Pheres-Band Tromper MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Centaur Warrior |
| Abilities | Inspired |
| Released | 2014-02-07 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Born of the Gods |
| Set code | BNG |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 134 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Volkan Baǵa |
Key Takeaways
- Pheres-Band Tromper offers a buildable advantage, growing in power with each of your upkeeps.
- It can pressure opponents’ resources, making them trade more to address its presence.
- Inspired ability triggers at instant speed, catching opponents off-guard during upkeep.
Text of card
Inspired — Whenever Pheres-Band Tromper becomes untapped, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Trompers are the most feared warriors of the Pheres Band. Anger is their lifeblood. It sustains them and gives them purpose.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Pheres-Band Tromper is designed to consistently grow stronger turn after turn, which means over time you gain a significant advantage on the board without further depleting your hand.
Resource Acceleration: While the Pheres-Band Tromper itself does not directly accelerate your resources, its increasing strength can pressure opponents to trade more resources to handle it, effectively tilting the resource balance in your favor.
Instant Speed: While this creature operates at sorcery speed, its triggered ability does not. This enables the Pheres-Band Tromper to become a more sizable threat at the beginning of each of your upkeep phases, which can take opponents by surprise and require them to respond hastily, potentially at a disadvantage.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Pheres-Band Tromper imposes a mandatory discard when utilizing its inspired ability. This tradeoff can put players in a tough spot when options are thinning and each card in hand matters.
Specific Mana Cost: Being tied to green mana as part of its casting cost, Pheres-Band Tromper demands a dedicated slot in green or multicolor decks, potentially restricting its playability only to those that can consistently produce green mana.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a four mana initial investment to get Pheres-Band Tromper on the battlefield, players must evaluate if there’s sufficient payoff, especially when the battlefield is ripe with lower-cost creatures that offer immediate impact or have more influential abilities.
Reasons to Include Pheres-Band Tromper in Your Collection
Versatility: Pheres-Band Tromper is a flexible addition to green-themed decks, slotting into both aggressive and midrange strategies effectively. Its ability to consistently grow stronger through the renown mechanic makes it a persistent threat that requires an answer.
Combo Potential: With each combat phase presenting an opportunity for growth, Pheres-Band Tromper synergizes well with cards that untap creatures or provide multiple combat phases. This increases its potency within decks that exploit such combos for overwhelming board presence.
Meta-Relevance: Given its efficient cost-to-effectiveness ratio, Pheres-Band Tromper holds its ground in formats where resilient creatures are key. Its increasing power and trample ability can quickly turn it into a substantial threat, making it a significant player against control decks that can’t deal with it promptly.
How to beat Pheres-Band Tromper
Pheres-Band Tromper can pose a challenge in Magic: The Gathering matches due to its ability to grow in strength with each turn it’s on the battlefield. A creature that strengthens with time, it can quickly escalate into a formidable threat if left unchecked. One effective strategy to combat this card is to utilize removal spells early on to prevent the Tromper from gaining counters. Direct removal spells like Doom Blade or Path to Exile can dispatch it before it becomes too large to handle efficiently.
Additionally, countering it before it even hits the board is also a strong play. Denying your opponent the chance to get the Tromper into play with counterspells such as Negate or Essence Scatter can nip potential problems in the bud. For decks that aren’t prepared with targeted removal or counters, chump blocking to buy time or using board wipes like Wrath of God can reset the board, thereby containing the growing threat of Pheres-Band Tromper.
Overall, acting swiftly to either remove it from play or prevent it from entering at all is key to overcoming Pheres-Band Tromper’s increasing dominance in a game.
Cards like Pheres-Band Tromper
The Pheres-Band Tromper, a creature card from the world of Magic: The Gathering, finds its kinship among other cards that thrive on the utilization of the Inspired mechanic. A card such as King Macar, the Gold-Cursed, shares the Inspired ability which transforms tapped status into an advantageous state. King Macar, however, has the added benefit of exiling creatures and creating Gold tokens, quite different from the Pheres-Band Tromper’s straightforward stat boosting.
Oreskos Sun Guide is another creature that benefits from the Inspired mechanic, providing a life gain rather than improving power and toughness, highlighting the versatility of the Inspired ability across the game. Compared to Pheres-Band Tromper, the Sun Guide tends towards a defensive playstyle, while the Tromper encourages a more aggressive board presence.
Looking at these examples, Pheres-Band Tromper secures a solid position among Inspired mechanic creatures in MTG. While it may not offer as wide a range of utility as King Macar or the life gain of Oreskos Sun Guide, it stands as a reliable and simple enhancer for players looking to build around the mechanic and push for a significant combat presence on the battlefield.
Cards similar to Pheres-Band Tromper by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Pheres-Band Tromper MTG card by a specific set like Born of the Gods, 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 Pheres-Band Tromper 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 Pheres-Band Tromper has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Pheres-Band Tromper card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-02-01 | If an inspired ability triggers during your untap step, the ability will be put on the stack at the beginning of your upkeep. If the ability creates one or more token creatures, those creatures won’t be able to attack that turn (unless they gain haste). |
| 2014-02-01 | If the inspired ability includes an optional cost, you decide whether to pay that cost as the ability resolves. You can do this even if the creature leaves the battlefield in response to the ability. |
| 2014-02-01 | Inspired abilities don’t trigger when the creature enters the battlefield. |
| 2014-02-01 | Inspired abilities trigger no matter how the creature becomes untapped: by the turn-based action at the beginning of the untap step or by a spell or ability. |
