Ipnu Rivulet MTG Card
2017-07-14 - Number 180
2020-08-13 - Number 303
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Land — Desert |
| Abilities | Mill |
Key Takeaways
- Ipnu Rivulet provides deck thinning and instant speed utility, enhancing strategy and pacing in gameplay.
- Its specific mana requirements and the cost of activation could restrict or hinder some deck builds.
- Despite costing resources, Ipnu Rivulet’s versatility and combo potential can be decisive in matches.
Text of card
: Add to your mana pool. , Pay 1 life: Add to your mana pool. , , Sacrifice a Desert: Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Ipnu Rivulet offers a strategic advantage by enabling access to additional cards in your deck, which can be pivotal when digging for an essential piece or simply outpacing an opponent in resources.
Resource Acceleration: As a land card, Ipnu Rivulet enters the battlefield untapped, allowing you to utilize its mana generation immediately. Moreover, its ability to sacrifice itself for a greater effect can be a game-changer by thinning the deck and increasing the likelihood of drawing into more impactful cards.
Instant Speed: The ability to activate Ipnu Rivulet’s crucial effect at instant speed gives players the flexibility to disrupt an opponent’s end-of-turn strategies or to simply maximize mana efficiency during any phase of their own turn, making it a versatile component in any game plan.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Ipnu Rivulet doesn’t directly force a discard, but it does necessitate sacrificing a land, which could be likened to discarding a resource. This can set you back in terms of land development, particularly if you’re relying on a tight mana curve to execute your strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: While providing colorless mana normally, Ipnu Rivulet’s activated ability requires you to spend one blue mana. This necessitates inclusion in a deck that can produce blue mana, potentially limiting its versatility for decks outside the blue color identity.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: To activate its milling ability, Ipnu Rivulet not only requires the expenditure of one color-specific mana but also three additional generic mana. Given this investment plus the cost of sacrificing the land itself, some players may find the four-card mill effect insufficient, especially when compared with other cards that provide more substantial disruption or graveyard manipulation for a similar or lower mana cost.
Reasons to Include Ipnu Rivulet in Your Collection
Versatility: Ipnu Rivulet serves multiple roles in a deck. As a land, it provides mana to fuel your spells. However, its ability to sacrifice itself to mill an opponent is a unique utility that could support a variety of strategies, particularly in mill or control decks looking to manipulate opponent’s libraries.
Combo Potential: This card can be a key component in combo builds, working alongside cards that benefit from self-mill, like reanimator strategies, or with cards that capitalize on opponents’ graveyard fill, timing it perfectly to disrupt their game plan or even end the game.
Meta-Relevance: In metas where graveyard synergy is prevalent or if decks tend to run on tight margins, the ability to mill four cards can be more impactful than it seems at first glance. This makes Ipnu Rivulet a quietly powerful tool and a worthy inclusion in certain decks that aim to strategically deplete crucial resources from the opponent.
How to beat
Ipnu Rivulet serves as a utility land in the vast landscape of Magic: The Gathering. This desert card distinguishes itself by providing a mana source, while also harboring the potential to mill four cards from a player’s library into their graveyard. At first glance, it might seem insignificant, but it can be a crucial factor in games, tipping the scales in matches that hinge on specific graveyard strategies or simply bringing a player closer to decking out.
Countering Ipnu Rivulet’s milling ability requires strategic forethought. Players could deploy graveyard shuffling cards like Gaea’s Blessing to negate the potential harm of losing key resources. Alternatively, utilizing cards that grant hexproof to a player’s library, such as Witchbane Orb, can stop the Rivulet’s ability dead in its tracks. Cards that exile graveyards like Tormod’s Crypt can also mitigate the damage post-activation, erasing the potential for any further graveyard synergy on the part of the opponent.
The key is to anticipate the usage of Ipnu Rivulet and prepare accordingly. Keeping a watchful eye on your opponent’s available mana and remaining library count will usually give you the foresight needed to shield yourself effectively from its mill mechanism.
Cards like Ipnu Rivulet
Ipnu Rivulet offers a unique role in Magic: The Gathering decks, not just as a land card but also as a tool for manipulating both player’s libraries. In comparison to other utility lands such as Desert of the Mindful, Ipnu Rivulet provides a distinct benefit. While Desert of the Mindful can be cycled to draw a card, Ipnu Rivulet’s ability to mill the top four cards of a library can be a game-changer, particularly in strategies focused on the graveyard.
Moreover, there’s the strategic potential of cards like Ghost Quarter, which can destroy any land and replace it with basic land. Unlike Ghost Quarter, Ipnu Rivulet doesn’t set your opponent back on land but is rather aimed at thinning out your own deck or disrupting your opponent’s strategy. Field of Ruin is another relevant inclusion in decks for its ability to swap out lands while impacting the board state. However, the direct library interaction of Ipnu Rivulet offers an alternate avenue for tactical plays that these cards do not.
In essence, Ipnu Rivulet might not change the board state dramatically, but provides its strategic advantage by affecting the libraries, giving it a unique place in the pantheon of MTG utility lands.
Cards similar to Ipnu Rivulet by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Ipnu Rivulet MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation and Amonkhet 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 Ipnu Rivulet 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 Ipnu Rivulet Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-07-14 and 2020-08-13. Illustrated by James Paick.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-07-14 | Hour of Devastation | HOU | 180 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick | |
| 2 | 2020-08-13 | Amonkhet Remastered | AKR | 303 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Ipnu Rivulet has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ipnu Rivulet card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-04-18 | Desert is a land subtype with no special meaning. It doesn’t grant the land an intrinsic mana ability. Other cards may care about which lands are Deserts. |
| 2017-07-14 | If a Desert has an ability with a cost of “Sacrifice a Desert,” you can sacrifice that Desert to pay the cost for its own ability. |
