Grim Draugr MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Snow Creature — Zombie Berserker |
| Released | 2021-02-05 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Kaldheim |
| Set code | KHM |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 2 |
| Number | 96 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | normal |
| Border | black |
| Illustred by | Grzegorz Rutkowski |
Key Takeaways
- Grim Draugr offers card advantage through its boast ability and can efficiently accelerate resources in play.
- Specific mana requirements and potential high cost challenge deck composition, yet ensure meta relevancy.
- Presents versatility and combo potential, making it a unique pick for snow and zombie-themed decks.
Text of card
{S}: Grim Draugr gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn. (It can't be blocked except by two or more creatures. {S} can be paid with one mana from a snow source.)
She was a ragged shadow of her living form, but she had lost none of her deadly prowess.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Grim Draugr’s boast ability lets you draw into more powerful cards, keeping your hand filled with options as the match progresses.
Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t produce mana or Treasure directly, its low casting cost ensures you can deploy other threats or resources quicker, effectively streamlining your game’s pace.
Instant Speed: Although Grim Draugr itself doesn’t boast instant speed, it interacts well with cards of this nature allowing you to play reactively and maintain board presence while keeping mana open for responses.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One downside is the condition that necessitates you discard another card to activate certain abilities. When your hand is nearly empty, this can become a sizeable setback, constraining your strategic options and forcing you to make arduous decisions about which resources to retain.
Specific Mana Cost: Grim Draugr’s casting cost requires snow mana, which implies that it can only be paid with mana produced by a snow source. This demand can restrict deck-building options, as it compels players to incorporate snow lands or other snow mana sources into their decks to harness its full potential, potentially impeding the deck’s overall mana stability.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Grim Draugr provides some utility, its mana cost is on the higher end for its power and abilities. This can be a disadvantage especially when more efficient creatures are available that can fill similar roles at a lower mana investment or provide more substantial board presence.
Reasons to Include Grim Draugr in Your Collection
Versatility: Grim Draugr is adaptable in its ability to buff itself with mana, which you can splash in various deck types, notably in Snow-covered or zombie-centric builds.
Combo Potential: This card’s foretell mechanic allows for strategic planning, offering the chance to set up potential combos by playing it at a reduced cost later. It’s a fitting piece in synergistic puzzles where timing can turn the tides.
Meta-Relevance: With a solid presence in limited formats and a specific role in Snow or graveyard-utilizing decks, Grim Draugr holds relevance in meta where versatility and incremental advantage are key elements of victory.
How to beat
The Grim Draugr is a card that can initially seem like a tough opponent on the battlefield. This icy undead creature from the Kaldheim set brings menace to the game, which means it can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures. Additionally, it has the ability to gain indestructible for a turn, a trait that might intimidate some players considering indestructible creatures can’t be destroyed by conventional damage or destroy effects.
However, overcoming the Grim Draugr isn’t as daunting as it might appear. First and foremost, cards that exile creatures directly can bypass its indestructible capability, removing it from play entirely. Secondly, enchantments that prevent the creature from blocking or attacking can also diminish its presence on the board, making it a non-issue. Lastly, leveraging board wipes that change creature attributes or subtract toughness could outpace the Draugr’s ability to become indestructible, as these won’t destroy it per se but change the rules of its survival on the battlefield.
Adapting your strategy to manage and contain threats like the Grim Draugr is part of the dynamic essence of MTG. By considering its strengths and weaknesses, you can prepare your deck to handle such challenges effectively and maintain control over the game flow.
Cards like Grim Draugr
The Grim Draugr is an intriguing card in the world of Magic: The Gathering, bringing a unique mix to the zombie archetype. This card draws parallels with other creatures like the walking dead that share its snow synergies, such as Frost Augur. Both utilize snow lands to harness their abilities, with Grim Draugr benefiting from increased power and menace when boosted with snow mana. However, Frost Augur offers card advantage by potentially revealing and drawing snow cards.
Looking closer at its counterparts, we notice the Zombie Musher. While it also profits from snow lands, granting it snow landwalk instead of menace, it carries the same theme of a zombie creature empowered in cold climates. On the flip side, Grim Draugr’s flexible boost ability tends to be more impactful in a combat-centric game, offering both offensive and defensive versatility.
When evaluating Grim Draugr among similar MTG creature cards, its menace ability and boost potential render it a formative threat, especially in snow-themed decks. In a game where strategic creature placement makes a difference, Grim Draugr’s capabilities help it stand out in a crowd of undead minions.
Cards similar to Grim Draugr by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Grim Draugr MTG card by a specific set like Kaldheim, 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 Grim Draugr 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 Magic products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Grim Draugr has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Grim Draugr card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-02-05 | Activating Grim Draugr’s ability after it’s been blocked by a single creature won’t cause Grim Draugr to become unblocked. |
| 2021-02-05 | Snow is a supertype, not a card type. It has no rules meaning or function by itself, but spells and abilities may refer to it. |
| 2021-02-05 | Snow isn’t a type of mana. If an effect says you may spend mana as though it were any type, you can’t pay for {S} using mana that wasn’t produced by a snow source. |
| 2021-02-05 | Some cards have additional effects for each {S} spent to cast them. You can cast these spells even if you don’t spend any snow mana to cast them; their additional effects simply won’t do anything. |
| 2021-02-05 | The Kaldheim set doesn’t have any cards with mana costs that include {S}, but some previous sets do. If an effect says such a spell costs less to cast, that reduction doesn’t apply to any {S} costs. This is also true for activated abilities that include {S} in their activation costs and effects that reduce those costs. |
| 2021-02-05 | The {S} symbol is a generic mana symbol. It represents a cost that can be paid by one mana that was produced by a snow source. That mana can be any color or colorless. |
