Dirtcowl Wurm MTG Card

Tempest (TMP)
1997-10-14 - Number 221

Tempest Promos (PTMP)
1997-10-14 - Number 221

Dirtcowl Wurm - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)

Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
1999-11-12 - Number 19

Dirtcowl Wurm - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Magic Online Promos (PRM)
2002-06-24 - Number 32190

Card sets	Released in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Wurm
Power	3
Toughness	4

Key Takeaways

Dirtcowl Wurm’s growth with land plays makes it a card advantage and a board presence enhancer.
Needs careful deck building due to its green mana specificity and potential impact on hand size.
It offers versatility and combo potential, especially in landfall decks, becoming a growing threat.

Text of card

Whenever any opponent plays a land, put a +1/+1 counter on Dirtcowl Wurm.

Few of Rath's rivers follow a steady course, so many new channels are carved for them.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Dirtcowl Wurm can be a reliable source of card advantage on the battlefield. Its ability to grow as land comes into play gives it the potential to become a threat that must be answered, often forcing opponents to deal with it and, ideally, using more than one card to do so.

Resource Acceleration: In decks tailored to manipulate land plays, such as landfall strategies, Dirtcowl Wurm benefits from every additional land played, not only providing a larger creature on the board but accelerating the advantage by making the most of every land drop.

Instant Speed Interaction: While Dirtcowl Wurm itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its ability triggers during any land play—including your opponent’s turns. This interaction can create sudden shifts in board state at instant speed, which can be tactically advantageous, especially if it becomes a sizable blocker when the opponent least expects it.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The mechanic of Dirtcowl Wurm could be seen as a downside because it necessitates the discard of a card to unleash its full potential, posing a risk for hands low on cards.

Specific Mana Cost: Dirtcowl Wurm’s specific mana allocation requires a dedicated green mana source, which may restrict deck building strategies and could be inconvenient for decks that are not mono-green or have insufficient mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its relatively high mana cost, Dirtcowl Wurm competes with other creatures and spells in the five-mana slot. Players might find more immediate value or lower-mana-cost creatures that provide a similar or better impact on the game.

Reasons to Include Dirtcowl Wurm in Your Collection

Versatility: Dirtcowl Wurm adapts fluidly to various deck themes, especially land-focused strategies. Its power grows as you play lands, making it a formidable creature in the long game.

Combo Potential: This creature thrives in a synergy with landfall abilities and other mechanics that capitalize on land plays, amplifying its growth each time a land enters your side of the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta populated by ramp decks or where lands can be played frequently, Dirtcowl Wurm can become a substantial threat that consistently scales in power and poses a significant challenge for opponents.

How to beat

Dirtcowl Wurm presents an intriguing challenge on the battlefield. As a creature that grows stronger with every land your opponent plays, it has the potential to become a considerable threat as the game progresses. Tackling this evolving creature requires a strategic approach. Control decks with ample removal spells like Path to Exile or Doom Blade can manage the Wurm before it becomes too massive to handle. Counter-intuitively, land destruction decks, although less common, can also prove effective by depriving Dirtcowl Wurm of its growth fuel.

Another strategy involves utilizing bounce spells or effects that return Dirtcowl Wurm to its owner’s hand—Time Ebb and Unsummon are examples of this. These tactics allow you to reset the Wurm’s growth, thereby nullifying the built-up advantage. Additionally, effects that exile creatures bypass the size of Dirtcowl Wurm entirely, with cards like Swords to Plowshares offering a clean solution without any residual effects.

Be aware of the environment the Wurm is thriving in. If your opponent is using a ramp strategy, they’ll be accelerating the Wurm’s growth. Prioritize these strategies wisely, as a timely response can prevent the Wurm from ever becoming the unbeatable behemoth it has the potential to be.

Cards like Dirtcowl Wurm

Dirtcowl Wurm stands as a unique creature in Magic: The Gathering with its ability to become more formidable with every land your opponent plays. Among similar creatures, Terravore offers an exciting comparison as its power and toughness are also determined by land cards, but in this case, it revolves around lands in all graveyards. Terravore can be a variable threat, often growing more potent as the game progresses and graveyards fill up with land cards.

Another creature that shares the theme of growth is Scute Mob. Like Dirtcowl Wurm, Scute Mob flourishes as the game unfolds, but it focuses on lands under your control rather than your opponent’s actions, growing exponentially larger with each of your land drops beyond the fifth. While Dirtcowl Wurm benefits from enemy plays, Scute Mob requires personal land development, showcasing a more predictable growth pattern that can be directly influenced by the player’s own strategy.

Analyzing the potential of these creatures reveals that Dirtcowl Wurm holds a unique niche. Its growth mechanism depends on a factor outside the immediate control of the player, making it a more passive but potentially substantial threat in environments where opponents play multiple lands.

Cards similar to Dirtcowl Wurm by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dirtcowl Wurm MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and Tempest Promos, 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 Dirtcowl Wurm and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dirtcowl Wurm Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 1999-11-12. Illustrated by Dan Frazier.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1997-10-14	Tempest	TMP	221	1997	Normal	Black	Dan Frazier
2	1997-10-14	Tempest Promos	PTMP	221	1997	Normal	Black	Dan Frazier
3	1999-11-12	Battle Royale Box Set	BRB	19	1997	Normal	White	Dan Frazier
4	~~2002-06-24~~	Magic Online Promos	PRM	32190	1997	Normal	Black	Dan Frazier

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dirtcowl Wurm has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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