Backslide MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Backslide, you can efficiently cycle through your deck by returning a creature to your hand and potentially drawing into more impactful cards. This fosters a tactical advantage and keeps your hand refreshed with options.

Resource Acceleration: Backslide’s ability to bounce creatures to your hand can be leveraged to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects, which can ramp up your board state or resources. This reuse can act as a form of resource acceleration by maximizing the value obtained from each creature played.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Backslide at instant speed provides a strategic edge by allowing reactive play during an opponent’s turn. This can disrupt their attacks, spoil their combat tricks, or in some cases, save your creature from a removal spell.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Backslide demands players to discard a card to tap into its utility. This can deplete your hand, potentially leaving you vulnerable to your opponent’s strategies or running out of options.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires both blue mana and an additional colorless mana, positing a challenge for multicolor decks to efficiently incorporate and utilize it within their diverse mana bases.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The conversion cost for Backslide sits at the upper end for its effect. While it can be a tactical move, players may find alternatives that achieve similar results without taxing their mana resources as heavily.

Reasons to Include Backslide in Your Collection

Versatility: Backslide stands out for its flexibility, allowing players to return creatures to their owner’s hands, potentially saving them from removal or reusing come-into-play effects.

Combo Potential: This card thrives in decks that utilize creatures with powerful enter-the-battlefield abilities, setting up opportunities for repeatable effects and combo interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In the ever-shifting MTG landscape, the ability to disrupt opponents’ strategies and protect your own creatures makes Backslide a relevant tool in many matchups.

How to Beat Backslide

Backslide is a unique card with the capability to return a creature with morph to its owner’s hand. It appeals to MTG players aiming to reuse morph effects or dodge targeted removal. To counter Backslide, consider using instant-speed removal spells that can address creatures regardless of their face-up or face-down status. Graveyard hate cards can also be effective, as they prevent the recasting of the creature Backslide aims to retrieve. Additionally, take advantage of the timing when your opponent is likely low on resources or has tapped out, reducing their ability to capitalize on Backslide’s potential. Incorporating counter spells that can directly negate Backslide or any bounce effects it hopes to exploit can also reinforce your position against decks that rely heavily on such tactics.

Denying your opponent’s ability to leverage Backslide’s strengths by maintaining a swift and pressure-heavy playstyle can force them into unfavorable positions, making it challenging for them to make the most of the card’s flexibility. Overall, a strategy focused on disruption, timing, and effective removal can transform Backslide from a thorn in your side to an inconsequential play for your well-prepared deck.