Needle Spires MTG Card
2016-01-22 - Number 175s
2016-01-22 - Number 175
2020-09-25 - Number 137
2024-02-09 - Number 278
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Land |
Key Takeaways
- Doubling as a land and creature, Needle Spires enhances mana flexibility and provides a surprise offensive option.
- Instant-speed creature transformation allows for reactive play and strategic depth in mid to late game.
- Despite limitations in certain decks, its unique double strike ability justifies its inclusion in red and white builds.
Text of card
Needle Spires enters the battlefield tapped. : Add or . : Needle Spires becomes a 2/1 red and white Elemental creature with double strike until end of turn. It's still a land.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Needle Spires enters the battlefield as a dual land, providing both red and white mana, which smoothly integrates into your mana base without sacrificing card quality. In addition, its ability to turn into a creature allows it to serve as both a land and a potential threat, keeping your hand free to hold other important spells and strategies.
Resource Acceleration: While Needle Spires doesn’t directly provide resource acceleration in the traditional sense, it’s a versatile land that could replace a potential creature slot in your deck, thus freeing up space for other cards that might speed up your mana development or enhance your overall mana efficiency.
Instant Speed: The transformation of Needle Spires from a land to a creature can be activated at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to adapt to the game state. You can choose to activate it during your opponent’s end step to surprise them with a blocker or during your turn as an unexpected attacker, making it a versatile card in various situations.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Although Needle Spires doesn’t have a discard requirement itself, its inclusion in a deck may necessitate running additional cards that facilitate discarding, potentially causing strategic drawbacks when you’re looking to conserve a strong hand.
Specific Mana Cost: Needle Spires’ activation cost requires both red and white mana, which can restrict its playability exclusively to decks that can consistently produce both types of mana, reducing its versatility across various deck builds.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The necessity for four mana to transform Needle Spires into a creature can be cumbersome, especially in fast-paced games where tempo is critical. Certain situations call for lower mana costs to maintain a strong board presence rather than investing in a land that requires a substantial investment before becoming an offensive asset.
Reasons to Include Needle Spires in Your Collection
Versatility: Needle Spires is not only a land card that provides mana, but it also turns into a creature with power and toughness to potentially turn the tide of battle. Its ability to switch roles makes it adaptable to various situations in-game, fitting seamlessly into many red and white decks.
Combo Potential: This card offers unique interactions, particularly in decks that focus on land animation or benefit from creature synergies. With its double strike feature, it can be a formidable asset when combined with effects that increase a creature’s power or provide additional combat phases.
Meta-Relevance: Given the ever-evolving MTG landscape, Needle Spires holds its ground in environments where decks capitalize on versatile lands. It thrives against strategies that are susceptible to surprise creature threats, making it a strategic pick for your collection.
How to beat
Needle Spires is a versatile land card in MTG that turns into a formidable creature. Once activated, it becomes a 2/1 red and white Elemental creature with double strike until end of turn. To effectively navigate around this dual-threat, a good strategy involves managing your removal spells wisely. Cards that can destroy or exile lands, such as Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin, can take Needle Spires off the board before it transforms into a creature.
Moreover, instant-speed removal spells are particularly potent against Needle Spires. Holding up mana for cards like Path to Exile or Fatal Push gives you the ability to respond to the land’s activation, removing the threat immediately. In essence, maintaining a reactive stance with flexible removal options can nullify the advantage that Needle Spires offers to your opponent’s battlefield.
Understanding that timing and card selection play pivotal roles against this land-creature hybrid, players can plan their moves accordingly. A tailored approach that emphasizes land disruption and instant-speed interaction lays the groundwork for overcoming the challenge posed by Needle Spires, thereby keeping the game under your control.
Cards like Needle Spires
Needle Spires is a unique land card gaining traction among Magic: The Gathering players for its dual nature and versatility. It parallels with Raging Ravine in its ability to become a creature, yet it has its own distinct advantages. Needle Spires requires only two mana to activate, transforming into a respectable 2/1 creature with double strike, potentially dealing significant damage in a single turn. While Raging Ravine grows stronger with each attack, Needle Spires offers immediate, substantial impact during combat.
Comparatively, Stirring Wildwood operates similarly, becoming a creature land with reach. Needle Spires differentiates itself by favoring aggressive strategies, sacrificing the defensive reach trait for a more potent offensive capability. Celestial Colonnade presents another interesting parallel, turning into a flying creature, with its defense overshadowing Needle Spires. However, it comes with a higher activation cost and remains without the double strike feature that can be a determining factor in the critical moments of a match.
In essence, Needle Spires stands out as a vital piece in any aggressive MTG deck, melding land utility with double-strike lethality, offering players a strong reactive tool for various game scenarios. Its balance of cost-efficiency and versatility in roles make it a formidable candidate among creature lands.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Needle Spires MTG card by a specific set like Oath of the Gatewatch Promos and Oath of the Gatewatch, 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 Needle Spires 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 Needle Spires Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2016-01-22 and 2024-02-09. Illustrated by Jonas De Ro.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016-01-22 | Oath of the Gatewatch Promos | POGW | 175s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 2 | 2016-01-22 | Oath of the Gatewatch | OGW | 175 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 3 | 2020-09-25 | Zendikar Rising Commander | ZNC | 137 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jonas De Ro | |
| 4 | 2024-02-09 | Murders at Karlov Manor Commander | MKC | 278 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jonas De Ro |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Needle Spires has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Needle Spires card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2016-01-22 | A land that becomes a creature may be affected by “summoning sickness.” You can’t attack with it or use any of its abilities (including its mana abilities) unless it began your most recent turn on the battlefield under your control. Note that summoning sickness cares about when that permanent came under your control, not when it became a creature nor when it entered the battlefield. |
| 2016-01-22 | An ability that turns a land into a creature also sets that creature’s power and toughness. If the land was already a creature (for example, if it was the target of a spell with awaken), this will overwrite the previous effect that set its power and toughness. Effects that modify its power or toughness will continue to apply no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change its power or toughness (such as +1/+1 counters) and effects that switch its power and toughness. For example, if Needle Spires has been made a 0/0 creature with three +1/+1 counters on it, activating its last ability will turn it into a 5/4 creature that’s still a land. |
| 2016-01-22 | This land is colorless until the last ability gives it colors. |
| 2016-01-22 | When a land becomes a creature, that doesn’t count as having a creature enter the battlefield. The permanent was already on the battlefield; it only changed its types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won’t trigger. |
