Gideon's Company MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Human Soldier |
| Released | 2019-05-03 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | War of the Spark |
| Set code | WAR |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 268 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | Milivoj Ćeran |
Key Takeaways
- Gideon’s Company excels in life gain decks, becoming more potent as you accumulate life.
- The card’s white mana requirement may restrict deck construction in multicolor strategies.
- Combines well with loyalty abilities of Gideon planeswalkers, broadening its utility.
Text of card
Whenever you gain life, put two +1/+1 counters on Gideon's Company. : Put a loyalty counter on target Gideon planeswalker.
"For the Legion! For Ravnica!"
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Gideon’s Company thrives in decks centered around life gain strategies. Each time you gain life, placing a +1/+1 counter on this creature can quickly snowball into a substantial board presence. This not only pressures opponents but also serves as a formidable defense, progressively enhancing your strategic positioning without the need to play additional cards.
Resource Acceleration: While the card itself doesn’t directly provide resource acceleration in the form of mana, it does offer a different kind of acceleration. The growth potential of Gideon’s Company is exponential; it scales with the life you gain. In a sense, the life gain mechanic accelerates your resource in the form of power and toughness on the battlefield, potentially reducing the need for separate creature spells and saving mana for other uses.
Instant Speed: While Gideon’s Company lacks instant speed, it shines when paired with instant spells that allow life gain. This synergy allows you to expand Gideon’s Company’s size out of nowhere, often during combat or in response to removal, catching opponents off-guard and maximizing the impact of each life gain event.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Gideon’s Company does not inherently have a discard mechanic, but can suffer in a hand that has discard-encouraging abilities or effects from other cards, leaving you potentially at a disadvantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Gideon’s Company requires white mana, which may limit deck-building options, especially in multicolor decks that may prioritize other colors or strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Gideon’s Company comes with a mana value of four, which may compete with other high-impact cards in your deck, potentially slowing down your gameplay or forcing tough decisions on resource allocation.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Gideon’s Company is a flexible card that thrives in decks centered around life gain or “White Weenie” strategies. Its ability to ramp up its power and toughness as you gain life makes it a potent threat in any game situation.
Combo Potential: With Gideon’s Company, the synergy with cards that trigger upon life gain is significant. Pair it with Ajani’s Pridemate or the epic Heliod, Sun-Crowned for a combination that can rapidly outsize your opponents’ creatures.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where aggressive decks are prevalent, Gideon’s Company offers a solid defensive option that grows stronger over time. It’s particularly impactful in matchups where incremental life gain can turn the tides in your favor.
How to beat
Gideon’s Company is a powerful ally for any deck that features plenty of life gain strategies. Renowned for its ability to accumulate +1/+1 counters each time you gain life, it can quickly become a formidable threat on the battlefield. To effectively counter this card, disruption is your best tool. Employ removal spells before it grows out of hand or minimize life gain opportunities for your opponent to stall the company’s strengthening.
Instant speed interaction is particularly potent against Gideon’s Company. Spells like Murderous Rider or Heartless Act can eliminate it before it becomes too large, and counterspells such as Absorb can prevent it from hitting the board entirely. Remember that prevention is often better than the cure in Magic, so applying pressure early and consistently disrupting your opponent’s life gain synergies can keep Gideon’s Company from reaching its full potential.
Moreover, when dealing with this card, understanding the archetypes in which Gideon’s Company thrives is essential. Lifegain decks leverage incremental advantages, so cards that cause life loss regardless of gained life or that directly address creature strengths can turn the tide. For instance, utilizing cards that inflict life loss each turn can effectively offset the life gain strategy and keep Gideon’s Company’s influence to a minimum.
Cards like Gideon's Company
Gideon’s Company carves out its unique place in the pantheon of creatures within Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to creatures like Ajani’s Pridemate, which also gains a +1/+1 counter whenever you gain life. Yet, Gideon’s Company stretches beyond with an extra layer of synergy – it grows stronger with loyalty counters whenever you activate a loyalty ability of a Gideon planeswalker. Unlike Ajani’s Pridemate, this dual growth angle offers an amplified benefit within Gideon-themed decks.
Examining other counterparts, a card such as Sunbond follows a similar life gain-triggered growth pattern. Sunbond, however, is an aura enchantment that doubles the benefit by placing that many +1/+1 counters on the enchanted creature. While Gideon’s Company’s strength lies in its inherent abilities, Sunbond requires another creature to shine. White decks focusing on life gain strategies might opt for one over the other based on deck mechanics and personal preference.
Overall, Gideon’s Company presents an attractive option for players wielding Gideon planeswalkers or life gain tactics. Its ability to thrive in a specific deck build delineates it as a noteworthy contender amongst its counterparts in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Gideon's Company by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Gideon's Company MTG card by a specific set like War of the Spark, 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 Gideon's Company 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 Magic products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Gideon's Company has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Gideon's Company card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2019-05-03 | Each creature with lifelink dealing combat damage causes a separate life-gaining event. For example, if two creatures you control with lifelink deal combat damage at the same time, Gideon’s Company’s ability will trigger twice. However, if a single creature you control with lifelink deals combat damage to multiple creatures, players, and/or planeswalkers at the same time (perhaps because it has trample or was blocked by more than one creature), the ability will trigger only once. |
| 2019-05-03 | If Gideon’s Company is dealt lethal damage at the same time that you gain life, it won’t receive counters from its ability in time to save it. |
| 2019-05-03 | If you gain an amount of life “for each” of something, that life is gained as one event and the ability of Gideon’s Company triggers only once. |
| 2019-05-03 | In a Two-Headed Giant game, life gained by your teammate won’t cause the ability to trigger, even though it caused your team’s life total to increase. |
| 2019-05-03 | Putting a loyalty counter on a Gideon planeswalker doesn’t cause any of its activated abilities to become activated. |
| 2019-05-03 | The ability of Gideon’s Company triggers just once for each life-gaining event, whether it’s 1 life from Ajani’s Welcome or 2 life from Battlefield Promotion. |
