Brown Ouphe MTG Card
1995-06-03 - Number 228
2003-10-02 - Number 115
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Ouphe |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 1 |
Key Takeaways
- Brown Ouphe can level the playing field by countering opponents’ artifact-based advances.
- Its instant speed activation allows for flexible and reactive gameplay, enhancing control.
- While not versatile in every deck, it shines in metas where artifacts prevail.
Text of card
o1o G,oc T: Counter target artifact ability requiring an activation cost. Play this ability as an interrupt.
"Ouphes love trinkets and love to take them apart. I only wish they wouldn't do so with the magical ones." —Taaveti of Kelsinko, Elvish Hunter
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Though Brown Ouphe doesn’t directly allow card draw, its ability to consistently disable artifacts can effectively negate your opponents’ card advantages, ensuring you maintain parity or even pull ahead in resources.
Resource Acceleration: Brown Ouphe itself may not accelerate your resources, but by stifling an opponent’s artifacts, you can slow their resource generation or utilization, which indirectly benefits your pace of play.
Instant Speed: The Brown Ouphe’s activated ability can be used at instant speed, granting you flexibility to disrupt your opponent’s strategies during their turn or in response to their artifact activations, thus keeping you on the front foot.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Brown Ouphe does not explicitly require a discard, it necessitates the sacrifice of the card itself to utilize its ability. This self-sacrifice essentially acts as a one-time use discard, which may not always align with your strategy, particularly if board presence is more valuable at the time.
Specific Mana Cost: Brown Ouphe demands a green mana to cast. This requirement confines it primarily to green or multicolored decks, possibly restricting deck-building versatility and the card’s overall applicability across various MTG formats.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although only costing one green mana may seem economical, considering the narrow scope of its activated ability—to counter artifacts’ abilities—there could be more impactful plays worth the mana investment. In environments where artifacts are sparse or less impactful, Brown Ouphe’s cost-effectiveness diminishes, overshadowed by more universally powerful one-drop creatures or spells.
Reasons to Include Brown Ouphe in Your Collection
Versatility: Brown Ouphe provides a straightforward ability to disrupt artifact-based strategies, making it a utility card that can be slotted into various decks. Its niche but effective ability allows for strategic plays, especially in formats where artifacts are prevalent.
Combo Potential: Although not traditionally seen as a combo enabler, in the right deck, Brown Ouphe can work wonders. It has the potential to work with cards that benefit from the activation of abilities or as part of a stax-style strategy to lock down opponents’ artifacts.
Meta-Relevance: In metas where artifacts are heavily utilized, such as Commander or Vintage, having a Brown Ouphe ready can keep your opponents’ key pieces at bay. This makes it a relevant choice for sideboards or as part of a responsive main deck. Its low casting cost also means it can be played early, ensuring you’re prepared before your opponents can establish their artifact-based strategies.
How to beat
Brown Ouphe is a niche creature in Magic: The Gathering, with an activated ability that throws a wrench in the plans of artifact-based strategies. When facing Brown Ouphe, it is crucial to assess whether your deck relies heavily on artifacts. If it does, your strategy should include removal spells or abilities that can neutralize the creature swiftly, such as Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt. These cards offer a cost-effective solution to remove the Ouphe from the board and resume your artifact operations.
Alternatively, another method to circumvent the Ouphe’s interference is to utilize instant-speed interactions, so you can respond to the activation of its ability and still get value from your artifacts before they are shut down. Cards like Swift Response or counterspells that target activated abilities can be useful. Additionally, one can employ non-artifact sources of advantage, diversifying threats to ensure that the Ouphe’s presence does not completely hinder your game plan.
In essence, while Brown Ouphe can be a temporary obstacle, a balanced deck with answers to various threats shouldn’t find it difficult to overcome this minor hurdle and continue with an effective strategy on the battlefield.
Cards like Brown Ouphe
Brown Ouphe offers a unique role in the world of Magic: The Gathering. When reflecting on other creatures that provide utility similar to this card, Caustic Caterpillar comes to mind. Both are green and have the capability to destroy artifacts. While Brown Ouphe requires a mana investment to activate its ability, Caustic Caterpillar has the convenience of doing so upon its sacrifice, making it a one-time use but mana-efficient option.
Another interesting comparison is with Viridian Zealot. This creature also brings artifact and enchantment removal to the table, with a twist. The Zealot requires both mana and its sacrifice to activate the ability, yet it has the flexibility to target enchantments as well, presenting a broader removal scope at the cost of additional mana.
In analyzing these similar cards, one can appreciate Brown Ouphe’s potential for repetitive artifact control in longer games. While it doesn’t have the immediacy of Caustic Caterpillar or the range of Viridian Zealot, its reusability could be strategically pivotal in certain MTG deck builds, making it a small but potentially formidable tool in a player’s arsenal.
Cards similar to Brown Ouphe by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Brown Ouphe MTG card by a specific set like Ice Age and Mirrodin, 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 Brown Ouphe 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
Printings
The Brown Ouphe Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1995-06-03 and 2003-10-02. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Brown Ouphe has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Brown Ouphe card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2016-06-08 | Activated abilities contain a colon. They’re generally written “ -ost: -ffect].” Some keywords are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder text. |
