Witherbloom Pledgemage MTG Card

Witherbloom Pledgemage excels in decks focusing on spell casting and life gain for strategic advantage. Its Magecraft ability is hindered by specific triggering conditions and a restrictive mana cost. The card is a robust choice in life-gain decks, offering versatility and meta relevance against aggro decks.

Witherbloom Pledgemage - Strixhaven: School of Mages

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Treefolk Warlock
Abilities	Magecraft
Released	2021-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Strixhaven: School of Mages
Set code	STX
Power	5
Toughness	5
Number	249
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Filip Burburan

Text of card

Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, you gain 1 life.

"Death is just a transfer of energy. Those pests I harvested have the honor of becoming pure magic. What could be more beautiful?"

Cards like Witherbloom Pledgemage

Witherbloom Pledgemage serves as a flexible creature choice for players looking to gain life while dishing out damage in the game. It shares some thematic and functional similarities with cards like Dina, Soul Steeper, which also thrives in a life-gain and life-payment dynamic. However, the Pledgemage offers a direct route to damage players or planeswalkers while you gain life, different from Dina’s strategy of slowly whittling down an opponent’s life total.

Another card worth mentioning is Silversmote Ghoul, which like the Witherbloom Pledgemage, benefits from life-gain by returning to the battlefield, albeit with a more specific condition. The Pledgemage does not boast such a recursion ability but makes up for it with its magecraft ability whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell. The Pledgemage’s versatility in both offensive and defensive roles adds considerable strategic depth to the life-gain mechanic.

When looking at overall value within their respective strategies, Witherbloom Pledgemage stands out for being a workhorse in any deck that synergizes around life gain and spell casting, making it an excellent choice for players seeking to capitalize on these interactions during gameplay.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Witherbloom Pledgemage has the Magecraft ability, which grants you a life gain every time you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell. This synergizes well with decks that frequently play these spell types, effectively bolstering your life total while building a commanding presence on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: In decks that emphasize the Witherbloom college’s hallmark of harnessing the life force for power, this creature can represent a significant threat. By gaining life through Magecraft and other synergistic cards, players can simultaneously stabilize their life total and craft a board state that’s tough to overcome.

Instant Speed: While the Pledgemage itself isn’t an instant, it interacts beneficially with instant spells. Being part of a strategic play at instant speed can trigger its Magecraft ability unexpectedly during an opponent’s turn, creating surprise advantages or disrupting your opponent’s strategies by cushioning your life total or growing the Pledgemage if it’s a part of your roster.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Witherbloom Pledgemage offers certain advantages, it does necessitate a life gain or spell casting to trigger its Magecraft ability. This can prove to be a limiting factor, particularly in games where you’re unable to consistently meet these conditions, which can diminish the card’s potential value during play.

Specific Mana Cost: The Pledgemage requires a specific mana cost split between black and green. This requirement means that the card is ideally suited for a Witherbloom or Golgari deck, possibly restricting its versatility and leading to potential mana issues in more varied deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that is on the higher side for its stats, the Witherbloom Pledgemage might not be the most mana-efficient creature you could cast. Its cost can hinder your early game play, and by the time you’re able to cast it, there may be other creatures or spells that offer a greater impact on the game’s outcome.

Reasons to Include Witherbloom Pledgemage in Your Collection

Versatility: Witherbloom Pledgemage thrives in decks that are built around life gain and life payment strategies. Its Magecraft ability, which gives you a life whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, supports a versatile array of deck themes from ramp to control.

Combo Potential: Pairing this card with spells that can be copied or cast repeatedly maximizes its potential, allowing you to gain a steady stream of life points. This synergy is particularly powerful in decks that use life as a resource for card draw or creature empowerment.

Meta-Relevance: With an ever-shifting MTG landscape, Witherbloom Pledgemage remains a relevant choice, especially in an environment filled with aggro strategies. Its ability to gain you life can be a critical factor in stabilizing the game and gaining the upper hand against aggressive opponents.

How to beat

Witherbloom Pledgemage presents a unique challenge when facing it across the battlefield. This card, a vital part of many life-gain and spell-slinging decks in MTG, can dominate by growing stronger with each Instant or Sorcery cast. Beating this card requires strategy; one effective method is to limit the number of spells played, thus stunting its power boost. Another tactic is to use removal spells before your opponent can capitalize on its Magecraft ability.

Ensuring board control with creatures that can block and eliminate Witherbloom Pledgemage in combat is crucial. Prioritize creatures with higher power and toughness or those with deathtouch to dissuade the opponent from attacking. Exploit the Pledgemage’s absence of built-in protection by deploying targeted removal spells such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile, thereby clearing your path for a counterattack.

Ultimately, the key to beating Witherbloom Pledgemage lies in disrupting your opponent’s synergy. Keep a keen eye on their mana base and spell casting patterns, and be ready to act swiftly, removing the Pledgemage from play, preventing a cascade of life gain and power increases that can tilt the tides in favor of your adversary.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Witherbloom Pledgemage MTG card by a specific set like Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Witherbloom Pledgemage and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Witherbloom Pledgemage has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2021-04-16	Each magecraft ability has a different effect, although they all have the same trigger condition, whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell.
2021-04-16	For example, if you control Archmage Emeritus and cast an instant or sorcery spell, Archmage Emeritus’s magecraft ability will trigger and you will draw a card.
2021-04-16	If an effect creates a copy of an instant or sorcery spell, this will also cause the magecraft ability to trigger.
2021-04-16	If an effect creates multiple copies of an instant or sorcery spell, magecraft abilities trigger once for each copy created by the effect.
2021-04-16	Some effects instruct you to copy an instant or sorcery card in a zone other than the stack. These copies do not cause magecraft abilities to trigger. However, most effects that do this also allow you to cast the copy, and casting the copy will cause magecraft abilities to trigger.