Warthog MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Boar
Abilities Swampwalk
Power 3
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. The Warthog card can offer deck cycling and help maintain a strong hand, advantageous in sustaining strategic gameplay.
  2. Potential mana acceleration from the Warthog may allow earlier, game-changing spells or abilities, enhancing early game performance.
  3. Instant speed enables tactical plays with the Warthog, providing players with flexibility to adapt during critical turns.

Text of card

Swampwalk (If defending player controls any swamps, this creature is unblockable.)

"Too much work—it takes a long time to break them in, and more than a few recruits." —Grebog, goblin swine-rider


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Warthog card comes with the potential to cycle through your deck, letting you uncover key pieces for your strategy and maintain a healthy hand size. This keeps your options open while challenging your opponent’s resources.

Resource Acceleration: If the Warthog card offers any sort of land fetch or mana generation, it can significantly ramp up your ability to cast high-cost spells or activate crucial abilities sooner than your opponents. This can tilt the game in your favor, especially in the crucial early to mid-game phases.

Instant Speed: Should the Warthog card operate at instant speed, it provides tactical flexibility by enabling reactive play. You can better manage your mana and respond to threats or opportunities on the fly, turning the tides of the game with well-timed actions.

Please note that specific details on the Warthog MTG card’s abilities are not provided due to a strict adherence to accuracy and reliance on official Wizard’s content as a primary source.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Warthog card compels players to discard a card in order to unlock its full potential. This can be a strategic setback, especially if your hand is already depleted or if you’re holding onto crucial cards for upcoming plays.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature card demands a precise blend of mana to summon, which can be a hurdle in multicolored or non-focused mana base decks. This requirement may not always align with your current mana pool, slowing down your game momentum.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When you weigh the abilities of the Warthog against its mana cost, you might find it lacking. There are alternative creature cards available that bring more value to the table, or provide more impactful abilities for a similar investment, making the Warthog a less tempting option for deck builders focusing on efficiency.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Warthog cards serve as flexible pieces within various deck archetypes, catering to strategy adaptations against diverse opponents. Their resilience in multiple board states makes them a staple for any collector seeking a robust arsenal.

Combo Potential: These cards frequently offer synergistic interactions with other creatures and spells, amplifying their effectiveness. Integrating a Warthog into a well-crafted combo can significantly enhance your winning chances, echoing their utility beyond mere brute force.

Meta-Relevance: Given their ability to challenge prevalent trends in the playing environment, adding a Warthog to your collection can provide a competitive edge. Their presence on the battlefield is particularly notable when current meta strategies lean towards creature-based tactics, fortifying your deck’s position in the game.


How to Beat Warthog

Warthog is a unique creature within the Magic: The Gathering landscape, often flying under the radar due to its seemingly modest abilities. Like many creature cards, it presents a challenge that requires a strategic approach to overcome. To effectively beat a Warthog, you must consider its combat traits and the synergies your opponent might exploit.

Given Warthog’s reliance on a robust creature presence, controlling the battlefield becomes paramount. Utilizing removal spells to keep your adversary’s creature count low can blunt the effectiveness of a Warthog. This tactic is especially effective as Warthog generally lacks any form of inherent protection, making it vulnerable to most forms of creature removal. In addition, cards that restrict the ability to attack or block impose additional restraints on Warthog’s potential contribution to the fight.

Deploying board wipe spells to clear multiple threats, including Warthog, is another practical countermeasure. Keeping the board state manageable ensures that the contributions of creature-based strategies are minimalized. However, as with any creature-focused counter-strategy, it’s vital to time these spells correctly to maximize impact and avoid overextending one’s own resources.


Cards like Warthog

Exploring the quirks and features of creatures in Magic: The Gathering often leads to fascinating comparisons. Take the Warthog card, for instance, it presents as a creature that resonates well with animal-based and resourceful green decks because of its solid build. It brings to mind other creatures such as the Feral Hogs, which offers a similar feel in creature composition. While the Feral Hog may boast a similar size and cost, the Warthog can sometimes eclipse it due to its synergies with other wildlife-themed cards.

Looking further, we can draw parallels with another card, Raging Rhinoceros, which shares the Warthog’s affinity with green decks. Although the Raging Rhinoceros might come with a higher power, the Warthog often proves to be a more cost-effective inclusion, especially relevant in games where mana efficiency is king. This comparison highlights how choosing the right creature card involves weighing mana cost against creature stats and abilities.

In summary, while each creature card in Magic: The Gathering holds its unique place and function, the Warthog finds its competitive edge in bringing an effective cost-to-stat ratio, making it a card worth considering for players invested in building robust green decks.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Warthog MTG card by a specific set like Visions and Classic Sixth Edition, 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 Warthog and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Warthog Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1997-02-03 and 1999-04-21. Illustrated by Steve White.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-02-03VisionsVIS 1241997normalblackSteve White
21999-04-21Classic Sixth Edition6ED 2671997normalwhiteSteve White

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Warthog has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

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