Growing Ranks MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment
Abilities Populate

Key Takeaways

  1. Growing Ranks provides a sustainable advantage by copying tokens each upkeep, bolstering battlefield dominance.
  2. It enhances decks focusing on tokens by accelerating resources and fostering powerful synergies.
  3. Despite its benefits, it requires specific mana and competes with impactful four-mana spells.

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, populate. (Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of a creature token you control.)

"We will grow an army large enough to withstand the Izzet's madness." —Trostani


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Growing Ranks, you can expand your army without spending additional cards from your hand. Every upkeep, the enchantment potentially duplicates your most valuable tokens, allowing you to outnumber your opponent and leverage more options on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: This card synergizes with tokens that produce mana or other valuable effects, essentially doubling your resources. It’s pivotal for decks designed around token generation and can dramatically increase your board presence, leading to faster development and overwhelming your adversaries.

Instant Speed: Although Growing Ranks operates at the beginning of your upkeep, the tokens it creates can be instantly utilized if they have haste or in synergy with other cards that capitalize on the number of creatures you control. The constant and predictable growth can put your opponent on a tight clock, forcing them to address your burgeoning ranks quickly.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While not applicable to Growing Ranks directly, decks revolving around populate mechanics may require discarding to fuel card abilities, potentially depleting your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Growing Ranks demands both green and white mana for casting, mandating a Selesnya deck build which could be restrictive.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its four mana cost, Growing Ranks competes with other impactful spells in the four mana slot, potentially slowing down your early game presence.


Reasons to Include Growing Ranks in Your Collection

Versatility: Growing Ranks fits seamlessly into a wide array of token-centric decks, serving as a reliable engine for creating copies of your most powerful tokens turn after turn.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with decks that capitalize on enter-the-battlefield effects or require a critical mass of similar creatures to activate various combos.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment that favors creature-based strategies, Growing Ranks can be a linchpin, consistently multiplying your threats and overwhelming opponents with sheer numbers.


How to beat

Growing Ranks is a formidable enchantment in MTG that can quickly escalate a token strategy out of control by doubling the player’s tokens during each upkeep. Addressing this card requires a precise approach since it capitalizes on an already established board presence. The key to dismantling a strategy centered around Growing Ranks lies in the removal of not just the enchantment itself but also the tokens it aims to proliferate.

One effective tactic is incorporating enchantment removal cards into your deck. Options like Disenchant or Return to Nature offer cheap and efficient ways to eliminate Growing Ranks before it becomes a threat. Additionally, board wipes such as Wrath of God or Damnation prove devastating against token-heavy opponents, wiping the slate clean and leaving Growing Ranks with nothing to clone. It’s also advisable to keep an eye out for instant-speed removal or countermagic to disrupt your opponent’s rhythm and prevent their token generation from gaining momentum. By prioritizing the removal of their key enchantment and staying vigilant against the tokens, maintaining control of the game becomes a more attainable victory condition.


BurnMana Recommendations

Delving deep into MTG’s strategic layers unveils that Growing Ranks is more than an enchantment; it’s a value engine for token connoisseurs. Amplifying your board every upkeep, it breathes life into Selesnya-themed decks and pushes the frontiers of your army’s expansion. Whether you’re thirsting for mana acceleration through tokens or seeking combos to turn the tides, Growing Ranks holds the keys to a verdant empire. It’s vital, however, to prepare for its specific mana requirement and potential competition for the four-slot mana curve in your build. Embrace the consistent growth offered by Growing Ranks, fuse it with your strategic mastery, and watch as your adversaries grapple with the relentless waves you summon. Learn more about refining your approach and augmenting your collection with this pivotal piece, ensuring your matches resonate with the might of the Selesnya guild.


Cards like Growing Ranks

Growing Ranks is a standout card for players who love token strategies in MTG. This enchantment from the Return to Ravnica set aligns closely with cards like Doubling Season, with its focus on multiplying your creature tokens. However, Growing Ranks offers this ability with a rhythm, by creating a token copy at each of your upkeep phases, instead of Doubling Season’s constant doubling effect.

Analyzing other counterparts, Parallel Lives emerges as a worthy mention. It doesn’t create token copies but doubles the number of tokens you’d get from other effects, very similar to Doubling Season but at a lower cost. There’s also Anointed Procession, which mirrors Parallel Lives but specifically shines in white decks. While Growing Ranks provides a dependable token copy at a constant interval, these other cards amplify the token production potential dramatically when combined with other effects.

Each of these cards carves its niche within the token-enriching category. Growing Ranks may play a slower, more measured game compared to its immediate and expansive counterparts, but its consistent output can be synchronized superbly in a deck that is constructed to leverage the steady stream of creature tokens.

Doubling Season - MTG Card versions
Parallel Lives - MTG Card versions
Anointed Procession - MTG Card versions
Doubling Season - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Parallel Lives - Innistrad (ISD)
Anointed Procession - Amonkhet Promos (PAKH)

Cards similar to Growing Ranks by color, type and mana cost

Reclamation - MTG Card versions
Nature's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Glare of Subdual - MTG Card versions
Ajani's Aid - MTG Card versions
The Curse of Fenric - MTG Card versions
Buried in the Garden - MTG Card versions
Reclamation - Ice Age (ICE)
Nature's Blessing - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Glare of Subdual - GRN Guild Kit (GK1)
Ajani's Aid - Aether Revolt (AER)
The Curse of Fenric - Doctor Who (WHO)
Buried in the Garden - Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Growing Ranks MTG card by a specific set like Return to Ravnica and GRN Guild Kit, 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 Growing Ranks and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Growing Ranks Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2012-10-05 and 2019-08-23. Illustrated by Seb McKinnon.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12012-10-05Return to RavnicaRTR 2172003normalblackSeb McKinnon
22018-11-02GRN Guild KitGK1 1132015normalblackSeb McKinnon
32019-08-23Commander 2019C19 1932015normalblackSeb McKinnon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Growing Ranks has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-04-15 Any “as
-his creature] enters the battlefield” or “
-his creature] enters the battlefield with” abilities of the new token will work.
2013-04-15 If you choose to copy a creature token that’s a copy of another creature, the new creature token will copy the characteristics of whatever the original token is copying.
2013-04-15 If you control no creature tokens when you populate, nothing will happen.
2013-04-15 The new creature token copies the characteristics of the original token as stated by the effect that put the original token onto the battlefield.
2013-04-15 The new token doesn’t copy whether the original token is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any noncopy effects that have changed its power, toughness, color, and so on.
2013-04-15 You can choose any creature token you control for populate. If a spell or ability puts a token onto the battlefield under your control and then instructs you to populate (as Coursers’ Accord does), you may choose to copy the token you just created, or you may choose to copy another creature token you control.

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