Nightmare Horror MTG Card


Nightmare Horror - Dominaria
TypeToken Creature — Nightmare Horror
Released2018-04-27
Set symbol
Set nameDominaria
Set codeDOM
Power *
Toughness *
Number6
Frame2015
Layouttoken
Borderblack
Illustred byAaron Miller
TokenTokens act as indicators during gameplay and are not included into building a deck.

Key Takeaways

  1. Nightmare Horrors provide card advantage by disrupting opponent strategies while building your own presence.
  2. They offer instant speed options, adding an unpredictable element to your strategies during games.
  3. Their high mana costs and specific mana requirements can hinder deck flexibility and speed.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nightmare Horror cards often enable you to dismantle your opponent’s strategy while simultaneously building your own board presence, generating significant card advantage. This often comes in the form of forcing opponents to discard cards while you draw or return creatures from your graveyard to your hand or the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: These daunting creatures typically embody the essence of black mana, which is known for its ruthlessness in accelerating resources. Many Nightmare Horror cards offer abilities that convert life points into powerful effects or additional resources, effectively using your health as a resource to gain an upper hand.

Instant Speed: The real terror of a Nightmare Horror comes from its ability to strike fear at instant speed. Some of these cards come with flash, allowing you to deploy threats unexpectedly or activate abilities that disrupt and counter your enemy’s plans during their own turn, potentially turning the tide of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Nightmare Horror cards often come with the caveat of discarding cards to unleash their full potential or even to get them onto the battlefield. This demand can deplete your hand quickly, leaving you vulnerable to your opponent’s strategies and potentially without the resources needed to respond to threats effectively.

Specific Mana Cost: Diving into the realm of darkness, Nightmare Horror cards typically require a mix of black mana. This specificity can dictate deck construction, compelling players to focus on a mono-black or limited-color build, thus reducing flexibility in deck design and potentially making the deck predictable.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Unlocking the terror that Nightmare Horror cards represent usually comes at a steep price. Their ominous presence on the battlefield is often the result of a high mana investment, which can lead to slower gameplay and leave you trailing behind opponents who opt for lower-cost creatures and a faster tempo.


Reasons to Include Nightmare Horror Card in Your Collection

Versatility: Nightmare Horror cards often provide a broad range of effects from board control to life total manipulation, making them a fitting choice for various deck archetypes and playing styles.

Combo Potential: These cards typically come with abilities that synergize with graveyard or discard mechanics, paving the way for powerful interactions and enabling game-changing combos within your deck.

Meta-Relevance: As creatures that can operate both offensively and defensively, Nightmare Horrors align well with shifting metas, whether the current trends favor aggressive red decks or slower, more methodical control setups.


How to beat

Nightmare Horror cards in Magic: The Gathering often come with daunting abilities that can easily intimidate any opponent. These heavyweight cards typically require a strategy-focused approach to overcome effectively. One proven method is to utilize removal spells that can deal with these fearsome creatures regardless of their size or abilities. Spells such as Path to Exile or Murder can be particularly useful as they bypass the toughness of these behemoths.

Exile-based answers tend to be more effective against Nightmare Horrors since they prevent any graveyard retrieval shenanigans, which is a common theme within horror strategies. Counterspells also play a critical role, as stopping a Nightmare Horror from entering the battlefield is usually much more efficient than handling it once it’s in play. In addition, board wipes can reset the field if things get too overwhelming. Ultimately, maintaining a deck with sufficient answers is key to thwarting the threat of Nightmare Horror cards.

Effectively mastering your responses and keeping up with threat assessment will ensure that Nightmare Horrors become less of a dream disruption and more of a manageable aspect of the complex and engaging environment that is Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Nightmare Horror

Exploring the depths of dark Magic: The Gathering decks leads us to the realm of Nightmare Horror cards, a category teeming with creatures that terrorize opponents. These cards often share key attributes with other ominous beings in the game, such as eldritch powers and abilities that disrupt and intimidate.

Take for instance, Chainer, Nightmare Adept. This card shares the Horror theme and allows for reanimation of creatures, emphasizing a playstyle that values graveyard interaction similar to our [THEME]. While Chainer doesn’t embody the Nightmare subtype itself, it supports the archetype effectively. However, unlike some Horror cards that might impose a discard cost, Chainer provides a direct path to get creatures back into play, giving a different strategic advantage.

Another comparable entity is the iconic Faceless Butcher. This creature also falls under the Horror category and exhibits the classic tactic of banishing an opponent’s creature temporarily. Here, the focus is less on graveyard synergy and more on board control, drawing a distinction with some of Nightmare Horror cards that might blend both aspects. Both Chainer and Faceless Butcher contribute to the eerie presence and tactical playstyles encapsulated within Nightmare Horror designs in MTG.

Chainer, Nightmare Adept - MTG Card versions
Faceless Butcher - MTG Card versions
Chainer, Nightmare Adept - Commander 2019 (C19)
Faceless Butcher - Torment (TOR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nightmare Horror MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria, 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 Nightmare Horror and other MTG cards:

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