Barbarian Guides MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Barbarian
Released	1995-06-03
Set symbol
Set name	Ice Age
Set code	ICE
Power	1
Toughness	2
Number	174
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Richard Thomas

Key Takeaways

Enables quicker access to cards, maintaining the momentum and keeping opponents on their toes.
Can untap lands for resource acceleration, helping cast impactful spells sooner than expected.
Acts at instant speed, allowing strategic adaptability and the element of surprise.

Text of card

o R,oc T: Target creature you control gains a snow-covered landwalk ability of your choice until end of turn. At end of turn, return that creature to its owner's hand.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Barbarian Guides allow you to potentially sift through your library faster, offering access to key cards to maintain pressure on your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: With its ability to untap lands or provide alternate mana sources, it aids in ramping up your resources to cast high-cost cards earlier than usual.

Instant Speed: Its flexibility to act at instant speed enables reactive gameplay, allowing you to adapt to the board state and surprise your adversary with unforeseen tactics.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Incorporating Barbarian Guides into your play demands a card to be discarded, which can hamper your hand, reducing your strategic options later on.

Specific Mana Cost: To summon the Barbarian Guides, an exact combination of mana types is crucial. This rigid requirement can clash with decks that thrive on a varied mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that might eclipse alternative options for the same or similar abilities, this card can slow down your game plan, making it an option to weigh carefully against others in your repertoire.

Reasons to Include Barbarian Guides in Your Collection

Versatility: Barbarian Guides offer flexibility in gameplay, being able to adapt to various battlefield situations. Their ability to grant haste to other creatures can be pivotal in aggressive strategies.

Combo Potential: These guides can enable explosive turns by untapping lands or creatures, synergizing well with decks built around tap and untap mechanics, increasing their strategic value.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where tempo is crucial, the utility that Barbarian Guides provide can be the difference-maker against slower, controlling decks, reinforcing their relevance in a swiftly changing meta.

How to beat

In the dynamic environment of Magic: The Gathering, Barbarian Guides can pose a unique challenge to players due to their ability to tap to remove top cards of a player’s library from the game and subsequently use them. However, one effective strategy to counter this card is to focus on speed and removal. By accelerating your board presence and applying early pressure, you can force your opponent to either defend or use their resources elsewhere. Utilizing fast, low-cost creatures allows you to quickly establish a threatening board before Barbarian Guides can impact the game significantly.

Removal spells also play a critical role in dealing with Barbarian Guides. Direct damage spells or targeted removal can eliminate this creature before it has the opportunity to affect your library and hand. Keep in mind that once Barbarian Guides is in play, it’s key to act swiftly, as the longer the game progresses, the more advantage your opponent can accumulate by utilizing removed cards. Therefore, prompt action to address the presence of Barbarian Guides is crucial for maintaining control over the match’s flow and ultimately securing victory.

To summarize, overcoming Barbarian Guides in MTG hinges on early game aggression and effective use of removal, enabling you to control the battlefield and prevent your opponent from gaining a tactical edge through exiled cards.

Cards like Barbarian Guides

Barbarian Guides, a curious addition to the realm of strategic creature cards in the Magic: The Gathering universe, offers an intriguing comparison to other cards such as Flametongue Kavu. Like its counterpart, Barbarian Guides comes with the ability to impact the board by paving the path for advantageous plays, though it does so through land manipulation rather than direct creature removal.

Another card that shares a kinship with Barbarian Guides is Anger. While Anger doesn’t offer the land thawing utility, it grants your creatures haste as long as it’s in the graveyard with a mountain, showing how utility can extend beyond the battlefield. In contrast, Orcish Lumberjack also provides a burst in mana resources by sacrificing a forest, presenting a different type of resource acceleration compared to Barbarian Guides’ more controlled land-reuse tactic.

Ultimately, Barbarian Guides stands out with its unique twist on resource enhancement, impacting subsequent plays. Within the pantheon of Magic: The Gathering cards, its specific combination of abilities carves a unique niche, much like the distinctive contributions of Flametongue Kavu, Anger, and Orcish Lumberjack.

Cards similar to Barbarian Guides by color, type and mana cost

Hobgoblin Bandit Lord - MTG Card versions

Mannichi, the Fevered Dream - MTG Card versions

Cunning Bandit // Azamuki, Treachery Incarnate - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Barbarian Guides MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age, 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 Barbarian Guides and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Barbarian Guides has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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