Prosperous Pirates MTG Card
2017-09-29 - Number 69
2019-11-07 - Number 463
2020-07-17 - Number 165
2020-11-20 - Number 85
2020-09-26 - Number XLN-69
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Human Pirate |
| Abilities | Treasure |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 4 |
Key Takeaways
- Generates two Treasure tokens, contributing to both card advantage and resource acceleration for strategic plays.
- Instant speed utility of Treasure tokens allows for adaptive and responsive strategies in the game.
- Noteworthy for enabling powerful combos and meta-relevant plays, especially in artifact-synergistic decks.
Text of card
When Prosperous Pirates enters the battlefield, create two colorless Treasure artifact tokens with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
The floating city of High and Dry hasn't yet sunk under the weight of gold, but it's not for want of trying.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Prosperous Pirates enables you to garner additional value as it enters the battlefield. By providing you with two Treasure tokens, it effectively replaces itself in your hand, helping you maintain a healthy card economy.
Resource Acceleration: The Treasure tokens created by Prosperous Pirates pave the way for future plays, offering a quick boost in mana resources. This can be crucial for casting high-cost spells earlier than expected or for complex turn strategies involving multiple spells.
Instant Speed: While Prosperous Pirates isn’t an instant itself, the Treasure tokens it generates can be utilized at instant speed. This flexibility allows you to adapt to the evolving game state, staying ahead of your opponents by executing timely plays or responding to threats as they occur.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Prosperous Pirates can provide a treasure token benefit upon entering the battlefield, it does not come with a discard mechanism to help cycle through your deck or provide card advantage. In long games, this can lead to a glut of unneeded cards in hand.
Specific Mana Cost: Prosperous Pirates requires both blue and red mana to cast, which can restrict its inclusion in decks that are not geared towards a blue-red color combination, potentially limiting its versatility across various deck archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing five mana (three generic and one of each blue and red) to cast, Prosperous Pirates can be considered a high investment for the effect of creating two Treasure tokens. Other cards in the same mana range may offer more impactful effects or provide broader utility, making Prosperous Pirates a less attractive option, especially in competitive play where mana efficiency is key.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Prosperous Pirates offer flexibility in deck construction since its primary ability generates Treasure tokens, which can be utilized across various strategies in need of extra mana or artifact synergy
Combo Potential: These pirates synergize well with decks centered around token generation or artifact mechanics, enabling potentially game-winning combinations with their Treasure tokens.
Meta-Relevance: Passing in and out of the spotlight, these pirates can shine in metas where ramping up quickly to powerful spells or sustaining longer matches can tip the scales in your favor.
How to beat
Prosperous Pirates is a notable card in Magic: The Gathering for its ability to advance a player’s mana resources while putting a solid body on the board. Boasting a reasonable five mana cost for a 3/4 creature, the additional benefit of creating two Treasure tokens can provide a significant boost. Overcoming this card often involves preemptive resource disruption or card advantage.
To efficiently disrupt the advantage brought by Prosperous Pirates, adding counter spells to your deck could prove beneficial. Cards like Essence Scatter can neutralize the threat before it touches the battlefield. Board control spells such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile can also remove the pirates from play, ensuring the Treasure generation doesn’t lead to a snowball effect. Additionally, keeping pace with card drawing spells or effects can dilute the resource advantage that Prosperous Pirates provides. Cards like Opt or Chart a Course can keep your hand filled with answers.
Ultimately, recognizing Prosperous Pirates does not instantly change the game state upon entering the battlefield could be key. It’s the subsequent turns that magnify its impact, so keeping your focus on immediate and profitable responses will assist in maintaining overall control of the match against this particular card.
Cards like Prosperous Pirates
Prosperous Pirates carves a unique niche among the sea of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering. It bears a resemblance to cards such as Sailor of Means, which similarly generates a Treasure token when it enters the battlefield. However, Prosperous Pirates goes a nautical mile further, producing not one, but two Treasure tokens, bolstering your mana pool significantly.
Delving deeper, we find cards like Gleaming Barrier, which upon destruction gives the player a Treasure token. While it’s defensively sturdier with a higher toughness and offers mana upon being destroyed, it lacks the immediate impact and the additional token provided by Prosperous Pirates. There’s also the Storm Fleet Sprinter, which, while not directly providing Treasure tokens, ensures unblockable damage to opponents, promoting a speedier strategy as opposed to the resource accumulation strategy of Prosperous Pirates.
Comparing these cards, if you’re aiming to enhance your mana resources while developing your sea of crew, Prosperous Pirates proves to be a valuable asset. It may not be the swiftest sailor on the seas, but with an efficient mana curve and treasure hoarding capability, this card shines in decks that favor long-term strategizing and resource control.
Cards similar to Prosperous Pirates by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Prosperous Pirates MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan and Mystery Booster, 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 Prosperous Pirates 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 Prosperous Pirates Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2017-09-29 and 2020-11-20. Illustrated by Josh Hass.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-09-29 | Ixalan | XLN | 69 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Josh Hass | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 463 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Josh Hass | |
| 3 | 2020-07-17 | Jumpstart | JMP | 165 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Josh Hass | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | XLN-69 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Josh Hass | ||
| 5 | 2020-11-20 | Commander Legends | CMR | 85 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Josh Hass |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Prosperous Pirates has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
