Pendelhaven Elder MTG Card
2006-10-06 - Number 209
2021-03-19 - Number 222
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Elf Shaman |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 1 |
Key Takeaways
- Pendelhaven Elder boosts smaller creatures, potentially turning combats in your favor and preserving cards.
- The Elder’s instant-speed ability ensures flexibility and surprise elements during any turn’s combat.
- Its synergy with 1/1 creatures and tap/untap mechanics expands combo potential in thematic decks.
Text of card
: Each 1/1 creature you control gets +1/+2 until end of turn.
The elder who carries the ancestral mantle of Jacques le Vert is tasked with his ancient mission: to protect the creatures of Pendelhaven.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Pendelhaven Elder card has an ability that supports your deck’s momentum by bolstering your creature’s power. This incremental advantage, while not directly providing card draw, allows your smaller creatures to trade up or survive encounters they normally wouldn’t, effectively saving your cards from being lost.
Resource Acceleration: With Pendelhaven Elder, you can provide a minor form of acceleration, not in terms of mana but in combat efficiency. The instant boost to a creature’s power allows you to utilize them more effectively, potentially preserving your mana and resources for other strategic plays.
Instant Speed: While Pendelhaven Elder itself does not operate at instant speed, its ability can be used at any time you could cast an instant. This gives you the flexibility to enhance your creatures on the fly, during either player’s turn, making it an excellent card for reactive strategies and catching opponents off-guard during combat.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Unlike some utility creatures, Pendelhaven Elder doesn’t ask for a card to be discarded to activate its ability. This allows for maintaining card advantage while still leveraging the Elder’s ability to bolster your creatures.
Specific Mana Cost: Pendelhaven Elder requires both green mana and generic mana. This can limit deck-building options, as the card finds its fit primarily within mono-green or green-inclusive decks, potentially excluding it from a wider use in multicolored mana base decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: In a game where efficiency is key, Pendelhaven Elder’s cost to power ratio may not be as competitive. Although two mana isn’t exorbitant, there are creatures that could provide greater impact or more immediate board presence for a similar investment.
Reasons to Include Pendelhaven Elder in Your Collection
Versatility: Pendelhaven Elder serves as a useful utility creature in decks that focus on small creatures. Its ability to boost a 1/1 creature’s stats each turn offers repeated value in both offensive and defensive strategies, making it a flexible addition.
Combo Potential: This Elder works well with strategies that leverage +1/+1 counters or tap/untap mechanics. It not only empowers singular weak creatures but can also synergize with cards that benefit from creatures being tapped or gaining counters, opening up a variety of combo possibilities.
Meta-Relevance: With fluctuations in the meta-game, Pendelhaven Elder can become quite significant in environments where 1/1 creatures are prevalent. Its capacity to give even the smallest creature a slight edge can shift the balance in tight matches, particularly in matchups involving token strategies or where incremental advantage is crucial.
How to beat
Pendelhaven Elder serves as a force multiplier in elf-centric decks in MTG, bolstering the capabilities of other elves. Its defense mechanism makes it a tougher opponent, as it provides a stat-boosting prowess that can complicate matters for those on the other side of the table. Overcoming this card requires a strategy that disrupts this synergy.
Direct removal spells are a straightforward solution. Cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can cleanly dispatch Pendelhaven Elder before its ability has a chance to impact the game. Alternatively, board wipes such as Wrath of God ensure the Elder’s benefit is short-lived by resetting the playing field. Players can also outpace the Elder by focusing on aggressive strategies that overwhelm the opponent before Pendelhaven Elder’s value takes effect. And lastly, making use of creature abilities that negate buffs, like Merfolk Trickster’s temporary ability neutralization, can turn the tide of battle in your favor.
Overall, tackling Pendelhaven Elder in MTG boils down to timely disruption, targeted removal, or applying pressure that outpaces the opponent’s ability to establish their board presence.
Cards like Pendelhaven Elder
When considering valuable mana dorks – creatures that generate mana – Pendelhaven Elder stands unique in its offering for MTG players. Like its counterpart Elvish Mystic, Pendelhaven Elder allows players to tap for mana. Yet, it diverges with its unique ability to bolster other creatures, granting an additional layer of utility not found in the simplistic tap-for-mana feature of Elvish Mystic.
Another parallel can be drawn with Quirion Elves, which provides versatility in mana production. Unlike Pendelhaven Elder, Quirion Elves can be tapped for mana of any color, decided upon its entry to the battlefield, making it adaptable in multicolored decks. However, Pendelhaven Elder’s potential to increase the survivability of smaller creatures gives it a distinctive strategic advantage in decks focused on 1/1 creature synergies.
Examining Llanowar Elves, the classic one-mana green creature that taps for green mana, Pendelhaven Elder brings more to the table with its ability to affect the board state beyond mana acceleration. In summary, while there are many creatures with the ability to tap for mana in MTG, Pendelhaven Elder’s complementary role in empowering fellow creatures ensures its position as an interesting choice for specific deck strategies involving small creatures.
Cards similar to Pendelhaven Elder by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Pendelhaven Elder MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral and Time Spiral Remastered, 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 Pendelhaven Elder and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Pendelhaven Elder Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2006-10-06 and 2021-03-19. Illustrated by Pete Venters.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2006-10-06 | Time Spiral | TSP | 209 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Pete Venters | |
| 2 | 2021-03-19 | Time Spiral Remastered | TSR | 222 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Pete Venters |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Pendelhaven Elder has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Pendelhaven Elder card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-03-19 | Pendelhaven Elder’s ability affects only 1/1 creatures you control at the time it resolves. Creatures you begin to control later in the turn or that become 1/1 later in the turn won’t get +1/+2. |
| 2021-03-19 | Pendelhaven Elder’s ability looks at each creature’s actual power and toughness taking into account counters and effects that raise or lower its power and/or toughness, not just its base power and toughness. |
