Shu Foot Soldiers MTG Card

Shu Foot Soldiers - Portal Three Kingdoms

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Soldier
Released	1999-05-01
Set symbol
Set name	Portal Three Kingdoms
Set code	PTK
Power	2
Toughness	3
Number	24
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	White
Illustred by	Xu Tan

Key Takeaways

Shu Foot Soldiers’ ability to search for copies can quickly fill your hand, giving a card advantage.
It synergizes well with soldier and creature-count strategies, potentially thinning out your deck.
Though it operates at sorcery speed, combining with flash cards can surprise opponents.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Shu Foot Soldiers card offers a unique advantage in that when it’s put into play, allows you to search your library for up to three cards named Shu Foot Soldiers and put them into your hand. This special ability means you effectively get multiple cards for the price of one, significantly bolstering your hand.

Resource Acceleration: Although Shu Foot Soldiers itself does not directly accelerate resources, the card can be an enabler in decks that capitalize on creature count or soldier synergies. The ability to pull additional soldiers from your deck thins it out, increasing the chance of drawing into more impactful cards.

Instant Speed: This card operates at sorcery speed, which encourages strategic planning during your own turn. However, the advantage of instant speed comes into play when using Shu Foot Soldiers in tandem with cards that flash; you can set up defenses or capitalize on an empty board unexpectedly on an opponent’s turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Shu Foot Soldiers necessitates sacrificing another creature just to bring it onto the battlefield, which can deplete your arsenal and put you at a disadvantage, especially if your board presence is already weak.

Specific Mana Cost: As a card requiring both white and blue mana, Shu Foot Soldiers’ specific mana needs can restrict deck-building flexibility, limiting it to decks that can consistently produce both colors of mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its cost sitting at three mana for a 1/1 creature, Shu Foot Soldiers may not measure up in terms of power or impact when compared to other cards with similar mana outlays.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Shu Foot Soldiers is a card with a straightforward design, allowing it to fit well into decks that benefit from creatures with a solid power-to-cost ratio. Moreover, it can serve as a reliable blocker or an aggressive early creature in various gameplay strategies.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes with strategies that capitalize on the number of creatures you control or that trigger upon creatures entering the battlefield. Additionally, the Shu Foot Soldiers can be instrumental in decks building around tribal synergies with Humans or Soldiers.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where slower, control-oriented decks are prevalent, Shu Foot Soldiers can provide a persistent early-game threat that requires an answer, thus allowing for pressure to be maintained from the onset of the game.

How to beat

Shu Foot Soldiers may not be a high-profile threat in Magic: The Gathering, but it does present a unique challenge. This creature card benefits from group tactics, gaining strength as you amass a greater number of Shu Foot Soldiers in play. One effective strategy to counter this is employing removal spells that can handle multiple creatures at once. Board wipes like Wrath of God or Doomskar can reset the playing field, nullifying the numerical advantage that Shu Foot Soldiers rely on.

Cards that impose restrictions on creature abilities can also be useful. For example, using Cursed Totem or Linvala, Keeper of Silence will prevent activation of abilities, which is crucial since Shu Foot Soldiers’ strength lies in its battalion-like effect. Targeted removal spells are less efficient in this case, as dispatching one soldier does little to reduce the overall threat if others remain on the battlefield.

In summary, when facing Shu Foot Soldiers, focus on strategies that limit the opponent’s ability to multiply forces or that can clear multiple creatures in a single stroke. Paying attention to these details can ensure that a group of mere soldiers doesn’t become an overwhelming army.

Cards like Shu Foot Soldiers

Shu Foot Soldiers stands as an iconic piece among the host of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering. This card finds parallels with other three-cost creatures like Borderland Ranger and Civic Wayfinder, both of which also offer an advantage upon entering the battlefield. Shu Foot Soldiers differentiates itself with its foundational ability to be unblockable when facing a player commanding a Wall.

In the realm of specialized unblockability, we also have creatures like Dwarven Nomad, which can make itself unblockable each turn at a cost. This represents a more consistent unblockability compared to the condition-dependent nature of Shu Foot Soldiers. Meanwhile, Dauthi Slayer offers shadow, an ability making it virtually unblockable by creatures without shadow – it’s a creature always attacking and unable to be blocked, much like the situational approach of Shu Foot Soldiers, though more reliable in a broader range of matchups.

Assessing Shu Foot Soldiers within the sphere of Magic: The Gathering creatures, it’s clear that its unique feature caters to a specific scenario. While not universally robust, it can carry out a niche role where walls are prevalent, offering unique strategic depth to the gameplay.

Cards similar to Shu Foot Soldiers by color, type and mana cost

Pianna, Nomad Captain - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shu Foot Soldiers MTG card by a specific set like Portal Three Kingdoms, 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 Shu Foot Soldiers and other MTG cards: