Maw of the Mire MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Released	2011-09-30
Set symbol
Set name	Innistrad
Set code	ISD
Number	108
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Vincent Proce

Key Takeaways

Grants card retrieval from the graveyard, boosting your hand when resources are scarce during tight games.
Can be a double-edged sword with its discard requirement and specificity in mana cost alignment.
Its instant speed and land destruction combo potential make it a solid tactical addition to your deck.

Text of card

Destroy target land. You gain 4 life.

As the chapel was dragged under, the bell in the tower rang until the murky depths forever silenced its toll.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Maw of the Mire ensures you stay ahead in the game by enabling you to retrieve a card from your graveyard. This can be invaluable in prolonged matches where the right card at the right time can turn the tides in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: With the ability to destroy land, Maw of the Mire effectively disrupts your opponent’s mana base, potentially setting them back while you advance your board state. This can be a critical play, especially when facing decks that rely heavily on specific land combos.

Instant Speed: It operates at instant speed, granting you the flexibility to choose the most opportune moment to play it. This way, you can wait for your opponent to commit to a strategy before you decide to throw a wrench in their plans, maintaining an element of surprise and control.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Maw of the Mire requires discarding another card from your hand, which could be a serious setback when every card counts. This trade-off means depleting your resources, which isn’t ideal, particularly for decks that rely on card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: With a cost that demands both black mana and generic mana, Maw of the Mire can’t be splashed into just any deck. It’s primarily suited for black-focused or dual-colored decks, which means its flexibility is somewhat limited unlike more universally accessible cards.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Five mana for land destruction and possible land retrieval can be considered steep. While it does offer a potentially game-changing ability, often there are faster, more efficient spells at your disposal that can disrupt the opponent’s mana base or retrieve your own lands without such a cost.

Reasons to Include Maw of the Mire in Your Collection

Versatility: Maw of the Mire can be a flexible addition to various deck archetypes. Its ability to destroy a land provides strategic plays against utility lands, while also giving you a land return from your graveyard to your hand, allowing for multiple uses of land-based effects or mana fixing.

Combo Potential: This card can interact with landfall mechanics to trigger powerful combos. It also pairs well with decks that benefit from lands entering and leaving the battlefield or those using graveyard strategies to leverage additional value.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where land destruction can hinder opponents’ strategies, or where graveyards are as much a resource as one’s hand, Maw of the Mire offers a tactical edge. Its usefulness against decks that rely heavily on nonbasic lands can significantly shift the balance of the game.

How to beat

Maw of the Mire is an impactful land destruction card that also offers life gain, a combination that can shift the dynamics on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. This card can significantly disrupt your opponent’s mana base, especially if they rely on specific land types to execute their strategy. Despite its advantages, there are several ways to mitigate the effects of Maw of the Mire.

To safeguard your lands, consider including cards that grant land indestructibility or hexproof. Cards like Heroic Intervention can provide temporary protection, ensuring your critical lands survive an opposing Maw of the Mire play. Additionally, running instant-speed land search spells allows you to quickly replace any destroyed lands before your turn begins.

Another strategy is to focus on land recursion. Cards that allow you to retrieve lands from your graveyard back to your hand or directly onto the battlefield can offset the tempo loss from Maw of the Mire. Prioritize maintaining a diverse mana base with basic lands to reduce vulnerability to targeted land destruction. By adapting your playstyle and including these protective measures, you can effectively blunt the impact of Maw of the Mire in your matches.

Cards like Maw of the Mire

Maw of the Mire is an interesting land destruction card in Magic: The Gathering, similar in nature to other spells designed to hinder your opponent’s mana base. It shares common ground with Acidic Slime, which also targets lands amongst other permanents. However, Maw of the Mire is strictly focused on lands and carries the additional boon of allowing its caster to ramp up by searching for a basic land card.

Looking at another contemporary, Rain of Tears also stands as a comparable card, with the primary function of destroying a land. What sets Maw of the Mire apart is its ramp ability—something Rain of Tears lacks. Furthermore, if we consider Demolish, we see that while it too can destroy a land, it also has the versatility to target artifacts. Even so, Maw of the Mire’s ramping capability gives it a unique edge in the late game, especially when solidifying your own board presence.

Assessing their utility and strategic advantages, Maw of the Mire presents itself as a specialized tool for those looking to combine land disruption with personal advancement on the battlefield. This makes it a noteworthy option among its land-focused peers.

Cards similar to Maw of the Mire by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Maw of the Mire MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad, 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 Maw of the Mire and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Maw of the Mire has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2011-09-22	If the targeted land is an illegal target by the time Maw of the Mire resolves, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will occur. You won’t gain 4 life.