Moodmark Painter MTG Card

Moodmark Painter - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)

Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)
2018-10-05 - Number 78

Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
2022-12-02 - Number 445

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Shaman
Abilities	Undergrowth
Power	2
Toughness	3

Key Takeaways

Moodmark Painter can be a game-changer by offering creature reanimation and tactical advantages at instant speed.
Demands discard for its ability, presenting a trade-off which requires careful hand management.
Versatile in combat, Moodmark Painter solidifies its place in decks that value aggressive strategies.

Text of card

Undergrowth — When Moodmark Painter enters the battlefield, target creature gains menace and gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard. (It can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Moodmark Painter grants an edge by possibly reanimating a creature upon death, ensuring that your loss is minimized while potentially increasing your board presence with another round of threat from the graveyard.

Resource Acceleration: By facilitating graveyard strategies, Moodmark Painter can help recycle creatures which may indirectly accelerate your resources. It allows you to utilize your graveyard as a resource, thus extending your reach beyond just the cards in hand and on the battlefield.

Instant Speed: Moodmark Painter’s inherent ability can be activated at instant speed, giving you the tactical advantage of responding swiftly to the changing battlefield conditions. This feature enables surprise elements and strategic depth as you can make crucial plays even during your opponent’s turn without telegraphing your intentions too early.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Moodmark Painter demands you discard a card to utilize its ability, a significant trade-off that could deplete important hands quickly, especially when you haven’t established a substantial card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Moodmark Painter’s casting requires black mana, making it a less flexible option for decks that aren’t heavily invested in black or multi-colored decks that struggle with color fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Requiring four mana, two of which must be black, Moodmark Painter can be a resource-intensive play. Given this investment, players might find competing cards that provide a greater impact on the game state at a similar or lower mana cost.

Reasons to Include Moodmark Painter in Your Collection

Versatility: Moodmark Painter offers a unique ability to grant menace and power boosts, making it a flexible addition to decks focused on combat advantages or needing to slip past blockers.

Combo Potential: With its ability to provide a creature with menace, this card can be instrumental in enabling successful attacks. Its synergies with cards that benefit from combat damage reach a new level, amplifying overall deck performance.

Meta-Relevance: As the battlefield gets crowded with competitive creatures, Moodmark Painter ensures your creatures can still threaten your opponent, making it a tactical asset in many match-ups.

How to beat

Moodmark Painter is an intriguing card that opens up various strategy paths in MTG. Often seen in black-based decks, this creature can grant Menace and boost another creature’s power equal to Moodmark Painter’s toughness for the turn. To effectively counter it, player response is critical. Targeted removal spells like Shatter or Fatal Push can quickly deal with it before the ability triggers. It’s also crucial to manage your blockers efficiently, given that Moodmark Painter’s ability requires you to have multiple creatures to block the enhanced creature.

Counterspells are equally effective here: by keeping mana open, you can neutralize the threat before it impacts the board. Enchantment removals can help as well if your opponent utilizes aura or equipment to maximize Moodmark Painter’s potential. Over time, understanding the matchup and predicting when your opponent might attempt to leverage the Moodmark Painter will guide you to victory. Control tactics and mindful play ensure that this card doesn’t overshadow your chances of winning the match.

While Moodmark Painter can be a formidable tool, with appropriate responses and a well-curated deck, overcoming the challenges it poses can be simpler than anticipated, maintaining the balance of power on the battlefield.

Cards like Moodmark Painter

The introduction of Moodmark Painter to the world of Magic: The Gathering has brought an interesting dynamic to the game’s myriad of creatures. This card shares a kinship with other creatures that focus on temporarily boosting a creature’s power, much like Skirk Commando or Bogardan Lancer. But Moodmark Painter stands out due to its undergrowth ability, which allows you to capitalize on the number of creature cards in your graveyard to increase a target creature’s strength and confer menace until end of turn.

Comparably, we have creatures like Glaze Fiend, which also grows stronger based on certain game states. Though Glaze Fiend’s power boost hinges on the number of artifacts entering the battlefield, both cards have the potential to become significant threats if the conditions are ripe. Moodmark Painter’s menace, however, gives it an edge in combat, making it harder for opponents to block effectively. On a different note, Skyrider Elf brings versatility to the table by granting a power boost based on its convergence mechanic, although it lacks the targeting and menace provided by Moodmark Painter.

When analyzing the utility and impact of cards like Moodmark Painter, it becomes clear that it offers a unique combination of graveyard utilization and combat advantage, making it a card worth considering for decks exploiting the undergrowth mechanic and looking for a reliable finisher.

Cards similar to Moodmark Painter by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Moodmark Painter MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica and Jumpstart 2022, 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 Moodmark Painter and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Moodmark Painter Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-10-05 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Scott Murphy.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2018-10-05	Guilds of Ravnica	GRN		78	2015	Normal	Black	Scott Murphy
2	2022-12-02	Jumpstart 2022	J22		445	2015	Normal	Black	Scott Murphy

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Moodmark Painter has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2018-10-05	Because tokens aren’t cards, they never count for undergrowth abilities.
2018-10-05	Creature cards with other types, such as artifact creature cards, count for undergrowth abilities.
2018-10-05	If there are no creature cards in your graveyard, the target creature just gains menace until end of turn.
2018-10-05	The value of X is determined only as the undergrowth ability resolves. If the number of creature cards in your graveyard changes later in the turn, the target creature is unaffected.