Vintara Elephant MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Elephant
Abilities	Trample
Released	2000-06-05
Set symbol
Set name	Prophecy
Set code	PCY
Power	4
Toughness	3
Number	131
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Tony Szczudlo

Key Takeaways

Vintara Elephant offers potential card advantage by utilizing its Echo cost across two turns.
Accommodates strategic mana use, aligning with planned mana curves and board threats.
Instants combined with Vintara Elephant’s Trample can result in powerful, unexpected damage.

Text of card

Trample o3: Vintara Elephant loses trample until end of turn. Any player may play this ability.

Trained with the aid of rhystic magic, they become uneasy in its absence.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Vintara Elephant possesses a unique ability that can potentially provide card advantage. When playing the Vintara Elephant, its Echo cost can be paid with any color of mana, which means that if you’re able to pay the Echo cost, you essentially get the use of the Elephant for two turns with the investment of only one card. This can give you an upper hand by maintaining board presence and pressure without depleting your hand.

Resource Acceleration: One of the standout benefits of the Vintara Elephant is its potential to contribute to resource acceleration. Even though it doesn’t directly generate additional mana, its presence can allow you to strategically use your mana resources on subsequent turns. The Echo cost can be part of a planned mana curve, ensuring that you optimize your resource use over multiple turns while keeping a threatening creature on the board.

Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, the Vintara Elephant pairs well with instant speed spells in your deck. Deploying it during your main phase can bait out responses from your opponent, keeping the way clear for your instants. Additionally, the Elephant’s Trample ability means that any instant speed buffs applied to it can result in significant and potentially unexpected damage. Its synergy with instant speed mechanics can make it a versatile threat during the course of a match.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Vintara Elephant demands the player to discard a card to utilize its full potential. This can be a setback, especially when your hand is already depleted or all cards in hand are vital to your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for Vintara Elephant includes green mana, which may not be easily splashed into decks that aren’t green-centric. This can potentially restrict the versatility and integration of Vintara Elephant into various deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that may be seen as steep for its base abilities, this elephant treads through a forest of alternatives that could offer more bang-for-your-buck creatures or effects with lower mana investments.

Reasons to Include Vintara Elephant in Your Collection

Versatility: Vintara Elephant offers a solid presence on the battlefield that works well in green decks known for their ramp and creature-based strategies. With its trample ability, it can be a consistent threat that’s hard to block effectively.

Combo Potential: The Echo cost provides a unique timing advantage, allowing you to have a strong board presence early on or strategically delay payment for a turn that’s packed with pivotal plays. It complements strategies that capitalize on powerful one-turn effects.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where board presence is key, the Vintara Elephant can be a cost-effective way to apply pressure. Its ability to overstep smaller creatures makes it a card worth considering as you build or update your green deck.

How to Beat Vintara Elephant

Vintara Elephant may seem daunting with its ability to elevate its strength through forestcycling, but it has its vulnerabilities in Magic: The Gathering. To effectively counter this creature, consider utilizing removal spells that bypass its potential increases in power. Spells like Path to Exile or Fatal Push can manage the Elephant before it becomes a larger threat on the board. It is also susceptible to board wipes such as Wrath of God or Damnation, which can clear the Elephant regardless of its size.

Another strategy is to take advantage of the Elephant’s forestcycling cost. Since the Elephant can be set back in the player’s deck, cards that prohibit or punish searching libraries, like Ashiok, Dream Render or Mindlock Orb, can neutralize that advantage. Additionally, if you’re playing blue, countermagic like Mana Leak or Negate can be pivotal in stopping Vintara Elephant from ever hitting the battlefield.

Remember, keeping Vintara Elephant in check is about preparedness and timing. Control the field early on, and employ your removals and counter spells wisely to prevent this creature from trampling over your carefully laid plans in the game.

Cards like Vintara Elephant

Vintara Elephant brings a versatile touch to the creature lineup in Magic: The Gathering. It echoes the attributes of other creatures like Woolly Thoctar, which also boasts a heavy stat line for its mana cost. However, Vintara Elephant is set apart by its echo ability, demanding a payment of four mana to keep it on the battlefield during your next upkeep. In contrast, Woolly Thoctar requires no additional cost post-cast yet doesn’t offer the echo strategy.

Stampeding Wildebeests is another beast often used in decks similar to where you might play Vintara Elephant. It features a return mechanic that, like echo, takes effect at the beginning of your upkeep, but this one mandates returning a green creature to your hand. While this can be a downside compared to the simple mana cost of Vintara Elephant’s echo, it can be advantageously utilized to re-trigger enter-the-battlefield effects.

Exploring further, we have Baloth Gorger as a comparison, which is purely power and toughness based card. It doesn’t come with the echo cost of Vintara Elephant, but it lacks the additional tactical layer that echo abilities introduce, which can be crucial in specific gameplay scenarios.

Assessing these creatures alongside Vintara Elephant showcases the intricate balance between cost, power, and strategic depth that defines the game’s diverse range of beasts.

Stampeding Wildebeests - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Vintara Elephant by color, type and mana cost

Tel-Jilad Lifebreather - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vintara Elephant MTG card by a specific set like Prophecy, 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 Vintara Elephant and other MTG cards: