Volatile Chimera MTG Card

Volatile Chimera allows for unexpected creature trades, potentially upscaling board influence. Instantaneous transformation offers tactical flexibility, reacting swiftly to opponents’ actions. Demands a card discard for activation, which could limit hand resources in tight situations.

Volatile Chimera - Conspiracy: Take the Crown

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Elemental Chimera
Released	2016-08-26
Set symbol
Set name	Conspiracy: Take the Crown
Set code	CN2
Power	3
Toughness	2
Number	59
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Mathias Kollros

Text of card

Before you shuffle your deck to start the game, you may reveal this card from your deck and exile three or more creature cards you drafted that aren't in your deck. : Choose a card at random you exiled with cards named Volatile Chimera. Volatile Chimera becomes a copy of that card and gains this ability.

Cards like Volatile Chimera

Volatile Chimera is an interesting piece in the realm of creature spells in Magic: The Gathering, joining the ranks of other unique red creatures. It stands out with a rather distinctive ability that allows players to exchange it for a creature card from their hand at random when attacking. Comparable to its behavior, we have something like Shifty Doppelganger which also permits switching with creatures from your hand, but it does so at the cost of mana and doesn’t necessitate the combat phase.

Looking at Norin the Wary, another resonant example, it has a way of flickering out of the battlefield upon any creature’s attack, and then returning to the field at the end phase, making it a different but equally unpredictable ally. Yet, Norin doesn’t offer the same kind of value trade that Volatile Chimera can by swapping out for potentially more powerful creatures mid-combat.

Thus, scavenging deeper into the various options Magic: The Gathering offers, Volatile Chimera earns its unique slot. The card brings an unexpected twist to battles, combining the thrill of chance with strategic creature play, creating opportunities for game-changing moments on the battlefield.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Volatile Chimera can potentially provide card advantage by using its unique ability to reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card. If the revealed creature card has desirable abilities or a higher power and toughness, you trade up in terms of board presence and potential impact.

Resource Acceleration: While Volatile Chimera doesn’t directly generate mana or Treasure tokens, its ability to possibly transform into a creature with cost-reduction effects or additional mana-generating abilities can indirectly contribute to resource acceleration, bolstering your ability to cast spells more efficiently.

Instant Speed: The ability to switch at instant speed lets you adapt to your opponent’s moves with flexibility. You can decide to exchange Volatile Chimera during your turn for aggressive plays or wait until the last possible moment on your opponent’s turn to maximize strategic options, making it a versatile component in your tactical arsenal.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Volatile Chimera’s ability necessitates the player to discard a card to transform it, potentially depleting your hand when you might need to keep options open.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature card’s casting cost requires three different types of mana, making it less versatile and more challenging to cast on curve outside of a dedicated three-color deck.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that involves three separate colors of mana, Volatile Chimera may arrive on the battlefield later than other creatures with similar power and toughness—often an obstacle in fast-paced matches.

Reasons to Include Volatile Chimera in Your Collection

Versatility: Volatile Chimera brings a unique twist to any deck with its ability to literally shift form into other creatures from your library. This adaptability makes it fit well in decks that are looking for surprise elements or require a mutable threat on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: When discussing combo potential, Volatile Chimera shines. Not only can it morph into other creatures you control, which could be part of intricate combo setups, but it also has the ability to pitch a card from your hand, offering synergy with graveyard strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In the shifting landscape of deck archetypes, Volatile Chimera holds a special place. Its potential to become an unforeseen danger makes it particularly relevant in environments where unpredictability can throw off an opponent’s strategy and where being able to adapt to various threats is key.

How to Beat Volatile Chimera

Confronting a Volatile Chimera on the battlefield can be daunting. This peculiar creature benefits from being unpredictable due to its ability, allowing a shuffle and reveal which can bring in potentially more powerful and unexpected threats onto the field. Players often tiptoe around it, unsure of when it will evolve into something even more challenging.

To gain an upper hand against this shapeshifting threat, consider using instant-speed removal spells. Having the capacity to react right before your opponent declares attackers or in response to the Chimera’s ability being activated is crucial. Spells like Path to Exile or Fatal Push can neatly dispose of the Chimera before it transforms, thus negating any possible enhancement in battlefield presence for your opponent.

Another tactic is to apply pressure with aggressive strategies that force your opponent to block with their Chimera, thereby using their creature’s volatility against them. Lastly, employing graveyard manipulation with cards like Scavenging Ooze can hamper their plan by removing potential threats before they have the chance to emerge through the Chimera’s ability. Strategic planning and timely interventions can effectively neutralize the risks posed by this unstable card.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Volatile Chimera MTG card by a specific set like Conspiracy: Take the Crown, 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 Volatile Chimera and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Volatile Chimera has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2016-08-23	After Volatile Chimera copies a creature card, that card remains in the pool of cards you can choose with the last ability.
2016-08-23	No enters-the-battlefield abilities of the creature card Volatile Chimera is copying will trigger. Volatile Chimera was already on the battlefield.
2016-08-23	The copy effect created by the activated ability doesn’t have a duration. It will last until Volatile Chimera leaves the battlefield or another copy effect overwrites it.
2016-08-23	Unlike the other two cards with this style of ability (Arcane Savant and Caller of the Untamed), if you have more than one Volatile Chimera in your deck, you need only reveal one of them because you can exile as many creature cards that aren’t in your deck as you want, with a minimum of three. If you do reveal more than one Volatile Chimera before shuffling, you’ll have to exile at least three creature cards for each of them.