Grim Tutor MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Fetching any card, Grim Tutor significantly boosts your strategic plays and game control.
  2. The life cost and mana specifics may limit its use in non-flexible or health-critical situations.
  3. Its flexibility and combo-enabling nature make it a powerful addition to many MTG decks.

Text of card

Search your library for any card and put that card into your hand. You lose 3 life.

One who goes unpunished never learns. —Greek proverb


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Grim Tutor offers the crucial ability to search your library for any card, ensuring you get exactly what you need for the current game state, thereby increasing your chances of maintaining an upper hand.

Resource Acceleration: While Grim Tutor itself does not directly accelerate resources, getting the right card at the right time can be tantamount to accelerating your game plan, as it may allow access to combo pieces or crucial land drops.

Instant Speed: Although Grim Tutor is a sorcery, its strategic use during your turn can be as impactful as an instant. The predictability of obtaining a key card sets up your next moves and puts pressure on your opponent to respond, similar to instant-speed interaction.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Grim Tutor allows players to search their library for any card, it comes with the steep price of losing 3 life. This life payment can be a critical disadvantage in games where health is already compromised or in matchups against aggressive decks.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring one black and two other colors of mana, Grim Tutor necessitates a precise mana configuration. This can be restrictive for decks that are not mana-flexible, especially in the early stages of the game when every mana counts.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of three, Grim Tutor is on the higher end compared to other tutors in MTG. Cards like Demonic Tutor may provide similar functionality with a lower mana commitment, possibly making Grim Tutor less favorable in a tightly curated deck.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Grim Tutor is a card that offers flexibility in nearly any deck that runs black. Its capability to search your library for any card guarantees that you can grab the exact solution or piece needed at any stage of the game, making it adaptable to a wide array of situations.

Combo Potential: Players who revel in crafting intricate combos will find Grim Tutor indispensable. This card slots seamlessly into combo decks, enabling you to pull out key pieces to assemble powerful interactions or even grab that last piece for a game-winning combination.

Meta-Relevance: In an ever-shifting environment where decks are constantly refined to gain an edge, Grim Tutor maintains its relevance. Its inclusion in your arsenal ensures that you have the option to adapt your strategy on the fly, countering the most popular and powerful decks you encounter.


How to beat

Grim Tutor is a powerful search tool in Magic: The Gathering, notorious for fetching any card a player needs and thus fortifying their strategy. The key to overcoming a deck that harnesses Grim Tutor lies in disrupting the tutoring process or applying pressure before the tutor’s advantages can be exploited. Implementing hand disruption cards that force the opponent to discard from their hand can effectively neutralize the benefits of the tutor. Cards like Thoughtseize or Duress are prime examples of this strategy.

Effective use of counter spells is another method to thwart the opponent’s plans. By countering the tutor spell itself or the crucial card it fetches, you delay or completely nullify the setup that your opponent carefully planned. Furthermore, you can turn the tables on a player utilizing Grim Tutor by ramping up your aggression; presenting threats they can’t answer quickly enough or applying consistent pressure can outpace the mana investment and life payment required to use the Grim Tutor effectively. This combination of proactive disruption and reactive counters can significantly diminish Grim Tutor’s impact in a match.

Overall, while Grim Tutor shapes the landscape of a game by giving access to essential cards, a well-planned combination of hand disruption, counterplay, and strategic aggression can successfully counteract its potent effect.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering your MTG deck is a delicate blend of skill and the right arsenal of cards. Grim Tutor is a versatile, yet double-edged sword that could shape the destiny of your game. Whether you’re aiming to construct a formidable combo or need that key piece to turn the tide, this card can be a game-changer when deployed wisely, despite its inherent risks. Are you ready to make strategic moves that could cement your legacy in the MTG realm? Join us to deepen your understanding of Grim Tutor’s potential and refine your gameplay to outmaneuver the competition.


Cards like Grim Tutor

The Grim Tutor stands as a powerful search card in Magic: The Gathering, invoking comparisons with other tutors within the game. It is akin to the renowned Demonic Tutor, both offering the ability to search for any card in your deck. Where Grim Tutor requires a life payment of 3, Demonic Tutor forgoes this life cost, making it a preferred choice for many players looking to maintain life total while shaping their hand.

Enlightened Tutor and Vampiric Tutor also share a similar purpose but differ in their specifics. Enlightened Tutor focuses on fetching artifacts or enchantments and places them atop the library instead of the hand, while Vampiric Tutor boasts an instant speed but at the expense of life and placing the searched card atop the library as well. Each has its situational advantages within different deck strategies.

In sum, the space of search cards in Magic: The Gathering is wide and varied, but Grim Tutor holds its status with the clear advantage of selecting any card, despite the life cost. A key asset in any player’s arsenal, it exemplifies the strategic depth and decision-making that the game is celebrated for.

Demonic Tutor - MTG Card versions
Enlightened Tutor - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Tutor - MTG Card versions
Demonic Tutor - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Enlightened Tutor - Mirage (MIR)
Vampiric Tutor - Visions (VIS)

Cards similar to Grim Tutor by color, type and mana cost

Darkpact - MTG Card versions
Demonic Attorney - MTG Card versions
Jovial Evil - MTG Card versions
Touch of Death - MTG Card versions
Wicked Pact - MTG Card versions
Nature's Ruin - MTG Card versions
Buried Alive - MTG Card versions
Choking Sands - MTG Card versions
Brush with Death - MTG Card versions
Infernal Contract - MTG Card versions
Hand of Death - MTG Card versions
Forced March - MTG Card versions
Stupor - MTG Card versions
Coercion - MTG Card versions
Noxious Vapors - MTG Card versions
Mind Rot - MTG Card versions
Crippling Fatigue - MTG Card versions
Flaying Tendrils - MTG Card versions
Victimize - MTG Card versions
Pain's Reward - MTG Card versions
Darkpact - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Demonic Attorney - Summer Magic / Edgar (SUM)
Jovial Evil - Legends (LEG)
Touch of Death - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Wicked Pact - Portal (POR)
Nature's Ruin - Portal (POR)
Buried Alive - Odyssey (ODY)
Choking Sands - World Championship Decks 1997 (WC97)
Brush with Death - Stronghold (STH)
Infernal Contract - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Hand of Death - Starter 1999 (S99)
Forced March - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Stupor - Arena League 2000 (PAL00)
Coercion - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Noxious Vapors - Planeshift (PLS)
Mind Rot - Kaladesh Remastered (KLR)
Crippling Fatigue - Hachette UK (PHUK)
Flaying Tendrils - Friday Night Magic 2016 (F16)
Victimize - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Pain's Reward - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Grim Tutor MTG card by a specific set like Starter 1999 and Magic Online 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 Grim Tutor and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Grim Tutor Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 1999-07-01 and 2020-07-03. Illustrated by 5 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11999-07-01Starter 1999S99 791997normalwhiteMark Tedin
22002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 819222015normalblackAntonio José Manzanedo
32009-09-07Masters Edition IIIME3 691997normalblackMark Tedin
42019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 3652015normalborderlessMSCHF
52019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 4442015normalborderlessRoberto Gatto
62020-07-03Core Set 2021M21 1032015normalblackIgor Kieryluk
72020-07-03Core Set 2021M21 3152015normalborderlessAntonio José Manzanedo

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Grim Tutor has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PredhLegal
BrawlLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-06-23 You don't reveal the card you search for.

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