Uktabi Efreet MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Efreet
Abilities	Cumulative upkeep
Released	1997-06-09
Set symbol
Set name	Weatherlight
Set code	WTH
Power	5
Toughness	4
Number	143
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Alan Rabinowitz

Key Takeaways

The Efreet indirectly offers card advantage by pressuring opponents and demanding responses.
It complements green decks with enhanced resource acceleration, making early deployment possible.
Timing its play when opponents are vulnerable maximizes Uktabi Efreet’s battlefield effect.

Text of card

Cumulative upkeep o G

"The Uktabi efreet and I have something in common: both of our mothers wanted to give us back." —Mirri of the *Weatherlight*

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Uktabi Efreet rewards players with a formidable presence on the battlefield that can pressure opponents and shift the game’s momentum in your favor. While it doesn’t directly provide card draw, establishing a strong board position is a subtle form of card advantage as it forces your opponent to answer the threat or fall behind.

Resource Acceleration: While Uktabi Efreet itself does not offer mana generation, playing this card can be a strategic component in decks focused on resource acceleration. It synergizes well with green’s propensity for ramping up mana, ensuring that you can deploy this creature earlier in the game and utilize your accelerated resources effectively.

Instant Speed: Though Uktabi Efreet operates at sorcery speed, the key in playing it effectively lies in the timing. Deploying it after your opponent has exhausted their resources or when they’re tapped out can ensure it has an immediate impact on the game, setting you up for advantageous interactions on future turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Uktabi Efreet requires players to discard a card every upkeep, a significant downside that can deplete your hand quickly and leave you at a strategic disadvantage, especially in long-drawn games where resources are key.

Specific Mana Cost: Its casting cost includes not just generic mana but also specifically green mana. This makes the card less flexible as it can only be optimally used in mono-green or green-inclusive decks, reducing its versatility across the wide spectrum of MTG deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three generic and one green mana, Uktabi Efreet is on the high side for its body and given abilities. Players may find that there are other options within the same mana range that do not have a continuous discard requirement and offer additional benefits or synergies.

Reasons to Include Uktabi Efreet in Your Collection

Versatility: Uktabi Efreet offers flexibility in decks that thrive on using creature abilities. Its ability to maintain board presence while potentially dealing damage each turn makes it a useful addition to green decks focusing on creature strategies.

Combo Potential: In combination with cards that benefit from creatures with power 3 or greater, Uktabi Efreet can act as a key component in powering up your board state quickly. Its cumulative upkeep cost can also be manipulated to work in your favor with cards that mitigate or utilize upkeep triggers.

Meta-Relevance: With the ability to outpace certain control decks and apply constant pressure, Uktabi Efreet holds its place in a meta that prizes aggressive green strategies. It is a resilient threat that requires an answer, or else it will continually chip away at an opponent’s life total.

How to beat

Uktabi Efreet can be a challenging creature to face on the battlefield, given its formidable stats as a green creature card in MTG. One particularly effective strategy to overcome this card involves utilizing creature removal spells. Because Uktabi Efreet doesn’t have hexproof or any form of protection, direct removal spells like Murder or Path to Exile can easily send it packing from the battlefield to the graveyard.

Another approach is to outpace the Efreet by continuously creating creature tokens or deploying creatures that can easily outweigh it in power and toughness. Weaker creatures can be used to chump block, essentially sacrificing themselves to buy time or stem the damage each turn. Additionally, cards that grant temporary protection or indestructibility like Make a Stand can be pivotal in close combat scenarios where you’re looking to mitigate as much damage as possible while setting up your own counter-offensive.

Lastly, countering Uktabi Efreet can also hinge on card effects that bypass creatures. For instance, direct player damage through burn spells or using evasion abilities such as flying to attack your opponent from angles Uktabi Efreet cannot defend against. Tactics will vary, but understanding your deck’s strength and keeping removal or evasive options in your hand can swing the duel in your favor against the might of Uktabi Efreet.

Comparing the Wildfire of Uktabi Efreet

Uktabi Efreet is an intriguing creature card native to the Magic: The Gathering universe. With its nature-theme and evocative art, it mirrors its conceptual kin – Wildfire Emissary. Both are red-green creatures boasting the same mana cost and sharing a similar fiery essence. Like Uktabi Efreet, Wildfire Emissary carries a direct damage potential, but Uktabi Efreet has the upper hand with a built-in self-destruct mechanism that can manipulate game dynamics.

Cards like Uktabi Efreet

The Uktabi Efreet card, with its cumulative upkeep cost, beckons comparisons with other cards that have a rising cost for continuous effects. Yavimaya Ants, for instance, also hails from the same set, demanding a steadily increasing green mana but compensates with trample and greater power. Another similar entity is the Balduvian Hydra which trades a traditional upkeep for a more flexible fire-breathing ability, but lacks Uktabi’s raw power.

In the grand tapestry of green creatures, Uktabi Efreet finds its rhythm with a unique blend of damage potential and oppressive upkeep. Although cards like Yavimaya Ants and Balduvian Hydra present tempting alternatives with their own strengths, Uktabi Efreet stands out with its inevitable self-destruction, a trait that can be strategically advantageous in the ever-evolving skirmishes of Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Uktabi Efreet by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Uktabi Efreet MTG card by a specific set like Weatherlight, 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 Uktabi Efreet and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Uktabi Efreet has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2008-10-01	Paying cumulative upkeep is always optional. If it’s not paid, the permanent with cumulative upkeep is sacrificed. Partial payments of the total cumulative upkeep cost can’t be made. For example, if a permanent with “cumulative upkeep ” has three age counters on it when its cumulative upkeep ability triggers, it gets another age counter and then its controller chooses to either pay or sacrifice the permanent.