Unnatural Aggression MTG Card
2015-10-02 - Number 168
2022-12-02 - Number 737
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Instant |
| Abilities | Devoid,Fight |
Key Takeaways
- It offers card advantage by allowing selective creature removal while preserving board presence.
- Instant speed provides strategic opportunities to alter creature clashes dynamically.
- Mana cost and color specificity may limit deck integration, affecting its utility.
Text of card
Devoid (This card has no color.) Target creature you control fights target creature an opponent controls. If the creature an opponent controls would die this turn, exile it instead.
The battle served as a grim reminder of what a final victory for the Eldrazi would mean.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While Unnatural Aggression doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, it does potentially remove one of your opponent’s creatures while keeping yours on the battlefield. This confrontation can lead to a form of card advantage by maintaining your board presence and reducing theirs.
Resource Acceleration: Unnatural Aggression, as a single card, it’s more focused on brutal creature engagement rather than accelerating your resources. However, effectively dealing with a threat can save your resources for future turns, ensuring you stay ahead in the mana curve.
Instant Speed: As a combat trick, Unnatural Aggression’s instant speed is invaluable. Being able to decide the outcome of a creature battle on your terms, especially during an opponent’s attack, can turn the tide of any match by eliminating surprise threats and creating optimal blocks.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Unnatural Aggression forces a trade-off: to play it, a player must remove another potential play from their hand, which could backfire in a game where every card counts.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana required to cast Unnatural Aggression is green, meaning it fits primarily into green decks or multicolor decks with a green component. This limitation can hinder deck-building flexibility and can be problematic if you’re starved for green mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost that may be deemed steep for its single-target removal effect, some players consider the card inefficient, especially when compared to other removal spells in MTG that might achieve similar or better results with lower mana investment.
Reasons to Include Unnatural Aggression in Your Collection
Versatility: Unnatural Aggression offers a flexible removal option that allows creatures to engage in combat outside of the attack phase. It’s a solid inclusion in decks that can take advantage of this fight mechanic, adding an element of surprise or removing a key threat on the opponent’s board at instant speed.
Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with creatures that have abilities triggered by dealing damage or creatures that want to be in combat, such as those with deathtouch. It also works nicely in counter-heavy decks, allowing you to leverage the power of +1/+1 counter accumulation to your advantage.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta populated by creatures, Unnatural Aggression can be an important tool. It allows for an advantageous trade of resources on the battlefield, often resulting in beneficial two-for-one scenarios that can swing the game in your favor.
How to beat
Unnatural Aggression brings its own unique flair to the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering with its efficient creature removal capabilities. Known for allowing target creatures you control to fight an opponent’s creature, this card can turn the tide of battle – particularly when in the realm of green decks that often feature creatures with high power and toughness. To top it off, it exiles the defeated creature if yours had a +1/+1 counter, ensuring that threat won’t return to haunt the board.
To counter this, ensure your creatures have indestructibility or sufficient toughness to survive the fight, or employ instant speed removal that can disrupt the combat before it concludes. Alternative strategies involve hexproof to shield your creatures, or flash creatures that can enter the battlefield unexpectedly and turn the calculations in your favor. One must consider that Unnatural Aggression can be a game of patience and precise timing, making it imperative to choose the perfect moment to play or counter it. This card, while potent, can be mitigated by a well-structured deck and a keen understanding of your opponent’s potential moves.
In essence, overcoming Unnatural Aggression requires a mix of foresight, defensive measures, and the ability to anticipate and disrupt your opponent’s strategy, ensuring your creatures remain on the field to press your advantage.
Cards like Unnatural Aggression
Unnatural Aggression is a unique combat trick in Magic: The Gathering, invoking direct creature combat without the constraints of the combat phase. It bears resemblance to Prey Upon, a card that also forces two creatures to fight each other. Yet, Unnatural Aggression offers the benefit of being an instant, providing flexibility to surprise an opponent and leverage timing to your advantage.
Another piece of the puzzle is Epic Confrontation, which not only promotes a fight between creatures but also grants a modest power boost to your creature before the fight. While this can be a deciding factor in battle, the fact that Epic Confrontation is a sorcery limits its reactive use. Then comes Savage Punch, a card in a similar vein to Epic Confrontation, offering an even larger power increase but maintaining the same sorcery speed restriction.
Each card carries its strengths and weaknesses, but Unnatural Aggression’s instant-speed utility might just give it a slight edge in the world of Magic: The Gathering creature combat spells. Its value lies in the element of surprise and the strategic depth it offers to players who enjoy tactical, reactionary gameplay.
Cards similar to Unnatural Aggression by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Unnatural Aggression MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Zendikar and Jumpstart 2022, 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 Unnatural Aggression 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
Printings
The Unnatural Aggression Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-10-02 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by James Ryman.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015-10-02 | Battle for Zendikar | BFZ | 168 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Ryman | |
| 2 | 2022-12-02 | Jumpstart 2022 | J22 | 737 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Ryman |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Unnatural Aggression has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Unnatural Aggression card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2015-08-25 | A card with devoid is just colorless. It’s not colorless and the colors of mana in its mana cost. |
| 2015-08-25 | Cards with devoid use frames that are variations of the transparent frame traditionally used for Eldrazi. The top part of the card features some color over a background based on the texture of the hedrons that once imprisoned the Eldrazi. This coloration is intended to aid deckbuilding and game play. |
| 2015-08-25 | Devoid works in all zones, not just on the battlefield. |
| 2015-08-25 | If a card loses devoid, it will still be colorless. This is because effects that change an object’s color (like the one created by devoid) are considered before the object loses devoid. |
| 2015-08-25 | If the creature an opponent controls survives the fight but would die later in the turn for another reason, it will be exiled instead, whether your creature dealt it damage or not. |
| 2015-08-25 | If the creature you control becomes an illegal target (perhaps due to being destroyed by another spell or ability), Unnatural Aggression will resolve, but the target creature an opponent controls will neither deal nor receive any damage. If that creature would die later in the turn for another reason, it will be exiled instead. |
| 2015-08-25 | Other cards and abilities can give a card with devoid color. If that happens, it’s just the new color, not that color and colorless. |
