Hooting Mandrills MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Ape
Abilities Delve,Trample
Power 4
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Hooting Mandrills, using delve, turns the graveyard into a strategic resource, reducing mana cost.
  2. Resource acceleration is highlighted as it pairs well with instant-speed spells for efficiency.
  3. Challenges arise from its specific green mana requirement and the discard strategy it employs.

Text of card

Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for .) Trample

Interlopers in Sultai territory usually end up as crocodile chow or baboon bait.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Hooting Mandrills allows players to utilize their graveyard as a resource, effectively turning it into an extension of their hand. By delving away cards from the graveyard, you can cast this creature for a potentially reduced mana cost, enabling you to maintain card advantage on the field while managing your graveyard as a strategic element of gameplay.

Resource Acceleration: The delve mechanic inherent in Hooting Mandrills provides a form of resource acceleration. It allows players to cast a significantly larger creature for potentially less mana than usual, as each card exiled from the graveyard reduces the creature’s casting cost. This can lead to a more efficient use of mana and aid in deploying other threats or answers in the same turn.

Instant Speed: Though Hooting Mandrills itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its reliance on the graveyard means it synergizes well with spells that do. Players can strategically fill their graveyard with instant-speed spells, then benefit from a reduced casting cost for Hooting Mandrills, making this creature a key player in decks that operate on both proactive and reactive strategies.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To play Hooting Mandrills, you often need to leverage your graveyard, delving away cards that you might later need or prefer to keep for other synergies or spells. Strategically, this can reduce future flexibility and leave you at a disadvantage, especially if graveyard manipulation is vital to your overall game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: Despite being able to delve and reduce its casting cost, Hooting Mandrills still requires one green mana. For multicolored decks that are not green-heavy, having sufficient green sources at the right moment can be a challenge, potentially causing the card to sit in your hand longer than desired.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Even with the possibility of delving for most of its cost, the initial six mana needed to cast Hooting Mandrills can be steep, especially considering the card’s stats and abilities. In aggressive or tempo-focused decks, there might be other creatures that offer a better cost to impact ratio without the need for setting up your graveyard first.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Hooting Mandrills can seamlessly adapt to various deck builds. As a creature with a substantial power and toughness, it offers an affordable cost due to its delve ability, making it a strong presence on the battlefield in multiple playing styles.

Combo Potential: The delve mechanic allows for interesting interactions and synergy with graveyard strategies. By pairing Hooting Mandrills with cards that fill the graveyard, you can deploy a formidable creature earlier in the game and leverage your graveyard as a resource.

Meta-Relevance: In game formats where aggressive strategies are prevalent, Hooting Mandrills stands out. Its ability to come into play quickly and apply pressure or block formidable opponents adds a strategic edge against the current competitive decks.


How to beat

Hooting Mandrills stands out in the Magic: The Gathering arena as a formidable creature card, particularly because of its delve ability which allows you to cast it for a potentially low mana cost. Its trample attribute means it can still deal damage even when blocked, making it a persistent threat on the battlefield. To effectively counter Hooting Mandrills, it can be beneficial to implement early graveyard disruption. Targeting your opponent’s graveyard will hamper their ability to utilize the delve mechanic, increasing the cost of casting the Mandrills.

Another strategy is to use removal spells that exile, circumventing the Mandrills’ considerable size. Cards that can exile creatures at instant speed, before the opponent can use them in combat, are particularly useful. Additionally, control decks with access to counter spells can also negate the card’s casting, preventing it from ever hitting the board. Lastly, engaging in combat with larger creatures or those with deathtouch will deter Hooting Mandrills from attacking or defend against them effectively.

While Hooting Mandrills can be a cost-efficient powerhouse, its strengths can be mitigated with the right strategy, preserving your standing in the game and leading you toward victory.


Cards like Hooting Mandrills

Hooting Mandrills has found its niche in Magic: The Gathering as an aggressively costed creature card. It often draws comparison to Gurmag Angler, another creature that benefits from the delve mechanic, allowing players to cast it for a significantly reduced mana cost by exiling cards from their graveyard. However, Hooting Mandrills has an edge in green decks that prioritize tempo and can take advantage of trample, a keyword Gurmag Angler lacks.

Another related card is Tasigur, the Golden Fang which also utilizes delve. Although Tasigur can potentially be cheaper to cast and provides a useful ability to recur cards from the graveyard, its lower base power makes Hooting Mandrills a better choice for players aiming to apply pressure with sizable creatures.

Lastly, Sultai Scavenger is a card that strikes a balance, also banking on the delve mechanic, but it offers flying instead of trample. While adept at evading ground defenses, it doesn’t have the raw power that makes Hooting Mandrills a formidable force in combat. Assessing these cards in comparison, Hooting Mandrills proves to be a powerhouse, providing both substantial presence on the board and efficient utilization of graveyard resources.

Gurmag Angler - MTG Card versions
Tasigur, the Golden Fang - MTG Card versions
Sultai Scavenger - MTG Card versions
Gurmag Angler - Fate Reforged (FRF)
Tasigur, the Golden Fang - Fate Reforged Promos (PFRF)
Sultai Scavenger - Khans of Tarkir (KTK)

Cards similar to Hooting Mandrills by color, type and mana cost

Gaea's Liege - MTG Card versions
Wiitigo - MTG Card versions
Autumn Willow - MTG Card versions
Ancient Silverback - MTG Card versions
Sulam Djinn - MTG Card versions
Verdeloth the Ancient - MTG Card versions
Nemata, Grove Guardian - MTG Card versions
Gang of Elk - MTG Card versions
Kavu Howler - MTG Card versions
Crashing Centaur - MTG Card versions
Giant Warthog - MTG Card versions
Rhox - MTG Card versions
Kodama of the East Tree - MTG Card versions
Terra Stomper - MTG Card versions
Feral Throwback - MTG Card versions
Brontotherium - MTG Card versions
Elvish Aberration - MTG Card versions
Force of Nature - MTG Card versions
Craw Wurm - MTG Card versions
Fangren Pathcutter - MTG Card versions
Gaea's Liege - Revised Edition (3ED)
Wiitigo - Ice Age (ICE)
Autumn Willow - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Ancient Silverback - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Sulam Djinn - Invasion (INV)
Verdeloth the Ancient - Modern Masters (MMA)
Nemata, Grove Guardian - The List (PLST)
Gang of Elk - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Kavu Howler - Apocalypse (APC)
Crashing Centaur - Odyssey (ODY)
Giant Warthog - Judgment (JUD)
Rhox - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Kodama of the East Tree - Commander Legends (CMR)
Terra Stomper - Zendikar (ZEN)
Feral Throwback - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Brontotherium - Legions (LGN)
Elvish Aberration - Masters 25 (A25)
Force of Nature - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Craw Wurm - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Fangren Pathcutter - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hooting Mandrills MTG card by a specific set like Khans of Tarkir and Ultimate Masters, 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 Hooting Mandrills and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Hooting Mandrills Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2014-09-26 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Mike Bierek.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12014-09-26Khans of TarkirKTK 1372015normalblackMike Bierek
22018-12-07Ultimate MastersUMA 1702015normalblackMike Bierek
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 12372015normalblackMike Bierek
42020-09-26The ListPLST KTK-1372015normalblackMike Bierek
52022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 6712015normalblackMike Bierek

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hooting Mandrills has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2014-09-20 Because delve isn’t an alternative cost, it can be used in conjunction with alternative costs.
2014-09-20 Delve doesn’t change a spell’s mana cost or converted mana cost. For example, Dead Drop’s converted mana cost is 10 even if you exiled three cards to cast it.
2014-09-20 The rules for delve have changed slightly since it was last in an expansion. Previously, delve reduced the cost to cast a spell. Under the current rules, you exile cards from your graveyard at the same time you pay the spell’s cost. Exiling a card this way is simply another way to pay that cost.
2014-09-20 You can’t exile cards to pay for the colored mana requirements of a spell with delve.
2014-09-20 You can’t exile more cards than the generic mana requirement of a spell with delve. For example, you can’t exile more than nine cards from your graveyard to cast Dead Drop.

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