Trueheart Twins MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Jackal Warrior |
| Abilities | Exert |
| Released | 2017-04-28 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Amonkhet |
| Set code | AKH |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 4 |
| Number | 153 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Matt Stewart |
Key Takeaways
- Enhances combat by consistently increasing creature power during the combat phase.
- Works well with untap mechanics and instant speed spells for combat tricks.
- Demanding discard and specific mana cost can be a drawback for some decks.
Text of card
You may exert Trueheart Twins as it attacks. (It won't untap during your next untap step.) Whenever you exert a creature, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Shoulder to shoulder until blade must turn against blade.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Trueheart Twins come with the potential to repeatedly bolster your creatures’ power, thereby posing a persistent threat that demands an answer from your opponent and effectively tipping the battlefield in your favor each combat phase.
Resource Acceleration: As part of the exert mechanic, Trueheart Twins can give your team a significant boost. This synergizes well with cards that untap your creatures, giving you ample opportunities to accelerate your resources by overwhelming the board with unexpected attacks.
Instant Speed: While Trueheart Twins itself isn’t an instant, it interacts favorably with cards used at instant speed. Spells that untap your creatures or create tokens during the combat phase can become more effective, allowing Trueheart Twins to trigger their ability multiple times within a single turn cycle, thereby maximizing their impact on the game state.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Trueheart Twins demands that you pitch another card to fully leverage its exert ability. This card disadvantage can hinder your grip on the game, especially in tight situations where each card in hand is vital.
Specific Mana Cost: Requiring a blend of generic and red mana, Trueheart Twins can strain mana bases not dedicated to red or those that want to run a wide array of spells without color restrictions.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost allocating significant resources to a single creature, Trueheart Twins can be a risky investment in fast-paced formats where lower-cost creatures can dominate early and establish control.
Reasons to Include Trueheart Twins in Your Collection
Versatility: Trueheart Twins can seamlessly integrate into various red-based decks. Its synergy with warrior and minotaur tribes, as well as any strategy favoring aggressive plays, makes it a flexible pick for multiple deck archetypes.
Combo Potential: The exert mechanic combined with the Twins’ ability to pump your team affords exciting possibilities, amplifying the damage output during combat phases and potentially turning the tide in your favor when timed correctly.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where aggressive decks are thriving, Trueheart Twins could become an essential piece due to its capability to escalate attacks, punish slow starts, and close games quickly against control or combo decks.
How to beat
Overcoming Trueheart Twins in a game of Magic: The Gathering can be a significant challenge due to their ability to empower a wide approach to creature attacks. These formidable Twins are especially potent in decks emphasizing exert mechanics and token generation, where each attack phase can balloon into a massive increase in power across your board.
To effectively counter Trueheart Twins, control strategies are key. Utilizing removal spells like Fatal Push or Path to Exile to dispatch them before attacks are declared can stop the exponential power boost in its tracks. Sweepers such as Wrath of God or Damnation are also effective, clearing the board of accumulated tokens and putting pressure on the Twins’ game plan.
Another tactic is to restrict the Twins’ ability to engage in combat. Cards like Pacifism or the classic Counterspell can prevent them from ever hitting the board or joining the fray. Similarly, ensuring a robust defensive set-up with blockers that can withstand multiple attacks will reduce the efficiency of your opponent’s strategy, allowing you to stabilize and gain the upper hand. Trueheart Twins require particular attention, but with mindful play and appropriate countermeasures, victory can be secured.
Cards like Trueheart Twins
The Trueheart Twins card brings a unique flair to Magic: The Gathering deck strategies, particularly in formats that favor aggressive, creature-based tactics. Similar to cards like Skyknight Vanguard, the Twins have the power to create a significant impact during combat phases. Whereas Skyknight Vanguard excels in generating tokens upon attacking, the Trueheart Twins instead amplify damage potential by giving all your creatures exertion benefits.
When comparing combat enhancers, the twins share traits with cards such as Champion of Lambholt. Both cards encourage wide strategies, growing more effective as your battlefield presence expands. However, Champion of Lambholt focuses on gradually making your creatures unblockable, a different approach than the attack-based trigger of Trueheart Twins. Additionally, the twins’ appeal can be seen in their synergy with exert mechanics, similar to that of Combat Celebrant. While Combat Celebrant offers an extra combat phase, it is more limited in scope compared to the inclusive enabler role the Twins play in a well-populated board.
All things considered, Trueheart Twins stand out for their versatility and ability to increase the lethality of a broad army. Among creature enhancers in Magic: The Gathering, they offer a compelling mix of aggressive potential and tactical depth.
Cards similar to Trueheart Twins by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Trueheart Twins MTG card by a specific set like Amonkhet, 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 Trueheart Twins and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Trueheart Twins has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Trueheart Twins card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-04-18 | All cards in the Amonkhet set that let you exert a creature let you do so as you declare it as an attacking creature, as do some of the cards in the Hour of Devastation set. You can’t do so later in combat, and creatures put onto the battlefield attacking can’t be exerted. Any abilities that trigger on exerting an attacking creature will resolve before blockers are declared. |
| 2017-04-18 | If an exerted creature is already untapped during your next untap step (most likely because it had vigilance or an effect untapped it), exert’s effect preventing it from untapping expires without having done anything. |
| 2017-04-18 | If you gain control of another player’s creature until end of turn and exert it, it will untap during that player’s untap step. |
| 2017-04-18 | Some cards have abilities that trigger whenever you exert any creature. These abilities trigger when you exert that creature or any other creature you control. |
| 2017-04-18 | You can’t exert a creature unless an effect allows you to do so. Similar effects that “tap and freeze” a creature (such as that of Decision Paralysis) don’t exert that creature. |
