Emberwilde Caliph MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Djinn |
| Abilities | Flying,Trample |
| Released | 1996-10-08 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Mirage |
| Set code | MIR |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 4 |
| Number | 262 |
| Frame | 1997 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Jennifer Law |
Key Takeaways
- Emberwilde Caliph presents indirect card advantage with its flying and trample abilities.
- It has a steep discard requirement, which can be a significant downside.
- Emberwilde Caliph’s distinct drawbacks require thoughtful strategic play.
Text of card
Flying, trample Emberwilde Caliph attacks each turn if able. For each 1 damage Emberwilde Caliph successfully deals, lose 1 life.
The fire breathes while the air burns.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: When discussing the benefits of Emberwilde Caliph, an often-overlooked aspect is its potential for indirect card advantage. By pressuring opponents with its flying ability, it can sometimes force unfavorable blocks or trades, effectively skewing the resource balance in your favor.
Resource Acceleration: Although Emberwilde Caliph does not directly contribute to resource acceleration in the conventional sense of ramping or treasure generation, its trample ability ensures that damage can overflow onto the opponent, potentially hastening the game’s conclusion and reducing the resource requirement to achieve victory.
Instant Speed: While Emberwilde Caliph itself is not an instant, its ability to deliver immediate impact on the board as a hasty flyer allows players to use it as a form of tempo play. This can be considered similar to the advantage gained by playing spells at instant speed, as it applies immediate pressure and requires an immediate answer.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Playing Emberwilde Caliph comes with the steep price of discarding another card from your hand. For players, this can often mean sacrificing key pieces of their strategy or depleting their hand too quickly, making it difficult to maintain card advantage against opponents.
Specific Mana Cost: The Emberwilde Caliph’s mana cost is quite rigid, needing both red and black mana to cast. This restricts the card’s versatility, as it can only thrive within specific deck types that can reliably provide both mana colors without compromising the deck’s overall mana base stability.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that requires four mana, including two that must be red, Emberwilde Caliph competes for space in a deck’s curve that could be occupied by other impactful cards. Given its cost, the Caliph might not always represent the best value play at that stage of the game, especially when you consider the additional discard requirement that comes with it.
Reasons to Include Emberwilde Caliph in Your Collection
Versatility: Emberwilde Caliph boasts flexible uses, easily sliding into decks that capitalize on creature-based strategies, particularly in red or multicolor decks that can handle its loss of life drawback as a trade-off for aggressive play.
Combo Potential: This card can be a key piece in synergies that profit from flying creatures or when paired with spells and abilities that mitigate or exploit its life loss ability, fostering intriguing and potentially game-ending combos.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where flying creatures rule the skies, Emberwilde Caliph can hold its own. Its role in your deck could shift the balance in your favor in a meta that’s ripe for aggressive tactics and surprise plays.
How to beat
Emberwilde Caliph is a card that demands immediate attention on the battlefield, given its flying ability and potential for significant life loss to the opponent when it attacks. It becomes a serious threat if left unchecked. However, its drawback of having you lose life when it leaves the battlefield requires strategic consideration when inserting it into your deck or facing it in an opponent’s lineup.
Handling Emberwilde Caliph effectively involves several tactics. Removal spells that bypass its flying capability, such as destroy or exile effects, can be particularly efficient. For example, utilising spells like Doom Blade or Path to Exile can neutralize the Caliph before it accrues too much value for your opponent. Additionally, as a creature that has a detrimental effect upon its exit, it can be a liability for your opponent under the right circumstances. Bouncing it back to their hand with spells like Unsummon can force the life loss upon them, not you. Finally, capitalizing on its forced attack every turn with cards that punish attackers or beefy blockers can mitigate the damage it can inflict while ultimately turning its aggression against your opponent.
In summary, Emberwilde Caliph presents a double-edged sword in matches. It’s vital to have a game plan for such a card, incorporating removal, bounce spells, or strategic blocks to prevent it from dominating the game.
Cards like Emberwilde Caliph
Emberwilde Caliph might remind experienced MTG players of other daring creatures like the Rathi Dragon. Both bring a substantial power to the board and require a land to be sacrificed when they come into play. The Emberwilde Caliph, in particular, stands out with its flying ability and the unique stipulation that it must be blocked if able, which can dictate the pace of the combat phase significantly. Meanwhile, Rathi Dragon lacks the mandatory block but offers a beefier body on the battlefield.
Another creature entering this fray is the Firemaw Kavu. While not as aggressive in power and toughness, this creature offers utility upon entering and leaving the battlefield, allowing for targeted removal of opposing creatures or direct player damage, offering a different tactical angle for deck builders. Emberwilde Caliph, on the other hand, delivers a more straightforward and forceful offensive approach.
Considering the available options, Emberwilde Caliph can be seen as a high-risk, high-reward card for MTG players who prefer an aggressive game strategy, and its unique attributes can carve out a distinct role in decks designed to dominate the skies and pressure opponents each turn.
Cards similar to Emberwilde Caliph by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Emberwilde Caliph MTG card by a specific set like Mirage, 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 Emberwilde Caliph 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 MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Emberwilde Caliph has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
