MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Destiny, 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 Disease Carriers and other MTG cards: