Horned Troll MTG Card

Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
1999-10-04 - Number 251

Eighth Edition (8ED)
2003-07-28 - Number 257★

Eighth Edition (8ED)
2003-07-28 - Number 257

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Troll
Power	2
Toughness	2

Key Takeaways

Horned Troll’s regeneration secures ongoing board control, sustaining its presence through damage and destruction.
Its flexible mana cost and regeneration at instant speed provide strategic depth to green-colored decks.
Enhances combo potential and meta-relevance, countering aggressive strategies with its durability.

Text of card

oo G Regenerate Horned Troll.

"If I says it's a troll, it's a troll. Goblins is always right in Mercadia." —Squee

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Horned Troll offers persistent onboard presence due to its regenerative ability, allowing it to survive combat and removal spells that would otherwise warrant a one-for-one trade, effectively aiding in maintaining card advantage on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: As a three-mana creature with the capability to regenerate, the Horned Troll can be an efficient use of resources. By investing in its regeneration ability, you conserve the resources typically spent on casting additional creatures for board presence, thereby indirectly contributing to resource acceleration.

Instant Speed: Although Horned Troll itself is not an instant, its regeneration can be activated at instant speed. This permits flexibility and tactical plays during the combat phase or in response to instant-speed removal, ensuring that Horned Troll remains a formidable and resilient threat on the board.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Horned Troll lacks this downside, encouraging seamless integration into your game without sacrificing your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Commanding two green mana, its placement is ideal in mono-green decks but could be restrictive in multi-colored deck construction.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With three mana for a 3/3 creature, it’s balanced for its cost but beware; power creep in newer sets may yield creatures with more bang for your mana buck.

Reasons to Include Horned Troll in Your Collection

Versatility: Horned Troll finds its place in green decks that favor resilience. Thanks to its regeneration ability, it can hold the battlefield longer, acting as a stalwart defender against various threats.

Combo Potential: Its regeneration makes it an ideal component for combos that rely on creatures surviving damage or destruction effects. This troll can be a thorn in your opponent’s side when combined with cards that take advantage of creatures entering or leaving the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: With the shift towards creature-based strategies, Horned Troll becomes increasingly relevant. It’s adept at thwarting aggressive decks and can be a cost-effective solution for maintaining board presence in a creature-heavy meta.

How to beat

The Horned Troll is an intriguing force in the MTG realm, boasting not only resilience but also the ability to regenerate. Understanding its strengths is key to crafting a strategy to overcome it. This regeneration factor allows the troll to be a persistent threat, making it critical to either counter it before it hits the board or employ removal spells that don’t deal damage, such as exile or -X/-X effects, thwarting its regenerative capabilities.

Another approach is to outpace the Horned Troll with more aggressive creatures. Since it’s a 3/3, deploying creatures with greater power can challenge its presence on the battlefield. Moreover, preventing it from regenerating is another tactic. Cards that strip its abilities or tax the player’s mana each time they attempt to regenerate are ways to neutralize its key feature. Above all, a strategic combination of control and pressure can effectively checkmate the Horned Troll, assuring it becomes more of a minor nuisance than a major hurdle.

To sum it up, while the Horned Troll presents an enduring challenge, it can be vanquished with thoughtful planning and suitable countermeasures. Choosing the right strategy can transform this formidable adversary into a manageable obstacle in your path to victory.

Cards like Horned Troll

Exploring the realm of regeneration creatures within Magic: The Gathering paints an interesting picture, with cards like Horned Troll as a primary focus. Horned Troll offers a solid defense option with its regeneration ability, especially for its manageable two and one green mana cost. It sits comfortably alongside other creatures that can regenerate, such as Thrun, the Last Troll who also provides this valuable survival trait but with the added benefits of being hexproof and uncounterable, justifying a higher cost of four mana.

Craw Wurm is a card that could be brought up in this conversation, due to its comparable green mana cost and creature type. Although Craw Wurm lacks the regeneration ability, it boasts a higher power and toughness, presenting players with a trade-off between resilience and brute strength in their creature selection. Another similar card is Albino Troll, which shares the regeneration trait at an efficient cost, but it requires an echo cost that could be a strategic drawback or advantage, depending on the situation.

In assessing Horned Troll’s place among green creatures with sustainability on the battlefield, its balance of cost and regenerative ability provides a reliable option for players looking to maintain a solid presence on the board.

Thrun, the Last Troll - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Horned Troll by color, type and mana cost

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Territorial Scythecat - MTG Card versions

Shizuko, Caller of Autumn - MTG Card versions

Reki, the History of Kamigawa - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Horned Troll MTG card by a specific set like Mercadian Masques and Eighth Edition, 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 Horned Troll and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Horned Troll Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1999-10-04 and 2003-07-28. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1999-10-04	Mercadian Masques	MMQ	251	1997	Normal	Black	Heather Hudson
2	2003-07-28	Eighth Edition	8ED	257★	2003	Normal	Black	Christopher Moeller
3	2003-07-28	Eighth Edition	8ED	257	2003	Normal	White	Christopher Moeller