Decimator of the Provinces MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost10
RarityMythic
TypeCreature — Eldrazi Boar
Abilities Emerge,Haste,Trample
Power 7
Toughness 7

Key Takeaways

  1. Boosts creatures significantly, turning the tide in combats by providing a decisive +2/+2 and trample effect.
  2. Its emerge cost offers strategic advantage, allowing for earlier casting and potential mana-saving plays.
  3. Mandatory creature sacrifice for emerge may set back your board presence, requiring careful consideration.

Text of card

Emerge (You may cast this spell by sacrificing a creature and paying the emerge cost reduced by that creature's mana value.) When you cast this spell, creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain trample until end of turn. Trample, haste


Card Pros

Card Advantage: By boosting your entire creature line-up with +2/+2 and trample, Decimator of the Provinces often tips the scales in your favor, potentially turning each attack into a more decisive play. The power increase can turn previously inconsequential creatures into significant threats, effectively leveraging your existing board presence for greater impact.

Resource Acceleration: Deploying Decimator of the Provinces can be a resourceful play thanks to its emerge cost mechanism. Sacrificing a smaller creature to partially pay the cost can lead to a substantial mana discount, accelerating your gameplay and allowing you to cast this powerful creature earlier than expected. This leaves mana available for other strategic plays within the same turn, which can be a turning point in the game.

Instant Speed: While Decimator of the Provinces itself does not operate at instant speed, its arrival can instantly transform the battlefield dynamic, catching opponents off guard. The immediate buff to your creatures can turn defensive stances into aggressive onslaughts, and its effect is essentially felt at “instant speed” when played pre-combat, forcing opponents to immediately deal with a new, escalated threat.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Decimator of the Provinces doesn’t directly ask players to discard a card, it does have the emerge cost which effectively asks you to sacrifice a creature. This can set you back, especially if your board presence is already low or if the creature being sacrificed is critical to your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: To cast Decimator of the Provinces, you need a specifically tailored mana base. The cost includes three generic mana and six green mana, or a lower cost with the emerge mechanic. Ensuring enough green sources in your deck to cast this card consistently can be challenging, particularly in multicolor decks where mana resources are already stretched thin.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total converted mana cost of ten or potentially less with emerge, Decimator of the Provinces comes with a steep price. In a game where speed can be key, gathering the required mana can be too slow. There are alternatives with lower mana costs that may not offer the same boost to creatures but come into play more quickly, allowing for a more immediate impact on the game.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Decimator of the Provinces is a powerhouse addition to decks that thrive on overwhelming their opponents with a heavy creature presence. Its widespread stat boost upon entering the battlefield gives any army the teeth to turn a balanced game into a victory.

Combo Potential: This card’s Emerge ability allows players to sacrifice a creature for a reduced casting cost, establishing impressive synergy with graveyard strategies or those that benefit from ‘death trigger’ effects.

Meta-Relevance: Given the popularity of creature-based strategies in many playgroups, Decimator of the Provinces offers an instant impact on the board state that can tip the scales in games dominated by creature combat.


How to beat

Decimator of the Provinces is a colossal force, a magic card that commands a battlefield presence that can swiftly turn the tides of combat. As an Emerge creature, it lets you sacrifice a permanent for a reduced casting cost and can give your team quite the tempo boost with its trample and +2/+2 buff until the end of turn when it enters the battlefield.

However, its strength can be mitigated. Utilize control elements like counterspells, which can effectively shut down the casting of the Decimator itself. Relying on instant speed removal is also a strategy to consider, as it allows you to respond to its summoning or to clear potential sacrifice targets before the Decimator can take advantage of its Emerge cost. Cards like Path to Exile or Doom Blade provide inexpensive ways to manage the beast before it can wreak havoc.

Artifact removal like Naturalize is an efficient answer to the problem as well, since it can destroy any equipment or enchantments making your opponent’s creatures tougher to defeat. Knowing when to time your spells and keeping mana available for these moments are key tactics in quelling this monstrous threat.


BurnMana Recommendations

Maximizing the potential of Decimator of the Provinces requires thoughtful execution and a well-constructed mana base. If you’re eager to harness its game-changing abilities and bolster your creature lineup, refining your deck to support its summoning conditions is vital. Embracing strategies that capitalize on creature sacrifices or seeking mana acceleration techniques could prove pivotal. Whether you’re wanting to dominate your local game night or thinking about your next big tournament play, understanding the ins and outs of this formidable card is essential. Visit BurnMana for deeper insights and strategies on how to integrate Decimator of the Provinces into your deck seamlessly and effectively.


Cards like Decimator of the Provinces

Decimator of the Provinces is an impactful force in MTG, offering a blend of game-finishing potential and creature enhancement. A close analog is the esteemed Craterhoof Behemoth, which also provides a significant power and toughness boost along with trample. While the latter may grant a larger immediate impact, especially in decks swarming with creatures, Decimator of the Provinces can be easier on the mana with its emerge cost, providing flexibility in its summoning.

Analogous to the Decimator is Pathbreaker Ibex, which, although it requires a build-up by already having a strong presence on the board, can offer repeated benefits over multiple turns. On the other hand, the one-time, but immediate, boost from Decimator can be more than enough to turn the tides in a single, decisive swing.

The versatility of the Decimator of the Provinces often makes it a strategic choice in decks that can sacrifice creatures for value. It does not deliver recurring advantages like some counterparts but makes up for that with its potential for an overwhelming one-time assault, fitting perfectly in explosive and combo-centric strategies.

Craterhoof Behemoth - MTG Card versions
Pathbreaker Ibex - MTG Card versions
Craterhoof Behemoth - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Pathbreaker Ibex - Commander 2015 (C15)

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Impervious Greatwurm - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Decimator of the Provinces MTG card by a specific set like Eldritch Moon Promos and Eldritch Moon, 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 Decimator of the Provinces and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Decimator of the Provinces Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-07-22 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Svetlin Velinov.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-07-22Eldritch Moon PromosPEMN 2s2015normalblackSvetlin Velinov
22016-07-22Eldritch MoonEMN 22015normalblackSvetlin Velinov
32023-03-21Shadows over Innistrad RemasteredSIR 22015normalblackSvetlin Velinov

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Decimator of the Provinces has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-07-13 A creature’s converted mana cost is determined solely by the mana symbols printed in its upper right corner (unless that creature is the back face of a double-faced card, is a melded permanent, or is copying something else; see below). If the mana cost includes , X is considered to be 0. If it’s a single-faced card with no mana symbols in its upper right corner (because it’s an animated land, for example), its converted mana cost is 0. Ignore any alternative costs or additional costs (such as kicker) that were paid as the creature was cast.
2016-07-13 A “when you cast” triggered ability resolves before the original spell resolves. It resolves even if the original spell is countered, and the original spell resolves even if the triggered ability is countered.
2016-07-13 Colored mana components of emerge costs can’t be reduced with emerge.
2016-07-13 Each card with emerge is colorless and has an emerge cost that includes one or more colors of mana. These cards are still colorless if you pay the emerge cost.
2016-07-13 If you sacrifice a creature with in its mana cost, that X is considered to be 0.
2016-07-13 Once you begin to cast a spell with emerge, no player may take actions until you’re done. Notably, opponents can’t try to remove the creature you wish to sacrifice.
2016-07-13 The converted mana cost of a creature spell with emerge isn’t affected by whether its emerge cost is paid. For example, if you cast Elder Deep-Fiend for its emerge cost and sacrifice a creature whose converted mana cost is 3, Elder Deep-Fiend’s converted mana cost remains 8.
2016-07-13 The converted mana cost of the back face of a double-faced card is the converted mana cost of its front face. The converted mana cost of a melded permanent is the sum of the converted mana costs of its front faces. A creature that’s a copy of either has a converted mana cost of 0.
2016-07-13 The creature chosen to be sacrificed is still on the battlefield up through the time that you activate mana abilities. Its abilities may affect the spell’s cost, be activated to generate mana, and so on. However, if it has an ability that triggers when a spell is cast, it will have been sacrificed before that ability can trigger.
2016-07-13 The set of creatures affected by the triggered ability is determined as the ability resolves. Creatures you begin to control later in the turn won’t get +2/+2 or trample.
2016-07-13 The triggered ability resolves before Decimator of the Provinces enters the battlefield, so it won’t get +2/+2 from its own triggered ability.
2016-07-13 You may sacrifice a creature with a converted mana cost of 0, such as a token creature that’s not a copy of another permanent, to cast a spell for its emerge cost. You’ll just pay the full emerge cost with no reduction.
2016-07-13 You may sacrifice a creature with converted mana cost greater than or equal to the emerge cost. If you do, you’ll pay only the colored mana component of the emerge cost.

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