Thought Eater MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Beast
Abilities	Flying
Released	2001-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Odyssey
Set code	ODY
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	106
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Luca Zontini

Key Takeaways

Thought Eater excels in hand disruption, paving the way for strategic advantages in-game.
Instant speed offers flexible responses, fitting for dynamic and unexpected playmaking.
While powerful, its drawbacks include a discard requirement and specific mana costs.

Text of card

Flying Your maximum hand size is reduced by three.

The first memory it sucks out of its host is how to get rid of it.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Thought Eater has an efficient way of disrupting your opponent’s hand which, in turn, can translate into card advantage for you. By selectively nibbling away the cards they need, you leave them at a card deficit while bolstering your strategy.

Resource Acceleration: While it does not directly accelerate resources like a mana rock might, the Thought Eater can pave the way for smoother plays by handling potential threats before they’re cast. This strategic removal can save you precious resources later in the match, effectively streamlining your path to victory.

Instant Speed: Thought Eater’s ability to operate at instant speed is a distinct tactical advantage. It allows you to adapt to the ever-changing battlefield of MTG, making plays during your opponent’s turn and responding to threats on the fly. Furthermore, instant speed makes it ideal for surprising opponents who might not expect their strategy to be disrupted outside of your turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Thought Eater demands that you discard a card, making it less than ideal when your hand is already dwindling or when every card in your grip is crucial to your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature comes with a Blue mana requirement that may not seamlessly fit into multi-color decks, particularly those that do not prioritize blue mana or spell-based strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes three mana, including one Blue, Thought Eater’s utility may be weighed against other options. Players could find alternative creatures or spells that provide similar or greater impact for a lower or more flexible mana investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Thought Eater, with its cost-efficient dimensions and disruptive ability, finds a home in several deck archetypes. It can be a strategic defender in control decks or serve as an unorthodox attacker in more tempo-focused builds. Its capacity to disrupt opposing plays by discarding nonland cards ensures it has a function no matter the strategy.

Combo Potential: This quirky creature enables various combos, particularly in discard-centric decks. It can synergize with cards that capitalize on opponents discarding or with effects that benefit from your own graveyard’s card flow. Thought Eater’s unique mechanics make it a surprising but effective piece in intricate combo setups.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where hand size matters or where deck strategies focus on fine-tuned selections of nonland cards, Thought Eater’s impact on the battlefield is pronounced. Its presence is felt more in formats where players meticulously sculpt their hands, thus granting it relevance in certain competitive scenes.

How to Beat

The Thought Eater presents a unique challenge on the battlefield with its capacity to inhibit spellcasting. This creature’s notoriety comes from its ability to counter instant and sorcery spells unless their casters pay additional mana. To outmaneuver this peculiar foe, savvy players must adjust their strategies effectively.

Resilient strategies focus on deploying non-spell-based threats like creatures and enchantments that bypass the Thought Eater’s restrictions. Players can also stockpile their mana resources, enabling them to pay the additional costs without hindering the development of their board state. Another effective approach is to target the Thought Eater with removal spells before attempting to cast more consequential spells, ensuring that its taxing effect does not disrupt your game plan.

Ultimately, countering the effects of Thought Eater requires a combination of proactive resource management and strategic deployment of threats that fall outside its sphere of influence. When maneuvered correctly, this can neutralize the Thought Eater’s advantage and preserve the tempo of your strategy against this magical predator.

Cards like Thought Eater

Thought Eater presents a unique dichotomy in the realm of blue creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its parallels to the likes of, say, Soratami Cloudskater are evident, with both creatures facilitating the draw of additional cards. However, Thought Eater takes deck interaction a step further by enabling a form of hand sculpting, permitting the discard of a card only if you choose to do so.

Another card that shares common ground with Thought Eater is Merfolk Looter. Both creatures have the ability to draw and discard cards, enhancing the chance of finding key components within your deck—a tactic well-suited for setting up graveyard strategies or simply refining your hand. What sets Thought Eater apart is its potential as a blocker due to its higher power. Juxtaposed with the quicker activation during an opponent’s turn that Merfolk Looter offers, Thought Eater’s flexibility lies in its both offensive and defensive capabilities.

In summation, Thought Eater may not be the most straightforward choice when compared to its counterparts, yet its application in decks that prize strategic discards or require a more substantial presence on the board makes it a creature worth considering for certain MTG strategies.

Soratami Cloudskater - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Thought Eater by color, type and mana cost

Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Thought Eater MTG card by a specific set like Odyssey, 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 Thought Eater and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Thought Eater has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Thought Eater card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2009-10-01	If multiple effects modify your hand size, apply them in timestamp order. For example, if you are affected by Cursed Rack (an artifact that sets a player’s maximum hand size to four) and then put Thought Eater onto the battlefield, your maximum hand size would be one. However, if those permanents entered the battlefield in the opposite order, your maximum hand size would be four.