Tazeem Roilmage MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Merfolk Wizard
Abilities	Kicker
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Power	2
Toughness	1
Number	84
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Manuel Castañón

Key Takeaways

Tazeem Roilmage proves to be a hand-refilling asset, retrieving instant or sorcery cards for maintained pressure.
Instant speed activation yields strategic advantages, enabling surprise moves and optimum spell timing.
Mandatory discard and specific mana requirements may limit Tazeem Roilmage’s gameplay versatility and utility.

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) When Tazeem Roilmage enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.

"The Roil can be directed. Observe."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tazeem Roilmage is designed to enhance your hand by letting you reclaim an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. This refills your resources and keeps the pressure on your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: By utilizing Tazeem Roilmage’s ability in the later stages of the game, you can effectively chain powerful spells. This might not directly accelerate your mana, but it gives you the potential to play more impactful spells sooner.

Instant Speed: The kicker ability of Tazeem Roilmage can be activated at instant speed, giving you the freedom to wait until the most opportune moment to cast it. This flexibility allows for strategic plays that can catch an adversary off guard or maximize the effectiveness of your spells.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tazeem Roilmage comes with an ability that is powerful in the right setting but requires discarding a card. This mandatory discard can backfire when your hand lacks disposable options, squeezing your resources during crucial moments of gameplay.

Specific Mana Cost: It’s crucial for players to note that Tazeem Roilmage asks for a specific mana combination to cast. This specific mana requirement means that it will fit primarily into decks that can reliably produce blue and green mana, potentially restricting its versatility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Casting Tazeem Roilmage demands a non-negligible amount of mana. When you consider this mage’s cost alongside the utility it provides, some players might find it on the costlier side, especially when compared to other creatures that offer similar or even more impactful abilities for a lower investment.

Reasons to Include Tazeem Roilmage in Your Collection

Versatility: Tazeem Roilmage offers flexibility for deck building due to its ability to synergize with landfall mechanics and spellcasting strategies. It’s an easy fit for decks that capitalize on instant and sorcery spells.

Combo Potential: This wizard creature pairs well with instant and sorcery retrieval mechanics, creating opportunities for recurring powerful spells each turn. Its prowess enhances these combinations, making it a more formidable presence on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: Tazeem Roilmage stands strong in environments that emphasize casting numerous noncreature spells. It thrives in metas where tempo and prowess abilities can outpace opponents, proving its worth in the right deck contexts.

How to Beat Tazeem Roilmage

Tazeem Roilmage is a versatile creature that shines in decks focused around landfall abilities and instant-speed spells in MTG. Its prowess in returning an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand can turn the tide of the game by reusing powerful spells. However, there are strategies to dismantle its effectiveness.

Removal spells that can target Tazeem Roilmage before its ability is activated are key. Instant-speed removals like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can ensure that the Roilmage doesn’t get a chance to reuse valuable spells. It’s also beneficial to limit the number of lands entering play to curtail the landfall triggers. Utilizing counterspells like Mana Leak when Tazeem Roilmage is cast can prevent it from ever touching the battlefield.

A strategic approach to pacing your plays and maintaining control of the board can keep Tazeem Roilmage from leveraging its full potential. Smart removals and timing your spells can help keep this creature in check, allowing you to maintain the upper hand in your MTG matches.

Cards like Tazeem Roilmage

Tazeem Roilmage stands out in the vast landscape of creature spells in Magic: The Gathering. This card is akin to Merfolk Looter in function, allowing players to draw a card and then discard a card, thus aiding with deck cycling and graveyard strategies. Tazeem Roilmage, on the flip side, comes with the added benefit of kicker and the ability to return an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand when it enters the battlefield kicked.

Comparable to Tazeem Roilmage, we have Archaeomancer which also retrieves an instant or sorcery card from the graveyard when it enters the battlefield. Unlike Tazeem Roilmage, Archaeomancer doesn’t offer the deck cycling ability but it compensates with a solid 1/2 body. Additionally, Sea Gate Oracle is another creature that influences card flow. Though it does not interact with the graveyard, it lets you look at the top two cards of your library and put one in your hand, which indirectly can filter your draws.

In evaluating these cards, Tazeem Roilmage presents a versatile role in Magic: The Gathering. Its combination of abilities makes it uniquely useful for players looking both to shape their hand and retrieve valuable spells for repeated use.

Cards similar to Tazeem Roilmage by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tazeem Roilmage MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Tazeem Roilmage and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tazeem Roilmage 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
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-09-25	An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25	If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that’s already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn’t kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25	If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can’t kick it.
2020-09-25	Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25	Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they’re kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren’t kicked, and you can’t kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won’t be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25	To determine a spell’s total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card’s effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25	You can’t pay a kicker cost more than once.