Predator's Strike MTG Card

Mirrodin (MRD)
2003-10-02 - Number 128

Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
2005-08-22 - Number K52

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant

Key Takeaways

Grants significant power/toughness increase, enabling creatures to overpower blockers and maintain board control.
Instant speed allows for surprising combat advantages and flexibility in response to opponents’ actions.
Requires specific mana sources, potentially limiting deck inclusion but integral in green-centric strategies.

Text of card

Target creature gets +3/+3 and gains trample until end of turn.

If you hear it coming, you're not its prey.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Predator’s Strike grants a creature +3/+3, enabling you to overpower opponents and win trades without losing card resources. This can tip the scales in your favor, keeping your board presence strong.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly provide mana or tokens, Predator’s Strike can serve as a form of tempo acceleration by allowing you to remove an opponent’s threats more efficiently, clearing the way for a quicker victory.

Instant Speed: The power of Predator’s Strike is amplified by its instant speed, providing the flexibility to catch an opponent off guard during combat or at the end of their turn, potentially swinging the game in your direction unexpectedly.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Predator’s Strike requires no discard, mitigating this potential drawback.

Specific Mana Cost: With its specific green mana requirement, integrating Predator’s Strike into a deck hinges on a dedicated commitment to green mana sources or a well-tuned mana base within multi-colored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although not extremely expensive, Predator’s Strike’s mana cost might compete with other key spells in the three-mana slot, which could be more impactful in shaping the game’s outcome.

Reasons to Include Predator’s Strike in Your Collection

Versatility: Predator’s Strike brings flexibility to various deck builds, particularly those leveraging creatures and looking to make an immediate impact on the battlefield. This instant not only boosts a creature’s power but also gives it trample, allowing for potential game-changing plays.

Combo Potential: Enhancing creatures with additional power and the trample ability creates diverse combo possibilities, enabling more effective combat strategies and synergizing with mechanics that trigger upon dealing combat damage to a player.

Meta-Relevance: As combat-centric decks continue to make their presence felt, Predator’s Strike can become an essential piece, thwarting blockers and pushing through for crucial points of damage, keeping your deck competitive in a creature-focused environment.

How to beat

Predator’s Strike is a well-known combat trick in the MTG universe, offering a creature +3/+3 and trample until end of turn. This can turn a seemingly harmless creature into a significant threat, allowing it to barrel through defenders and potentially turn the tide of a match. Playing against it requires careful consideration, especially when your opponent has mana open during the combat phase and is playing green.

To effectively counter Predator’s Strike, consider keeping mana available for instant-speed removal or combat tricks of your own. Spot removal spells can eliminate the targeted creature before the Strike resolves, rendering the opponent’s trick useless. Alternatively, using creatures with abilities such as first strike or deathtouch can discourage opponents from using the card, as the risk of losing their creature might outweigh the potential damage inflicted. Timing is crucial when facing such combat enhancements – anticipate your opponent’s plays and conserve resources to disrupt their strategy at the pivotal moment.

Understanding your opponent’s deck and potential plays goes a long way. Staying one step ahead and reacting swiftly to the use of Predator’s Strike can minimize damage taken and preserve your board state, ultimately leading you closer to victory.

Cards like Predator's Strike

Predator’s Strike is a notable combat trick in Magic: The Gathering capable of tipping battles in your favor. It echoes the function of cards like Giant Growth, a classic that also grants a creature a substantial boost in power and toughness. However, Predator’s Strike has the added edge of granting trample, allowing excess damage to spill over to opponents during clashes. In contrast, while Giant Growth is cheaper, the lack of trample could mean critical damage is blocked by smaller creatures.

Comparably, we can examine Titanic Growth, which offers a more significant boost in power and toughness. Despite the bigger increase, Predator’s Strike endows a strategic advantage with trample, making it a potentially game-ending move especially when used on creatures with enough power to punch through defenses. Might of the Masses stands as another parallel, scaling with your creature count, but without the added benefit of trample, it doesn’t ensure the same potential to push through for damage.

Considering the utility and impact of various buffs in Magic: The Gathering, Predator’s Strike holds a competitive position, particularly for strategies where trample can convert a tightly-contested match into a decisive victory.

Cards similar to Predator's Strike by color, type and mana cost

Might of the Nephilim - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Predator's Strike MTG card by a specific set like Mirrodin and Salvat 2005, 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 Predator's Strike and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Predator's Strike Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2003-10-02 and 2005-08-22. Illustrated by Tony Szczudlo.