Oathsworn Giant MTG Card

Oathsworn Giant - Ravnica: City of Guilds

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Giant Soldier
Abilities	Vigilance
Released	2005-10-07
Set symbol
Set name	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Set code	RAV
Power	3
Toughness	4
Number	27
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Daren Bader

Key Takeaways

Improves survivability by increasing creature toughness, potentially leading to stronger board presence.
Confers vigilance to creatures, allowing for simultaneous offense and defense without additional costs.
Limited by a high casting cost and specific mana needs, challenging its deck inclusion.

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

Vigilance Other creatures you control get +0/+2 and have vigilance.

The town stands on his ancestors' former burial grounds. Even with the graves long gone, he continues his determined vigil.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Oathsworn Giant doesn’t directly let you draw more cards, but it fortifies your position by bolstering your entire board with its static toughness boost. This can indirectly lead to card advantage by making your creatures tougher to remove in battle, saving cards in your hand and on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: While Oathsworn Giant isn’t a resource accelerator in the conventional sense, its ability to confer vigilance means you can attack without tapping your creatures, leaving them available to block or use abilities, effectively stretching your resources further without additional mana investment.

Instant Speed: Oathsworn Giant must be cast at sorcery speed, but its impact resonates during all phases of the game. Once on the field, your creatures gain the vigilance advantage instantaneously, transforming your defensive and offensive strategies right away and catching opponents off-guard.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In decks where every card in hand is crucial, Oathsworn Giant’s casting cost can be a downside as it doesn’t directly replenish or cycle your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring two white mana, Oathsworn Giant demands a solid commitment to white mana, which could skew the mana base and make it harder to cast spells of other colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At six mana, this card may arrive too late in the game, where faster, more impactful cards could have already decided the outcome.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Oathsworn Giant is a solid addition to decks that require a defensive boost. This card can augment a variety of archetypes, especially those centering around creatures. Granting your other creatures +0/+2 can be a significant advantage, solidifying your board presence against aggressive decks.

Combo Potential: As a card that buffs your creatures defensively, Oathsworn Giant synergizes well with strategies that revolve around creature durability. Its ability to give vigilance to your creatures also opens up possibilities for combos with cards that capitalize on untapped creatures, maintaining offense while ensuring defense.

Meta-Relevance: When creature-based combat dominates the meta, Oathsworn Giant can become an integral part of your deck. Its ability to enhance your defensive line while keeping your creatures ready to retaliate makes it relevant, particularly in a meta where combat tricks and board control are pivotal to victory.

How to beat Oathsworn Giant

Overcoming an Oathsworn Giant on the battlefield requires tactical precision and the right set of cards. The giant itself bolsters your opponent’s defenses by boosting their creatures’ toughness and granting them vigilance, making their army a formidable wall to breach. To turn the tide, consider removal spells that bypass toughness, such as “Path to Exile” or “Terminus” which can exile or put creatures on the bottom of their owner’s library regardless of their size.

Moreover, employing board wipes like “Wrath of God” can reset the playing field, nullifying the Oathsworn Giant’s enhancements. If targeted removal or board wipes aren’t in your repertoire, fighting fire with fire by ramping up your offensive capabilities with creature buffs or leveraging evasion tactics like flying or trample to bypass their bolstered front line is key. Strategically, focus on keeping their giant off the field or mitigating its impact while pressing on with your win condition, and the behemoth will soon fall.

Always remain adaptable; Magic: The Gathering is a game of constant flux. While Oathsworn Giant can cast a large shadow over the match, with the right strategy and responses, you can claim victory from the jaws of defeat.

Cards like Oathsworn Giant

Oathsworn Giant is an intriguing utility creature within the vast repository of Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to other creatures like Guardians of Meletis, both serving as defensive stalwarts. Yet, Oathsworn Giant stands out by offering a unique aura of protection, notably granting +0/+2 and vigilance to other creatures you control. This collective buff provides a strategic advantage, particularly for token-based decks where numerous creatures can benefit simultaneously.

When compared to Towering Titan, which also banks on fortifying creatures, Oathsworn Giant foregoes the variable power and toughness for a consistent and rallying boost to your team. In contrast, Towering Titan’s size adapts to the number of creatures under your control, making it a potentially more formidable single threat. Despite this, Oathsworn Giant’s ability to enable a full force swing while maintaining a robust defense can be crucial during a standoff.

Evaluating similar support creatures, Oathsworn Giant aligns well with cards designed to strengthen the defensive line while empowering an offensive strategy. Its blend of board-wide influence and tactical versatility makes it a valuable card in any Magic: The Gathering player’s deck where maintaining a presence on the battlefield is key.

Guardians of Meletis - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Oathsworn Giant MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica: City of Guilds, 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 Oathsworn Giant and other MTG cards: