Gavony Ironwright MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Human Soldier
Abilities	Fateful hour
Released	2012-02-03
Set symbol
Set name	Dark Ascension
Set code	DKA
Power	1
Toughness	4
Number	9
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Karl Kopinski

Key Takeaways

Gavony Ironwright bolsters creature toughness, providing strategic depth for both offensive and defensive plays.
While offering combo potential, it requires careful consideration due to its discard and mana constraints.
In the right deck, its meta relevance and versatility can outshine similar creature buff cards.

Text of card

Fateful hour — As long as you have 5 or less life, other creatures you control get +1/+4.

"I wish my work could shelter everyone, yet I pray we are never so few that it does."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gavony Ironwright supports maintaining card advantage by providing key defensive buffs. The ability to enhance your creatures’ solidarity in times of adversity means you’re less likely to lose them to combat, keeping your hand free to play other strategies.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly increasing mana, Gavony Ironwright’s potential to hasten your game plan is present. By fortifying your creatures, you enable quicker and safer attacks or defenses, effectively speeding up your win condition.

Instant Speed: Though Gavony Ironwright is not an instant itself, it impacts the board in such a way that could be compared to the advantages instant speed interaction brings. By preemptively making your creatures tougher, you’re setting the stage for surprise resilience during your opponents’ turns, akin to instant-speed plays that disrupt their strategies.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the main drawbacks of Gavony Ironwright is the necessity to discard a card to trigger its abilities. For players trying to maintain card advantage, this can be a difficult decision, particularly when options in hand are all valuable or potential game-changers.

Specific Mana Cost: Gavony Ironwright’s mana cost is restrictive, requiring two white mana. This specificity limits deck flexibility and can be challenging to cast on curve, especially in multicolored decks that may not consistently have the right mana available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that’s considered high for its effects, Gavony Ironwright competes with other cards in the same mana range that may provide broader impact or immediate value. This can make it a less attractive option during deck construction when evaluating the efficient use of mana resources.

Reasons to Include Gavony Ironwright in Your Collection

Versatility: Gavony Ironwright is adaptable to various playstyles, finding its place in decks that aim to boost creature resilience. Its ability to fortify your creatures during your turn adds a layer of strategic depth to both offense and defense.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with strategies that capitalize on creature toughness. It can become a key piece in decks that benefit from or trigger effects based on high-toughness creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where board wipes and damage-based removal are prevalent, Gavony Ironwright can offer your creatures an extra layer of protection, making it an astute choice for enduring such tactics.

How to beat

Gavony Ironwright is a resilient card in the world of MTG that can bolster your defenses by making your creatures tougher to kill. This ability becomes especially relevant in late-game scenarios where board presence is critical. Unlike other creatures that offer similar defensive boosts, Gavony Ironwright fortifies creatures you control with toughness less than 4 at a constant rate, making it an asset against decks that rely on dealing damage to multiple creatures at once, such as those employing burn or “ping” strategies.

To effectively counter Gavony Ironwright, consider using removal spells that bypass the toughness threshold, such as those that say “destroy” rather than dealing damage. Spells that exile creatures or force a player to sacrifice a creature can also be key tools in your strategy. Additionally, utilizing cards that change the base toughness of creatures, making them more susceptible to your other methods of removal, can turn the tide against an opponent banking on Gavony Ironwright for defense.

In essence, approaching Gavony Ironwright requires a diversified removal suite. Flexibility in your deck to handle various types of threats will ensure you’re not caught off guard by this particular challenge and maintain control over the battlefield.

Cards like Gavony Ironwright

Gavony Ironwright is an intriguing creature card that bolster’s a player’s defenses in Magic: The Gathering. Its closest relatives in terms of ability might be cards like Knight of the White Orchid and Veteran Armorer, both offering support in their unique ways. Knight of the White Orchid not only provides an immediate boost with its first strike ability, but it has the added benefit of land fetching if you’re behind your opponent. However, it does not offer the same enduring defensive buff to other creatures that Gavony Ironwright does.

Looking at Veteran Armorer, we see a creature that similarly enhances your creature’s resilience by boosting their toughness. It shares the passive toughness-boost effect with Gavony Ironwright, a consistent layer of added protection across the board. However, unlike Ironwright, the Armorer’s boost isn’t conditional on the number of other creatures you control. On the flip side, Ironwright’s effect can potentially surpass that of the Armorer during the late game when you accumulate a larger board presence.

Thus, Gavony Ironwright holds its own among creature cards that fortify your side of the battlefield. Its conditional nature can be a game-changer in the right deck, tipping the scales in prolonged matchups where defensive measures become pivotal.

Knight of the White Orchid - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Gavony Ironwright by color, type and mana cost

Pianna, Nomad Captain - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gavony Ironwright MTG card by a specific set like Dark Ascension, 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 Gavony Ironwright and other MTG cards: