Brine Shaman MTG Card

Ice Age (ICE)
1995-06-03 - Number 115

Masters Edition II (ME2)
2008-09-22 - Number 80

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Cleric Shaman
Power	1
Toughness	1

Key Takeaways

Brine Shaman enables card advantage and tactical battlefield control through its creature sacrifice abilities.
Offers resource acceleration, grabbing synergies with graveyard mechanics at instant speed for adaptable play.
Demands careful mana and hand management, as its high utility comes with specific constraints and costs.

Text of card

oc T: Sacrifice a creature to give target creature +2/+2 until end of turn. o1o Uo U: Sacrifice a creature to counter target summon spell.

"The Shamans of Marit Lage do her bidding in secret, but they do it gladly." —Halvor Arenson, Kjeldoran Priest

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Brine Shaman offers strategic utility by potentially converting creatures into control tools, allowing players to manage the battlefield while retaining hand superiority.

Resource Acceleration: With its ability to sacrifice creatures, this card can indirectly contribute to resource acceleration by unearthing potential synergies with other cards that benefit from creatures heading to the graveyard.

Instant Speed: The abilities of Brine Shaman can be activated at instant speed, enabling players to adapt and respond to threats or opportunities on the fly, making it a flexible tool in various game scenarios.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In utilizing Brine Shaman, a player must often discard another creature card, which could be a setback when trying to maintain a presence on the battlefield.

Specific Mana Cost: Brine Shaman’s activated abilities require specific mana types, constraining its optimal incorporation to decks that can reliably produce both blue and colorless mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost that includes both summoning and using its ability, Brine Shaman can be considered mana-intensive when compared to other utility creatures that offer similar or enhanced effects for a lower investment.

Reasons to Include Brine Shaman in Your Collection

Versatility: Brine Shaman offers a unique role in various decks, enabling sacrifice-driven strategies that work well in formats favoring graveyard play and creature control.

Combo Potential: Its ability to manipulate both your own creatures and those of your opponent’s paves the way for numerous synergies and interactions, such as transforming expendable creatures into unexpected advantages on the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: The card’s potential to disrupt creature-heavy lineups makes it a tactical choice in games where creature-based tactics predominate, and control decks seek to manage opponents’ threats on a one-for-one basis.

How to Beat Brine Shaman

Brine Shaman is a versatile card from the game of Magic: The Gathering, often integrated into decks that deploy creature sacrifice strategies. Its ability to turn your creatures into a resource for weakening opponents’ creatures can shift the balance of the board significantly. However, overcoming this card requires a careful approach.

Targeted removal spells are a direct method to deal with Brine Shaman. By eliminating it before it activates its abilities, you prevent your adversary from disrupting your board. Cards like Doom Blade or Murder are efficient in swiftly taking it out of the equation. Moreover, graveyard hate cards that exile creatures from the graveyard, such as Rest in Peace, can hinder the Brine Shaman’s efficiency by removing the fuel it needs for its abilities.

Additionally, leveraging hexproof or indestructible creatures limits the Shaman’s impact as it can’t target or effectively ‘sacrifice’ anything. It’s essential to adapt your gameplay by playing around the Shaman’s abilities, conserving key removals for critical moments, and employing creatures that are resilient to its sacrifice-itinerary tactics. With these strategies, you are well-equipped to neutralize Brine Shaman, maintaining the upper hand during your matches.

Cards like Brine Shaman

The Brine Shaman card plays a strategic role in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), serving as a creature that masters the art of sacrifice for greater gains. When delving into MTG’s extensive library, Brine Shaman can be compared to cards like Apprentice Necromancer. While Apprentice Necromancer brings creatures back from the graveyard for a fleeting moment, Brine Shaman focuses on empowering your remaining creatures by sacrificing others, offering a subtle yet effective layer of battlefield control.

Another card that echoes the essence of Brine Shaman is Viscera Seer. Both are low-cost creatures that allow you to sacrifice other creatures. However, Viscera Seer provides the advantage of scrying to reorganize the top cards of your library – a significant boon for setting up future draws. Yet, unlike the incremental benefit Brine Shaman provides by placing +2/+2 counters, Viscera Seer does not inherently strengthen your creatures on the battlefield.

In the realm of creature sacrifice for gradual power boosts, Carrion Feeder emerges as another similar card. As a staple in sacrifice-driven decks, it grows stronger with each creature sacrificed, akin to Brine Shaman’s potential to snowball in strength across a game, albeit in a more singular, focused manner as opposed to distributed empowerment.

Apprentice Necromancer - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Brine Shaman by color, type and mana cost

Sygg, River Cutthroat - MTG Card versions

Lazav, the Multifarious - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Brine Shaman MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age and Masters Edition II, 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 Brine Shaman and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Brine Shaman Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1995-06-03 and 2008-09-22. Illustrated by Cornelius Brudi.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1995-06-03	Ice Age	ICE		115	1993	Normal	Black	Cornelius Brudi
2	2008-09-22	Masters Edition II	ME2		80	1997	Normal	Black	Cornelius Brudi

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Brine Shaman has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2008-04-01	A “creature spell” is any spell with the type Creature, even if it has other types such as Artifact or Enchantment. Older cards of type Summon are also Creature spells.