Valakut Fireboar MTG Card

Draws additional cards upon attacking, aiding in maintaining card advantage during games. Helps in casting high-cost spells sooner, enabling faster-paced aggressive play. Instant speed activation provides tactical advantages, crucial for surprise maneuvers.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Elemental Boar
Released	2010-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Rise of the Eldrazi
Set code	ROE
Power	1
Toughness	7
Number	170
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Text of card

Whenever Valakut Fireboar attacks, switch its power and toughness until end of turn.

"Just move very slowly, and for the love of Ula, do not get it mad." —Chadir the Navigator

Cards like Valakut Fireboar

The Valakut Fireboar MTG card introduces a dynamic element to creature strategies. It can be paralleled with other creatures like Irencrag Pyromancer which also hinges on specific triggers to deal damage. Valakut Fireboar, however, demands a landfall trigger to boost its power, offering a potential swing in power during your turn. Irencrag Pyromancer, in comparison, focuses on drawing a second card to activate its damage ability.

Exploring further, we find similarities with cards like Spitfire Lagac, which also employs landfall to deal damage to each opponent. While Spitfire Lagac has a consistent damage output with landfall, Valakut Fireboar shines in direct combat with its potentially massive power increase. Conversely, we look at cards like Akoum Hellhound, another landfall creature, which gets a power boost similar to the Fireboar, but only gains +2/+2 until end of turn with landfall, making the Fireboar a potentially more formidable threat.

Assessing these creatures together, the Valakut Fireboar uniquely positions itself in the MTG landscape by offering players a substantial landfall-based power surge, making it a noteworthy card for decks that are focused on land interactions and aggressive strategies.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Valakut Fireboar’s ability to possibly draw a card upon attacking gives players a chance to refill their hand and keep the pressure on opponents. This potential advantage can be a turning point in tight matches where every card counts.

Resource Acceleration: This creature might play a pivotal role in your deck’s strategy by helping you ramp up your resources. Its presence on the battlefield could hasten your ability to cast high-cost spells, thus leading to a quicker and more crushing win.

Instant Speed: Its ability to be used at instant speed offers flexibility and surprise factor, as you can respond to your opponent’s moves or end-of-turn actions with its effect, giving you a tactical edge when timing your plays.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Valakut Fireboar requires a card to be discarded upon activation, which can be a strategic pitfall if your available card options are valuable or you’re already short on hand size.

Specific Mana Cost: With its reliance on a particular type of mana, Valakut Fireboar can’t be easily incorporated into multicolored decks without substantial mana-fixing, potentially limiting its versatility and overall utility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Its mana cost can be deemed steep when stacked against other creatures with potentially more impactful abilities or stats. This could result in a less favorable tempo, particularly in faster-paced games where efficiency is crucial.

Reasons to Include Valakut Fireboar in Your Collection

Versatility: Valakut Fireboar is the kind of card that can be a significant asset in a variety of deck builds. Its capacity to slot into both aggressive and ramp-based strategies makes it a flexible option for players crafting diverse decks.

Combo Potential: The Fireboar can work wonders in combinations that capitalize on landfall triggers or damage amplification. Its potential to become an overwhelming threat each time a mountain enters the battlefield is a combo enabler in the right setup.

Meta-Relevance: With many decks in the current meta seeking to establish and maintain board presence, Valakut Fireboar can be a game-changer by offering both a respectable body and the ability to swing in for considerable damage, aligning well with the tempo of current popular strategies.

How to Beat Valakut Fireboar

The Valakut Fireboar poses quite the challenge with its ability to become more formidable when facing a player with a significant number of mountains. A closer look at Magic: The Gathering strategies reveals that one effective technique for outmaneuvering this fiery beast is controlling the board. Removal spells that can handle creatures regardless of their size, like Path to Exile or Terminate, are reliable methods to keep the Fireboar at bay before it becomes too hot to handle.

Alternatively, playing fewer mountains can keep the Fireboar’s power build-up in check. This strategy forces the opponent to rely on other means to power up their creatures. Enchantment-based removal cards like Oblivion Ring can target and exile the Fireboar, thereby negating its increasing threat. Another useful tactic involves the use of counter spells to prevent it from ever entering the battlefield, circumventing the issue altogether. Similarly, instants that redirect damage, such as Deflecting Palm, can turn the Fireboar’s power against itself.

Understanding the ways to counteract the Valakut Fireboar’s strengths is a testament to the dynamic gameplay within Magic: The Gathering. Implementing these strategies efficiently could be the key to ensuring victory against a deck built around this aggressive creature.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Valakut Fireboar MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi, 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 Valakut Fireboar and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Valakut Fireboar has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-04-15	Effects that switch power and toughness apply after all other effects that change power and/or toughness, regardless of which effect was created first.
2013-04-15	Switching a creature’s power and toughness twice (or any even number of times) effectively returns the creature to the power and toughness it had before any switches.