Encroach MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Released | 1999-06-07 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Urza's Destiny |
| Set code | UDS |
| Number | 59 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | rk post & Mark Tedin |
Key Takeaways
- Encroach allows insight into an opponent’s hand, disrupting their strategy and gaining valuable information.
- Forcing an opponent to discard a significant nonbasic land can impede their mana curve and spell casting.
- Playing Encroach at instant speed adds flexibility, capable of altering the game’s momentum at crucial moments.
Text of card
Look at target player's hand and choose a nonbasic land card from it. That player discards that card.
"The rate of spread in this region is unacceptable. Start again." —Davvol, Evincar of Rath
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Encroach provides a strategic opportunity by enabling the player to peer into an opponent’s hand. This can result in a significant informational advantage, helping to inform your subsequent plays and disrupting your opponent’s strategy.
Resource Acceleration: By forcing the opponent to discard a nonbasic land card, Encroach can potentially set them back on their mana curve. This could stifle their ability to cast cost-intensive spells or activate key abilities, thus accelerating your own position in the game.
Instant Speed: Encroach can be cast at instant speed, offering the flexibility to disrupt the opponent’s plans at a critical moment. Whether they’re fetching for a specific land or setting up for a big turn, Encroach can be a surprise setback that alters the tide of a match.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the challenges when using Encroach lies in its discard prerequisite. This forces players to let go of a potentially valuable card in their hand, which could hinder the deck’s overall synergy or momentum, especially if the player is struggling to maintain hand advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Encroach demands a specific mana composition to cast, requiring black mana. This can potentially restrict the card’s integration in multi-color decks that might not always have the necessary black mana readily available when needed most.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Encroach’s effect might appear situationally useful, the cost of investing two black mana can be considered steep in scenarios where board presence or tempo holds more significance. For that mana investment, players might find alternative cards that provide more immediate impact or versatility for their strategies.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Encroach card proves its worth by fitting seamlessly into a variety of deck archetypes. Its ability to disrupt an opponent’s mana base by forcing them to sacrifice a land gives control and tempo decks an extra edge.
Combo Potential: It shines in setups aimed at land destruction or denial strategies. Coupled with cards that punish landless states or retrieve Encroach from the graveyard, the potential to hamstring an opponent’s strategy multiplies.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where non-basic lands hold significant strategic importance, the capacity of Encroach to target these specifically makes it a relevant choice. Its ability to interfere with finely-tuned mana bases can prove pivotal in disrupting opponent plays.
How to beat Encroach
Encroach is a unique card that has the potential to disrupt the land base of many decks in Magic: The Gathering. This card can target an opponent’s non-basic land, revealing the flaw in relying heavily on such lands for mana fixing. Overcoming this black spell’s challenge requires a strategy that anticipates such disruption.
To effectively counter Encroach, consider a deck composition that balances the inclusion of basic lands. This reduces your vulnerability to Encroach’s land-targeting ability. Additionally, running cards that can swiftly replenish your land or retrieve them from the graveyard can be a wise tactic. Cards with land cycling or those that allow you to search your library for basic lands support this resilience. Also, instant-speed land protection or hexproof-granting spells can be instrumental in shielding your key lands from such targeted removal.
Adapting your play to anticipate and mitigate the effects of disruptive spells like Encroach ensures a robust strategy. It not only shields you from specific card threats but solidifies your deck’s foundational stability, embodying strategic depth and adaptability in your Magic: The Gathering gameplay.
Cards like Encroach
Encroach is an intriguing spell that enables players to disrupt their opponent’s land resources by forcing a discard of a nonbasic land card. In Magic: The Gathering, this can be a strong strategic advantage. It stands in comparison to cards like Sinkhole, which outright destroys any targeted land. While Sinkhole guarantees the removal of the land from the battlefield, Encroach empowers you to preemptively strike at your opponent’s hand, shaping their potential plays.
Another related card is Wrench Mind, which generally forces an opponent to discard two cards, but can be less targeted in its impact than Encroach. Conversely, Encroach allows for precise targeting, ensuring the specific type of card you want to remove is hit. Certainly, there are parallels to be drawn with Inquisition of Kozilek, known for its ability to pick off a nonland card with a converted mana cost of 3 or less from an opponent’s hand. However, Inquisition of Kozilek doesn’t have the same laser focus on lands as Encroach does.
Each of these cards provides various angles of hand disruption, but Encroach specifically carves out its niche by being an early game play that can unsettle an opponent’s mana base before it develops. Its niche targeting makes it a unique asset in decks built around hand disruption and resource denial strategies.
Cards similar to Encroach by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Encroach 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 Encroach and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Encroach has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Encroach card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | You choose a land card that is not a basic land. |
| 2014-02-01 | If you target yourself with this spell, you must reveal your entire hand to the other players just as any other player would. |
