Wild Dogs MTG Card

Wild Dogs provides card advantage by returning to hand if opponents control more lands. The card’s low cost and upkeep ability increases early game momentum and tactical play. Wild Dogs is versatile but may require specific deck construction and strategic discards.

Urza's Saga (USG)
1998-10-12 - Number 284

Wild Dogs - World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)

World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)
1999-08-04 - Number ml284

Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
2023-01-13 - Number 351

Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
2023-01-13 - Number 183

Card sets	Released in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Dog
Abilities	Cycling
Power	2
Toughness	1

Text of card

During your upkeep, if a player has more life than any other, that player gains control of Wild Dogs. Cycling (You may pay and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)

Cards like Wild Dogs

Wild Dogs is an intriguing Magic: The Gathering creature card that shares some characteristics with other low-cost creatures. For instance, it’s in the same vein as Savannah Lions, yet Wild Dogs presents a unique advantage with its landwalk ability, allowing it to be unblockable as long as an opponent controls a Forest. Unlike Savannah Lions, Wild Dogs also offers the cycling mechanic, giving players flexibility by swapping it for a new card in their library if it doesn’t suit the current battlefield scenario.

Looking at another comparable card, Jackal Pup, we notice that both creatures are low-cost and aggressive. Jackal Pup, however, doesn’t possess the added landwalk ability or cycling option, but it does have a more consistent damage output. With Wild Dogs, players must be more strategic, considering both the composition of an opponent’s lands and the right moment to cycle the card for maximum advantage.

In comparison, Wild Dogs stands out among similar low-cost creatures due to its potential to bypass creatures on an opponent’s board filled with Forests and its ability to provide value even when drawn late in the game, making it a versatile choice in many MTG decks focused on speed and adaptability.

Cards similar to Wild Dogs by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Wild Dogs offers a recurring form of card advantage for green decks. When it’s your turn and an opponent controls more lands than you, it returns to your hand, ready to be played again, thus circumventing the one-card-per-turn limitation.

Resource Acceleration: This one-cost creature allows for early board presence, facilitating swifter plays. Although not directly a mana accelerator, its low cost can indirectly lead to resource acceleration by enabling the use of larger spells sooner thanks to maintaining board state with minimal investment.

Instant Speed: While Wild Dogs itself isn’t an instant, its return-to-hand ability triggers during the upkeep. This can be tactically used much like an instant, by planning your plays around your upkeep phase, and ensuring you always have the Dogs ready to redeploy, thus allowing flexibility similar to instant speed interactions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Wild Dogs card presents a hurdle for players in the form of a discard requirement in order to take advantage of its return-to-hand ability. This can be particularly taxing in a game where maintaining a sizeable hand is often synonymous with versatility and potential for victory.

Specific Mana Cost: With a mana cost that solely requires green, Wild Dogs may not fit seamlessly into multi-colored decks or strategies that don’t heavily leverage forests. This can limit its usage to mono-green builds or decks that can afford the inclusion of green mana sources without compromising their overall fluidity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite offering a potentially reusable creature, the cumbersomeness of Wild Dogs’ mana cost can outweigh its utility. There may be alternative one-mana creatures that provide a similar or better impact without necessitating repeated discard, thus questioning Wild Dogs’ efficacy in a tightly constructed deck.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Wild Dogs offers flexibility in deck construction due to its low casting cost and cycling ability. This makes it a suitable inclusion in various aggressive strategies seeking to maintain tempo and apply early pressure.

Combo Potential: The card can synergize with effects that capitalize on creatures entering or leaving the battlefield. Its cycling ability can also help dig for key combo pieces, making it more than just a one-dimensional creature.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to return to your hand at the beginning of each end step if an opponent has more life, Wild Dogs can be repeatedly used as a persistent threat that adapts well to fluctuating life totals within the current meta.

How to beat

Wild Dogs presents a unique challenge with its low cost and quick agility on the battlefield. This creature embodies the essence of what players expect from a rapid green creature deployment. Its favourable attributes become particularly formidable when considering its cycling ability, which provides substantial deck fluidity.

Countering Wild Dogs efficiently requires understanding its strengths and weaknesses. Removal spells with low mana costs, such as Shock or Fatal Push, are reliable answers that dispatch Wild Dogs before their presence disrupts your game plan. Engaging in combat with creatures that have higher toughness can also suppress the threat without using spells from your hand. Moreover, leveraging Wild Dogs’ own cycling mechanic can be a strategy—forcing opponents to use this ability defensively helps you maintain control over the pace of play.

Ultimately, handling Wild Dogs is about preemptive strikes and retaining board control. With the right mix of creature interaction and low-cost removal, players can negate the advantage that Wild Dogs seeks to provide within green aggressive strategies in Magic: The Gathering. It’s not just about responding to threats, but anticipating them and incorporating multifaceted solutions into your own strategic arsenal.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Wild Dogs MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga and World Championship Decks 1999, 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 Wild Dogs and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Wild Dogs Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1998-10-12 and 2023-01-13. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1998-10-12	Urza's Saga	USG	284	1997	Normal	Black	Terese Nielsen
2	1999-08-04	World Championship Decks 1999	WC99	ml284	1997	Normal	Gold	Terese Nielsen
3	2023-01-13	Dominaria Remastered	DMR	351	1997	Normal	Black	Randy Vargas
4	2023-01-13	Dominaria Remastered	DMR	183	2015	Normal	Black	Randy Vargas

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Wild Dogs 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 Wild Dogs card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2022-12-08	Wild Dogs’s first ability will check life totals as your upkeep begins, before any player has the opportunity to take any actions. If no one player has more life than all other players at that time (i.e., if two or more players are tied for the most life), the ability won’t trigger at all. If the ability does trigger, it will check again as it tries to resolve. If no player has more life than all others by that point, the ability won’t have any effect. The player who had the most life as the ability triggered doesn’t have to be the same player as the one who has the most life as the ability resolves.