Glowing Anemone MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Jellyfish Beast
Released	1999-10-04
Set symbol
Set name	Mercadian Masques
Set code	MMQ
Power	1
Toughness	3
Number	81
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Pete Venters

Key Takeaways

Glowing Anemone shapes games by providing deck manipulation and disrupting opponents at instant speed.
Its specific mana requirements and cost-to-benefit consideration can hinder its inclusion in some decks.
The card’s versatility and meta relevance make it a robust choice for reactive strategies in various decks.

Text of card

When Glowing Anemone comes into play, you may return target land to its owner's hand.

Beautiful to behold, terrible to be held.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Glowing Anemone offers players the chance to manipulate their deck while potentially disrupting their opponent’s strategy. By placing cards into the graveyard, you can set up for powerful graveyard synergies or reanimation tactics. This translates into a formidable card advantage as you selectively stockpile your resources for later use.

Resource Acceleration: This card can serve as a form of resource acceleration. By enabling smoother mana curves or enhancing land drops, it ensures you can play your higher-costing spells earlier than usual, providing a noticeable boost in the tempo of your gameplay.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate at instant speed grants a strategic edge, allowing you to react to your opponent’s moves or end-of-turn decisions. This flexibility ensures that you can adapt to the changing board state without sacrificing momentum, making it an essential tool in your arsenal.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Glowing Anemone necessitates discarding a card which can set back your hand especially if you’re already facing hand depletion due to opponent’s disruption tactics.

Specific Mana Cost: The specific blue mana cost for Glowing Anemone can present a hurdle in multicolored decks that are not heavily invested in blue mana sources, possibly affecting the deck’s mana curve and flow of play.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When you weigh the cost-to-benefit ratio of Glowing Anemone, the mana investment is on the steeper side. With the magicverse teeming with cards that bring similar or greater value at a lower mana cost, this can deter players from including it in optimized deck builds.

Reasons to Include Glowing Anemone in Your Collection

Versatility: Glowing Anemone offers multiple modes of play, making it useful in a variety of decks. Whether you’re looking for creature control or just need to bounce an opponent’s key card back to their hand, this card adapts to your current game situation.

Combo Potential: This card serves as an enabler for bounce strategies, allowing you to repeatedly exploit enter-the-battlefield effects from other creatures in your deck. It’s a boon for decks that capitalize on casting or returning creatures to hand.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that appreciates reactive plays and flexibility, Glowing Anemone holds its weight by being a dynamic answer to threats. It can disrupt opponent’s board presence while maintaining card advantage, making it a tactical inclusion against a wide array of decks.

How to beat Glowing Anemone

Glowing Anemone is one of those MTG cards that catches your eye with its nuanced ability to affect the battlefield. When faced with this menacing jellyfish, it pays to familiarize yourself with its entrapping abilities. One strategic approach to overcome Glowing Anemone is to employ removal spells that can outpace its triggering effect or to use instant-speed interaction to anticipate and counteract its field bounce mechanism. Spot removal spells or bounce effects serve to handle the Anemone before its controller can capitalize on the tempo gain.

It’s crucial to manage your resources efficiently, keeping in mind that Glowing Anemone can set you back if you’re not careful. Cards that provide hexproof or shroud to your permanents are another line of defense, protecting your assets from the Anemone’s influence. Moreover, if you’re able to outmaneuver your opponent by keeping board presence minimal when Glowing Anemone hits the field, you’ll reduce its ability to disrupt your game plan significantly.

In essence, while Glowing Anemone can certainly sway the tide of the game, a comprehensive strategy including timely removal, protective measures, and resource management can keep this jellyfish at bay and maintain your path to victory.

Cards like Glowing Anemone

Glowing Anemone enters the vast seas of Magic: The Gathering with a splash. This enchanting sea creature finds companionship in the likes of Man-o’-War, a classic card known for bouncing creatures back to their owner’s hand upon entry. Both serve as useful tools for disrupting opponent strategies, although Glowing Anemone offers a more flexible bounce option with its “may” clause, potentially leaving beneficial creatures untouched.

Reflecting on Aether Adept, another card with a similar creature bouncing ability, we can observe that it targets only creatures your opponents control and comes with a slightly higher power. While Aether Adept doesn’t give players a choice, it does provide a more consistent board control strategy. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Temporal Eddy, a spell that not only returns a creature but also has the versatility of targeting permanents, albeit at a higher mana cost and without a creature body on the board.

Ultimately, as we consider the balance of control, flexibility, and board presence, Glowing Anemone shows its allure within MTG’s ecosystem, offering a unique blend of options for players shaping the tides of battle.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Glowing Anemone MTG card by a specific set like Mercadian Masques, 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 Glowing Anemone and other MTG cards: