Hibernation MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Strategically returns creatures to hand, disrupting opponent plans while improving your board state.
  2. Maneuverable at instant speed, it enables flexible play and pivotal game-turning moments.
  3. Demands specific mana and a card discard, which may limit playability in diverse decks.

Text of card

Return all green permanents to owners' hands.

On its way to the cave, the armadillo brushed by a sapling. It awoke to find a full-grown tree blocking its path.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Hibernation offers the strategic advantage of potentially clearing multiple creatures off the board with a single card, giving you a numerical edge in terms of creatures in play. This can significantly disrupt your opponent’s plans while maintaining or developing your own board state.

Resource Acceleration: By sending creatures back to the owner’s hand, Hibernation can indirectly accelerate your resources. This sets back your opponent’s mana investment on their creatures, allowing you to potentially outpace them in deploying threats or answers from your hand.

Instant Speed: Being playable at instant speed, Hibernation allows you to dictate the pace of the game. You can cast it at the end of your opponent’s turn, preserve your mana for counterspells or other interactions, and decide the most opportune moment for its effect, keeping your opponents constantly on their toes.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One downside of the Hibernation card is the sacrifice it requires. Players must part with a card from their hand, which could leave them at a disadvantage, particularly if their hand is already depleted.

Specific Mana Cost: Hibernation demands specific mana colors to cast. Those running multi-color decks could find the blue mana requirement restrictive, hindering the card’s versatility across various deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The cost to bring Hibernation into play can be considered steep. With a mana cost that’s on the higher side, players might find more cost-efficient alternatives to achieve a similar effect, making it less appealing in competitive play.


Reasons to Include Hibernation in Your Collection

Versatility: Hibernation offers the ability to bounce blue and green creatures back to their owners’ hands, making it a quick solution to a wide range of situations on the battlefield. This can disrupt opponent strategies effectively, especially if they rely on certain creatures to execute their game plan.

Combo Potential: In decks that utilize return-to-hand mechanics or spellslinger synergies, Hibernation can act as a key piece to initiate powerful combos. It’s particularly effective in decks that can benefit from repeatedly casting the same creature or harnessing the casting of spells itself.

Meta-Relevance: As creature-based decks are often prevalent in many metagames, having a tool like Hibernation can give players an edge. It’s a valuable sideboard card in formats where blue or green creature-heavy decks are dominant, providing a swift and efficient answer to many threats.


How to beat

Hibernation is a blue spell that’s been known to disrupt many green-heavy decks in the world of Magic: The Gathering. This instant has the deceivingly simple effect of returning all green creatures to their owner’s hand, which can be a massive tempo swing in your favor. To ensure victory against this card, it’s crucial to diversify the colors of creatures in your deck, minimizing the impact of color-targeted bounce spells. Additionally, consider incorporating instant-speed spells that can be played in response, allowing you to either counter Hibernation or save your key creatures with protection or indestructible effects.

Maximizing your mana efficiency also plays a significant role. Being cautious about overextending by playing too many green creatures when your opponent has untapped blue mana could save your board from a potential wipe. Keep backup strategies in mind, such as relying on non-creature spells or focusing on a more resilient, multicolored creature base to maintain presence on the board even in the face of such targeted removal. By doing so, you ensure that Hibernation’s potential to overturn the game is greatly reduced.


Cards like Hibernation

Hibernation is a blue instant that serves as a versatile tool for controlling the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. It shares similarities with other bounce spells, like Unsummon and Vapor Snag, which provide a quick solution to remove creatures from the field. However, Hibernation is uniquely focused, targeting only green creatures. This specificity can be a double-edged sword, offering pinpoint accuracy against green-heavy decks while being potentially useless in other matchups.

Comparing Hibernation to something like Harbinger of the Tides reveals the strategic depth of choose-your-target spells. Harbinger can be a creature on the board itself but is limited to bouncing tapped creatures, whereas Hibernation is not encumbered by that condition. Also, when we look at Into the Roil, the kicker ability it possesses allows for card draw upon bouncing, which Hibernation lacks, making Into the Roil more versatile in prolonged games.

In essence, the value of Hibernation in Magic: The Gathering hinges on the meta-game and the prevalence of green decks. When they dominate, Hibernation becomes a highly effective sideboard card that could tip the scales in your favor during a match.

Unsummon - MTG Card versions
Vapor Snag - MTG Card versions
Harbinger of the Tides - MTG Card versions
Into the Roil - MTG Card versions
Unsummon - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Vapor Snag - New Phyrexia (NPH)
Harbinger of the Tides - Magic Origins (ORI)
Into the Roil - Zendikar (ZEN)

Cards similar to Hibernation by color, type and mana cost

Mana Short - MTG Card versions
Psionic Blast - MTG Card versions
Capsize - MTG Card versions
Intuition - MTG Card versions
Forbid - MTG Card versions
Frantic Search - MTG Card versions
Exclude - MTG Card versions
Crystal Spray - MTG Card versions
Circular Logic - MTG Card versions
Keep Watch - MTG Card versions
Archmage's Charm - MTG Card versions
Commander's Insight - MTG Card versions
Ixidor's Will - MTG Card versions
Catalog - MTG Card versions
Vex - MTG Card versions
Thirst for Knowledge - MTG Card versions
Murmurs from Beyond - MTG Card versions
Venser's Diffusion - MTG Card versions
Dream Fracture - MTG Card versions
Oona's Grace - MTG Card versions
Mana Short - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Psionic Blast - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Capsize - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Intuition - Tempest (TMP)
Forbid - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Frantic Search - Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC)
Exclude - Invasion (INV)
Crystal Spray - Invasion (INV)
Circular Logic - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Keep Watch - Judgment (JUD)
Archmage's Charm - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Commander's Insight - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Ixidor's Will - Onslaught (ONS)
Catalog - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Vex - Darksteel (DST)
Thirst for Knowledge - World Championship Decks 2004 (WC04)
Murmurs from Beyond - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Venser's Diffusion - Future Sight (FUT)
Dream Fracture - Eventide (EVE)
Oona's Grace - Eventide (EVE)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hibernation MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga and Seventh 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 Hibernation and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Hibernation Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 1998-10-12 and 2003-07-28. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-10-12Urza's SagaUSG 791997normalblackScott Kirschner
22001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 79★1997normalblackMatt Cavotta
32001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 791997normalwhiteMatt Cavotta
42001-08-08World Championship Decks 2001WC01 ab79sb1997normalgoldMatt Cavotta
52002-08-14World Championship Decks 2002WC02 cr79sb1997normalgoldMatt Cavotta
62003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 822003normalwhiteMatt Cavotta
72003-07-28Eighth Edition8ED 82★2003normalblackMatt Cavotta

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hibernation has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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