Humble Naturalist MTG Card

Humble Naturalist - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Druid
Released	2020-04-24
Set symbol
Set name	Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Set code	IKO
Power	1
Toughness	3
Number	160
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Matt Stewart

Key Takeaways

Provides card efficiency by enabling consistent land drop and resource acceleration.
Key for decks that capitalize on creature spells, allowing earlier, impactful plays.
Useful in creature-centric metas, yet must be weighed against similar mana dorks.

Text of card

: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a creature spell.

"The key to bonding with monsters, no matter their size, is knowing where they like to be scratched."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Having Humble Naturalist in play can ensure consistent land drops each turn, maximizing your ability to play multiple cards and increasing your hand’s effectiveness over the course of the game. It’s like having an extra land that provides inherent card efficiency to bolster your position.

Resource Acceleration: The mana-ability of Humble Naturalist facilitates resource acceleration, especially in decks that focus on creature spells. Its capacity to tap for any kind of mana helps in casting creatures earlier than usual, thereby speeding up your gameplay and enabling more impactful plays.

Instant Speed: While Humble Naturalist itself isn’t an instant, it’s vital for decks that run instant-speed spells. By providing a reliable extra mana each turn, it helps keep mana open for instant spells and abilities, giving you more flexibility in how you manage your resources during both your own and your opponent’s turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Humble Naturalist’s design does not inherently require discarding cards, but in a game where every card in hand can be a vital resource, having to discard to make room for this card’s inclusion could be a setback for players looking to optimize their hand management.

Specific Mana Cost: Humble Naturalist calls for one green mana as part of its casting cost. While this may align perfectly with mono-green decks, it could potentially complicate the mana base in multicolored decks, where having the right type of land at the right time is crucial.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of two mana, including one green, Humble Naturalist may not seem like a major investment. However, players must assess if the card’s ability to add one mana of any color is cost-effective, considering there are other mana dorks available at a lower cost or with additional benefits.

Reasons to Include Humble Naturalist in Your Collection

Versatility: Humble Naturalist promises to be a flexible addition to decks that focus on creature spells, as it allows you to tap for one mana of any color, smoothing out your mana curve and aiding mana fixing in multicolored decks.

Combo Potential: With the mana acceleration it provides, this card can be a powerful enabler for combo decks looking to cast high-impact creatures earlier than usual, or to deploy multiple threats in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: Given the creature-centric nature of numerous popular decks in the current meta, Humble Naturalist holds relevance for its ability to support such strategies efficiently.

How to beat

Humble Naturalist is a unique piece in the MTG universe, offering valuable mana fixing to players looking to cast creature spells. With its simple role of tapping for mana that could be used for any color, but only for creatures, it becomes an integral part of multicolor creature decks. Its utility, akin to that of Biomancer’s Familiar, especially shines in decks brimming with multicolored creatures that demand diverse mana sources.

To effectively thwart the impact of Humble Naturalist on the battlefield, disruption plays a key role. Prioritize cards capable of neutralizing abilities such as Krosan Grip or Sudden Spoiling that can prevent the Naturalist from being tapped altogether for a round. For a more permanent solution, removal spells like Murder or Path to Exile can readily eliminate the Naturalist from the field, shutting down the opponent’s mana acceleration and potentially upsetting their game plan.

In essence, addressing Humble Naturalist early on in the game is crucial. Swift action with removal or ability-denying strategies could significantly hinder an opponent’s strategy, particularly in formats that heavily rely on creature-based synergies and ramp strategies. It’s a card that seems modest on its own yet can lead to formidable plays if left unchecked.

Cards like Humble Naturalist

Humble Naturalist serves a unique role in green mana ramp strategies in Magic: The Gathering. It draws parallels to cards like Llanowar Elves, which is a staple for accessing additional green mana early in the game. Unlike Llanowar Elves, however, Humble Naturalist expands its utility by allowing the player to tap for one mana of any color to cast creature spells, providing a broader range of color accessibility for multicolored creature-heavy decks.

Another card worth mentioning is Paradise Druid that provides mana of any color but also comes with hexproof as long as it’s untapped, offering a layer of protection against spells and abilities of your opponents. While Humble Naturalist lacks this defensive trait, its ability to aid creature-focused decks in casting expensive creatures more rapidly remains undeniably useful.

Competing for a slot is Maraleaf Pixie, offering both green and blue mana, yet it limits the mana use to only those colors. In comparison, the flexibility of Humble Naturalist in a broader range of creature decks could be seen as a distinct advantage. Each of these dorks suits different scenarios, but Humble Naturalist’s creature-specific mana ramp makes it a noteworthy choice in the right deck context.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Humble Naturalist MTG card by a specific set like Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, 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 Humble Naturalist and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Humble Naturalist 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
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-04-17	Mana produced by Humble Naturalist can be spent on any part of a creature spell’s total cost, including additional costs (such as kicker costs) and alternative costs (such as mutate costs). It can’t be spent to pay the costs of abilities of creatures you control.