Frilled Deathspitter MTG Card

Frilled Deathspitter - Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)

Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
2018-01-19 - Number 104

Frilled Deathspitter - Mystery Booster (MB1)

Mystery Booster (MB1)
2019-11-07 - Number 938

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number RIX-104

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Dinosaur
Abilities	Enrage
Power	3
Toughness	2

Key Takeaways

Enrage mechanic offers damage potential without losing creatures, indirectly leading to card advantage.
Compatibility with ramp strategies aids time-buying for powerful plays in red-centric decks.
Surprise play opportunities arise with instant speed enrage triggers, adding strategic depth.

Text of card

Enrage — Whenever Frilled Deathspitter is dealt damage, it deals 2 damage to target opponent.

Nothing says trouble like a reedy hiss with a hint of liquid gurgle.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Frilled Deathspitter doesn’t directly let you draw cards, its ability to deal damage when enraged can indirectly lead to card advantage by removing your opponent’s creatures from the board without losing any of your own.

Resource Acceleration: This dino isn’t primarily about boosting your mana resources, but it fits well in decks that ramp up mana to summon large creatures quickly. By holding its own in the early to mid-game, it can buy time for your resource acceleration strategies to take effect.

Instant Speed: Even though Frilled Deathspitter doesn’t operate at instant speed, incorporating it into a deck with instants that trigger enrage can be a game-changer. Instant-speed effects that cause damage to Frilled Deathspitter can trigger its damage-dealing ability on your turn and during your opponent’s, adding a layer of surprise and strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Frilled Deathspitter doesn’t directly require a discard, its potential is best realized in decks that can trigger enrage through self-damage mechanics, which often involves card sacrifices that can hurt hand advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for this creature includes one colorless and two red mana, making it less flexible for multi-colored decks that may not consistently provide the necessary red mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a three mana cost for a 3/2 creature, the Frilled Deathspitter may be on the higher side when considering other creatures with similar stats and possibly more impactful abilities or lower mana investments.

Reasons to Include Frilled Deathspitter in Your Collection

Versatility: Frilled Deathspitter offers a straightforward yet useful skill set that can find a place in numerous red deck variations. Whether you’re building a dinosaur tribal deck or simply need a creature that can deal with extra damage upon being blocked or blocking, it’s a useful card.

Combo Potential: This reptilian beast shines in combos with cards that trigger upon dealing damage. Couple it with effects that double damage or grant additional combat phases, and the Deathspitter becomes a formidable force. Its enrage mechanic ensures it leaves a mark, even if it’s heading for the graveyard.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where aggressive strategies are prevalent, Frilled Deathspitter is a card that can keep pace. It can pressure control players and shape the battlefield dynamics with its capability to sting opponents when it’s involved in combat.

How to Beat

Confronting a Frilled Deathspitter in MTG requires strategic finesse, as this creature can deal direct damage to an opponent when it’s dealt damage itself. To effectively combat it, employing flyers or creatures with the reach ability allows you to evade its enraging bite without triggering its wrathful ability. A control player might consider removal spells like Shock or Lightning Strike to eliminate it swiftly and decisively, thus avoiding the potential for accumulated damage over multiple turns.

Another tactic involves using enchantments that pacify the creature or prevent it from dealing damage, such as Pacifism or Defang. This neutralizes the threat without having to engage it directly in combat. For those favoring the long game, cards offering life gain can help offset the incremental damage the Frilled Deathspitter can cause, keeping you comfortably ahead in the life tally.

By combining these approaches, you can ensure that the Frilled Deathspitter remains a manageable obstacle on your path to victory. It’s about clever anticipation and preemptive action, turning the tables on an opponent who relies on the Deathspitter to chip away at your life total. Keeping cool and deploying the right counters will seal your success against this spikey adversary.

Cards like Frilled Deathspitter

Frilled Deathspitter is a unique creature card in MTG that brings its own flavor to the battlefield. A comparison can be drawn with the likes of Ridgetop Raptor, which boasts a similar enrage mechanic, activating when it’s dealt damage. However, Frilled Deathspitter’s ability to directly deal damage to opposing players gives it an aggressive edge, pushing for a more offensive playstyle.

Another creature that echoes the enrage mechanic is Snapping Sailback. It shares the potential to surprise opponents in combat with its Flash capability, allowing it to be played at almost any time. Yet, it lacks the immediate damage output upon being hit that Frilled Deathspitter offers. Conversely, Ripjaw Raptor presents itself as a larger creature that rewards being damaged with card draw and becomes a resource engine, as opposed to Frilled Deathspitter’s more straightforward burst damage approach.

Assessing Frilled Deathspitter among its counterparts, we observe that while other creatures offer utility and reactive play opportunities, this spiky dinosaur stands out by contributing directly to reducing your opponent’s life total, which can be crucial in the race to victory in MTG.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Frilled Deathspitter MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan and Mystery Booster, 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 Frilled Deathspitter and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Frilled Deathspitter Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Zoltan Boros.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2018-01-19	Rivals of Ixalan	RIX	104	2015	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros
2	2019-11-07	Mystery Booster	MB1	938	2015	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros
3	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST	RIX-104	2015	Normal	Black	Zoltan Boros

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Frilled Deathspitter has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2018-01-19	If lethal damage is dealt to a creature with an enrage ability, that ability triggers. The creature with that enrage ability leaves the battlefield before that ability resolves, so it won’t be affected by the resolving ability.
2018-01-19	If multiple sources deal damage to a creature with an enrage ability at the same time, most likely because multiple creatures blocked that creature, the enrage ability triggers only once.
2018-01-19	If your life total is brought to 0 or less at the same time that Frilled Deathspitter is dealt damage, you lose the game before its enrage ability resolves.