Invade the City MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Amass

Key Takeaways

  1. Amasses a powerful Army creature, leveraging instants and sorceries in the graveyard.
  2. Enables strategic gameplay, fitting into Izzet or multicolored spell-focused decks.
  3. Card versatility and combo potential make it a formidable addition to any collection.

Text of card

Amass Zombies X, where X is the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard. (Put X +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also a Zombie. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token first.)

Death greeted the world with a roar of desert air.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Invade the City excels at bolstering your hand by amassing a potentially massive Army creature proportional to the number of instants and sorceries in your graveyard. This not only utilizes the cards you’ve already played but also can turn the tide by creating a single, powerful threat.

Resource Acceleration: While Invade the City itself doesn’t directly provide mana or tokens, the creature it creates can be an enabler for strategies revolving around creature count or spells that benefit from having a big creature on the battlefield. It synergizes with cards that grow with spell casting or graveyard size, potentially accelerating your game plan considerably.

Instant Speed: As a sorcery, Invade the City requires strategic planning to get the most value. However, this can work in your favor as it prompts you to build up your graveyard until you can cast it for a significant effect, enabling you to work it alongside other instants and sorceries that you can play at instant speed for maximum flexibility.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Invade the City necessitates having a spell in the graveyard to be effective, compelling players to manage their hand and graveyard with precision.

Specific Mana Cost: With a mana cost that includes both blue and red, this card fits strictly into Izzet or multicolored decks, potentially limiting its versatility in a broader range of deck styles.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the army it creates can be formidable, the three mana needed could be steep considering it requires set-up to yield a substantial token, which might not always coincide with your game plan.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Invade the City seamlessly integrates into a variety of spell-heavy decks. Its ability to produce a powerful Amass token ensures it’s a flexible pick, fitting well with strategies designed to outmaneuver opponents using creature-based tactics. Furthermore, because the Amass token’s power and toughness are scalable, Invade the City remains relevant in the early game and as matches progress.

Combo Potential: Interacting superbly with instants and sorceries already present in your graveyard, Invade the City can be a devastating surprise. It enhances decks focusing on graveyard mechanics or spellslinger strategies, functioning as a major threat that grows with each cast spell. Incremental casting throughout the game ensures the Amass token becomes a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Meta-Relevance: As metagames frequently fluctuate, having a card that thrives in spell-centric environments is vital. With control and tempo decks often populating tournaments, Invade the City emerges as a crucial inclusion. It creates substantial blockers or aggressive forces against opposing control decks, which keep the battlefield mostly clear, enabling you to maintain or shift the momentum in your favor.


How to beat

The Invade the City card from Magic: The Gathering represents a strategic play for those adept at amassing an impressive sorcery collection in their graveyard. It shines by creating a formidable Zombie Army token, which becomes more robust with each sorcery card laid to rest in your graveyard. The potency of this spell scales with the game’s progression, often culminating in an overwhelming threat if left unchecked.

To efficiently tackle this growing menace, consider incorporating graveyard interaction into your deck. Cards like Tormod’s Crypt or Bojuka Bog can effortlessly exile the contents of a player’s graveyard, drastically weakening the impact of Invade the City’s ability. Additionally, employing removal spells that can handle tokens, such as Echoing Decay or Maelstrom Pulse, can swiftly neutralize the Zombie Army regardless of its size. Preparedness and a thoughtful approach will ensure you’re not caught off guard by the escalating power of an Invade the City onslaught.

Understanding the balance between advancing your board state while keeping your opponent’s graveyard in check is key. With this tactical approach, the daunting prospect of facing a horde of Zombies summoned by Invade the City becomes a manageable, if not an advantageous situation for a well-prepared mage.


BurnMana Recommendations

Invade the City stands as a testament to the ingenuity available in the MTG arsenal. Its ability to transform spell casting history into a formidable creature presents an opportunity to outclass opponents in both casual and competitive play. Embedding this card in your deck could yield an Army token that not only becomes a behemoth but also tells a tale of a match well-navigated through sorceries and instants. Consider the dynamics of your graveyard and the tendency of your spells when leveraging Invade the City’s potential. If you’re looking to embrace the full might of this spell, join us to uncover deeper insights and deck-building strategies to earn your place among MTG connoisseurs.


Cards like Invade the City

Invade the City stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a unique way to summon a powerful creature based on casting instants and sorceries. It draws a parallel to Crackling Drake, which grows in power with every instant and sorcery in the graveyard. However, Invade the City differs as it creates an Army, generating a creature whose strength is instantly determined and caps at your current graveyard count.

Talrand, Sky Summoner offers another perspective. Unlike Invade the City, which creates a single powerful entity, Talrand generates a 2/2 drake with flying every time you cast an instant or sorcery, favoring quantity and aerial advantage. Rise from the Tides also mirrors this spell’s graveyard interaction, converting each instant and sorcery into a 2/2 zombie, potentially flooding the board with tokens.

While each of these cards has its benefits and drawbacks, Invade the City’s synergy with a well-stocked graveyard and single explosive creature play offers a distinct strategic edge in MTG, especially when planning to swing big in one fell swoop.

Crackling Drake - MTG Card versions
Talrand, Sky Summoner - MTG Card versions
Rise from the Tides - MTG Card versions
Crackling Drake - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)
Talrand, Sky Summoner - Magic 2013 (M13)
Rise from the Tides - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)

Cards similar to Invade the City by color, type and mana cost

Squee's Revenge - MTG Card versions
Alchemist's Gambit - MTG Card versions
Invoke the Firemind - MTG Card versions
Stitch in Time - MTG Card versions
Beacon Bolt - MTG Card versions
Role Reversal - MTG Card versions
Stitch in Time // Stitch in Time - MTG Card versions
Gandalf's Sanction - MTG Card versions
Squee's Revenge - The List (PLST)
Alchemist's Gambit - Innistrad: Double Feature (DBL)
Invoke the Firemind - GRN Guild Kit (GK1)
Stitch in Time - Ravnica Remastered (RVR)
Beacon Bolt - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)
Role Reversal - War of the Spark Promos (PWAR)
Stitch in Time // Stitch in Time - Secret Lair Drop (SLD)
Gandalf's Sanction - The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Invade the City MTG card by a specific set like War of the Spark and The List, 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 Invade the City and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Invade the City Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-05-03 and 2019-05-03. Illustrated by Sung Choi.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-05-03War of the SparkWAR 2012015normalblackSung Choi
22020-09-26The ListPLST WAR-2012015normalblackSung Choi

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Invade the City has restrictions

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

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Invade the City 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 A split card that’s both an instant and a sorcery is counted only once for Invade the City.
2019-05-03 Army is a new creature type. It’s possible to control a nontoken Army (perhaps a creature with the changeling ability) and, through combinations of other cards, it’s possible to control multiple Army tokens. When instructed to amass, you may put +1/+1 counters on any of your Army creatures, and you may choose a different one each time.
2019-05-03 If there are no instant or sorcery cards in your graveyard, you’ll amass 0. If you don’t control an Army, you’ll create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token that will die after Invade the City has finished resolving.
2019-05-03 If you don’t control an Army, the Zombie Army token that you create enters the battlefield as a 0/0 creature. Any abilities that trigger when a creature with a certain power enters the battlefield, such as that of Mentor of the Meek, will see the token enter as a 0/0 creature before it gets +1/+1 counters.
2019-05-03 Invade the City is still on the stack while you count your instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard. It doesn’t count itself.
2019-05-03 The number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard is counted only as Invade the City resolves.

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