Ilharg, the Raze-Boar MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Creature — Boar God
Abilities Trample
Power 6
Toughness 6

Key Takeaways

  1. Ilharg’s ability to cheat creatures into play can quickly overwhelm opponents with unexpected, powerful threats.
  2. This card thrives in red decks, especially when paired with potent enter-the-battlefield effects for massive swings.
  3. Opponents can counter Ilharg’s advantages with exile effects, precise countering, and defensive strategies.

Text of card

Trample Whenever Ilharg, the Raze-Boar attacks, you may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Return that creature to your hand at the beginning of the next end step. When Ilharg, the Raze-Boar dies or is put into exile from the battlefield, you may put it into its owner's library third from the top.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ilharg the Raze-Boar has the unique ability to put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. This effect does not just create immediate board presence, but also circumvents the need to pay the creature’s mana cost, effectively offering a card advantage as you’re utilizing cards in your hand for free.

Resource Acceleration: By enabling you to deploy heavy hitters without spending mana on their cast, Ilharg acts as a tremendous resource accelerant. This gives players the opportunity to use their mana for other strategies or to hold up defenses while still presenting a significant threat each turn.

Instant Speed: While Ilharg itself is not an instant, the boar god allows players to bring in creatures with flash at instant speed during combat. This surprising shift can quickly turn the tides of a battle, as opponents must be prepared to deal with unexpected threats every time Ilharg attacks.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Ilharg means ensuring your hand is prepared to welcome and support its arrival. You won’t have to discard to summon this boar god, but each turn without a robust hand may diminish its potential impact on the battlefield.

Specific Mana Cost: Summoning Ilharg, the Raze-Boar, demands a commitment to red mana, necessitating five mana with at least three red sources. This specific requirement can restrict its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce the necessary red mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Ilharg’s mighty presence comes with a substantial mana investment. Its five-mana cost, while reflecting its power, might prove cumbersome when faster-paced games demand more immediate responses or when you need to maintain mana for other crucial plays.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Ilharg the Raze-Boar is a card that seamlessly integrates into a vast array of red-oriented deck themes, particularly those that revolve around cheating large creatures into play or looking to capitalize on big, game-ending swings. Its ability to return to your hand when it dies ensures it repeatedly contributes to your battlefield strategy.

Combo Potential: This boar god boasts incredible synergy with enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects. With Ilharg, you can put high-cost creatures with devastating ETB abilities directly onto the battlefield, poised to substantially impact the game state without the need to pay their mana costs.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state that celebrates creature-based strategies or where surprise factor plays a key role, Ilharg’s ability to introduce powerful threats at unexpected moments makes it a formidable addition to your arsenal. It commands respect and demands an answer, which positions it favorably in the continuously evolving MTG meta.


How to beat

Ilharg the Raze-Boar presents a formidable challenge on the battlefield with its ability to bypass traditional summoning methods. When facing this fearsome card, players need to adopt a strategy that can handle Ilharg’s recursive threats. Utilizing exile effects, such as those found in Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares, can permanently remove Ilharg from play, sidestepping its trigger to return to the library. Ensnaring Bridge is another excellent defense, limiting the attacks of this behemoth as it typically carries high power.

Counter spells are also an essential tool in dealing with Ilharg the Raze-Boar. By countering Ilharg on the stack, players can prevent its impact altogether. Additionally, board wipes like Wrath of God can prove invaluable especially when timed to clear out both Ilharg and the creatures it might bring along. Control decks that can consistently remove or counter key threats often have the upper hand against the might of Ilharg.

Ultimately, while Ilharg the Raze-Boar is a powerful force in Magic The Gathering games, well-timed removal, precise countering, and strategic defensive measures can assure that it does not wreak unfettered havoc on your game plan.


BurnMana Recommendations

As we’ve seen, Ilharg the Raze-Boar can be a game-changer in MTG, with its potential for immediate board impact and synergy with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects. Embracing this card means harnessing the ability to surprise opponents with hefty creatures and exploit game-winning combos. While bearing in mind the considerations on mana requirements and strategic defenses against it, Ilharg can be a standout addition to your collection. Are you ready to incorporate this mighty boar god into your deck and usher in a new level of strategy to your MTG sessions? Come dive deeper with us and discover the most effective ways to build around Ilharg the Raze-Boar, optimizing your play for maximum dominance in your MTG battles.


Cards like Ilharg, the Raze-Boar

Ilharg the Raze-Boar stands out as a unique powerhouse in Magic: The Gathering, resembling other heavy hitters like Ghalta, Primal Hunger. Both creatures are known for their imposing board presence and ability to turn the tides of battle. However, Ilharg’s notable ability to sneak a creature onto the battlefield when attacking adds an unexpected dynamic, unlike Ghalta, whose prowess relies on a heavy but straightforward attack.

Another beast worth mentioning is Atarka, World Render, which also fills the role of a game-ending dragon. Atarka shares the potential to deliver massive damage, yet Ilharg’s utility in reusing enter-the-battlefield triggers presents a tactical advantage Atarka cannot offer. By enabling players to temporarily bypass hefty casting costs of potent creatures, Ilharg becomes a strategic asset for securing victory.

Assessing their traits and combat impact, Ilharg the Raze-Boar carves a niche within MTG, its recurring trigger effect and the element of surprise it carries, establish it as a formidable force amongst similarly costed creatures, granting it distinct tactical versatility in creature-based strategies.

Ghalta, Primal Hunger - MTG Card versions
Atarka, World Render - MTG Card versions
Ghalta, Primal Hunger - Rivals of Ixalan Promos (PRIX)
Atarka, World Render - Resale Promos (PRES)

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Fire Elemental - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
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Flowstone Salamander - Tempest (TMP)
Ma Chao, Western Warrior - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
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Dwarven Strike Force - Odyssey (ODY)
Volatile Arsonist // Dire-Strain Anarchist - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Tephraderm - Onslaught (ONS)
Avarax - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Bonethorn Valesk - Scourge (SCG)
Frost Ogre - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Heartless Hidetsugu - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Shard Phoenix - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Soul of Magma - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ilharg, the Raze-Boar MTG card by a specific set like War of the Spark and War of the Spark 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 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ilharg, the Raze-Boar Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2019-05-03 and 2024-01-12. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-05-03War of the SparkWAR 1332015normalblackFilip Burburan
22019-05-04War of the Spark PromosPWAR 133s2015normalblackFilip Burburan
32019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 3182015normalborderlessTimba Smits
42024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 4292015normalborderlessMoopic
52024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 334z2015normalblackFilip Burburan
62024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 3341997normalblackFilip Burburan
72024-01-12Ravnica RemasteredRVR 1132015normalblackFilip Burburan

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ilharg, the Raze-Boar has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-05-03 Although the new creature is attacking, it was never declared as an attacking creature (for the purposes of abilities that trigger whenever a creature attacks, for example, such as those of Trusted Pegasus and Makeshift Battalion).
2019-05-03 If an effect exiles the God and immediately returns it to the battlefield, its last ability triggers but will have no effect. However, if an effect exiles it and would return it to the battlefield at a later time, the God’s ability may return that card its owner’s library first. If it does, the effect that exiled it won’t return it later.
2019-05-03 If one of these Gods leaves the graveyard or exile while its last ability is on the stack, it will remain in its new zone, even if that zone is a graveyard or exile.
2019-05-03 If one of these Gods would die and it’s your commander in the Commander variant, you may put it into the command zone instead. If you save your commander this way, it doesn’t die and you won’t put it into your library. The same is true if it would be exiled.
2019-05-03 If the God’s owner has two or fewer cards in their library, the God is put on the bottom of their library as its last ability resolves.
2019-05-03 If the new creature has an ability that triggers at the beginning of the end step, that ability will trigger and resolve even if the creature is returned to your hand during the end step before that ability resolves.
2019-05-03 If the new creature leaves the battlefield before the end step, most likely because it died in combat, that card remains in its current zone. It won’t return to your hand.
2019-05-03 If you control another player’s God when it dies, you decide whether to put that card into its owner’s library.
2019-05-03 In a multiplayer game, if you put another player’s God onto the battlefield under your control, it will be exiled as you leave the game. If you were still the controller of that God, you would control its triggered ability but you have left the game; that ability won’t resolve and the card remains in exile. Similarly, if you lose the game at the same time that another player’s God that you put onto the battlefield is destroyed, it remains in its owner’s graveyard.
2019-05-03 You choose which player or planeswalker the new creature is attacking. It doesn’t have to be attacking the same player or planeswalker that Ilharg is attacking.

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