War Dance MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Released | 1998-10-12 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Urza's Saga |
| Set code | USG |
| Number | 282 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | Terese Nielsen |
Key Takeaways
- Offers significant board presence by boosting a creature’s power over multiple turns with sustained enhancement.
- At instant speed, it provides unexpected combat advantages and can decisively alter the flow of a game.
- Despite card and mana costs, War Dance’s progressive power increase makes it a compelling choice for green strategies.
Text of card
During your upkeep, you may put a verse counter on War Dance. Sacrifice War Dance: Target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of verse counters on War Dance.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: War Dance offers a sustained boost to your creature, potentially outmatching the opponent’s board presence over multiple turns. This advantage becomes significant as you maintain pressure while conserving cards in hand.
Resource Acceleration: While War Dance itself isn’t a direct source of mana acceleration, its low casting cost serves as a form of resource efficiency. This leaves you with more mana for other strategic plays during your turn.
Instant Speed: The ability to cast War Dance at instant speed offers tactical flexibility. You can enhance your creature just before damage calculation, catching an opponent off-guard and potentially swinging the game in your favor.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: To cast War Dance, a player must discard another card, potentially depleting valuable hand resources. For players who rely on maintaining card advantage, this can present a strategic setback, especially in decks that don’t have ample draw power or ways to utilize the graveyard effectively.
Specific Mana Cost: War Dance’s casting cost involves green mana, which means it’s inherently designed for green-aligned decks or multicolor decks with green as one of their components. This cost could be restrictive and not universally flexible, potentially excluding it from certain strategic builds that do not incorporate the necessary mana base.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that is on the higher end for its type of effect, War Dance may be considered inefficient compared to other options in the same mana range. Many players consider the cost-benefit ratio when choosing cards for their deck, and with intense competition for deck slots, War Dance’s mana investment might deter players, especially in formats where speed and efficiency are paramount.
Reasons to Include War Dance in Your Collection
Versatility: War Dance is a remarkably flexible aura that fits smoothly into a variety of green-based decks. Its capability to steadily increase a creature’s power each turn makes it useful in both aggressive and ramp strategies.
Combo Potential: This card can be part of powerful combos with creatures that have tap abilities or with cards that benefit from higher power creatures. A creature enchanted with War Dance becomes increasingly threatening each turn, synergizing well with various mechanics like Dueling or Totem armor.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where tempo and board presence are key, War Dance offers continuous scaling power without further mana investment after its initial cast. This can be crucial in outpacing opponents in creature-centric or aggro matchups.
How to beat War Dance
War Dance emerges as an enchantment that boosts a creature’s might, allowing for a potent gradual increase in power. While this can present a challenge, there are strategic measures to dismantle its effectiveness. Control decks are particularly adept at handling cards like War Dance. Counterspells such as Negate or Essence Scatter can prevent War Dance from ever hitting the field. Should it land, removal spells aimed at the enchanted creature, like Doom Blade or Path to Exile, can disrupt the building momentum. Additionally, enchantment removal, including Disenchant or Naturalize, offers a direct way to eliminate War Dance from the battlefield.
Understanding the tempo of MTG games is crucial here. Interrupting the rhythm of a War Dance user can lead to a considerable advantage. Playing sweepers like Wrath of God or Damnation after your opponent invests multiple turns’ worth of mana into pumping their creature can turn the tide of the game. It’s about being one step ahead, countering the strategy rather than just the card.
Correctly timing your answers and managing resources to deal with both the creatures and the enchantments they rely on can swiftly invalidate War Dance’s potential impact on the game.
Cards like War Dance
War Dance serves as an intriguing combat enhancer within the realm of Magic: The Gathering, drawing parallels to other enchantments that bolster creatures’ offensive capabilities. It shares similarities with Unflinching Courage, as both grant a significant boost to a creature’s attack prowess; however, War Dance distinguishes itself by accumulating power over time rather than providing an immediate and static bonus. Unflinching Courage confers an additional benefit of lifelink, something that War Dance refrains from.
Parallel to War Dance, cards like Madcap Skills also elevate a single creature’s potential to break through the defenses, providing a substantial power gain and the added advantage of being harder to block. Nevertheless, War Dance’s unique upside lies in its longevity, gradually becoming more formidable each turn it survives.
Comparing these options reveals a nuanced decision for deck builders: the instant gratification and added benefits from cards like Unflinching Courage and Madcap Skills or the rising threat War Dance offers. War Dance excels in longer games, rewarding strategic play and patience, ultimately becoming a considerable force on the battlefield if unchecked.
Cards similar to War Dance by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase War Dance MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga, 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 War Dance 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 Magic products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where War Dance has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering War Dance 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 | Adding a counter is optional. If you forget to add one during your upkeep, you cannot back up and add one later. |
