Imperial Ceratops MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Dinosaur
Abilities	Enrage
Released	2018-01-19
Set symbol
Set name	Rivals of Ixalan
Set code	RIX
Power	3
Toughness	5
Number	10
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Bayard Wu

Key Takeaways

Imperial Ceratops isn’t a card draw engine but emphasizes incremental life gain to overwhelm opponents.
Compatible with protective instants for extra life during opponents’ turns, maximizing enrage benefits.
High casting cost demands strategical planning but provides a sturdy mid-game presence on the battlefield.

Text of card

Enrage — Whenever Imperial Ceratops is dealt damage, you gain 2 life.

"The music of blades against its silver armor merely inspires it to bellow more full-throated melodies." —Huatli

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The presence of Imperial Ceratops in your deck isn’t about drawing cards directly but about incremental life gain, which can be leveraged in MTG strategies focused on outlasting the opponent. It synergizes with a strategy that benefits from having high life totals to create an insurmountable advantage.

Resource Acceleration: This dinosaur doesn’t directly accelerate resources. However, its stable five mana cost for a 3/5 body means it can consistently hit the board mid-game, setting the stage for bigger, more impactful plays later on without exhausting resources too early.

Instant Speed: While Imperial Ceratops operates at sorcery speed due to being a creature, its enrage mechanic indirectly benefits from instant speed interactions. Protective instants can trigger the enrage effect outside of your own turn, allowing you to gain life whenever Imperial Ceratops is targeted or dealt damage, potentially during an opponent’s attack.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Imperial Ceratops doesn’t specifically require discarding a card, it’s essential to consider that any high-cost creature can be a liability if you’re forced to discard due to an opponent’s disruption before you get a chance to play it.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Imperial Ceratops is two generic and three white mana, which may not seamlessly fit into multicolored decks. This specific mana requirement could limit deck-building flexibility and delay its deployment on the battlefield.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Sitting at five mana (2 generic and 3 white), Imperial Ceratops comes with a significant investment for a creature that primarily offers a life gain mechanic. Given its cost, players may find other cards that provide greater immediate impact or value to the board state.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Imperial Ceratops stands out due to its ability to adapt to various deck strategies. As a creature that offers life gain upon being targeted by a spell, it can provide a boost to defensive decks while also fitting well within any deck that benefits from life gain tactics.

Combo Potential: This dinosaur can be combined with cards that target your own creatures for beneficial effects, effectively turning any spell into a source of life gain. This makes it a solid component in decks where you’re looking to exploit such synergies for a robust life total.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment with a heavy focus on non-creature spell strategies, Imperial Ceratops can be a considerable gain. During matches where spot removal and other targeted spells are prevalent, it steadily tilts the balance in your favor, making it a noteworthy selection for play.

How to beat

Imperial Ceratops poses a unique challenge on the battlefield with its enrage ability, where it gains life every time it’s dealt damage. To effectively counter this bulky dinosaur, direct removal spells are a solid approach. For example, using Path to Exile or Fatal Push can bypass its enrage trigger, by swiftly removing it from the field before its life-gain ability becomes an issue.

Board control is also a key strategy. Sweeper spells like Wrath of God or Damnation can clear the field, including any Imperial Ceratops, without having to engage them directly and risk activating their enrage ability. Alternatively, you could employ counterspells to prevent the dinosaur from entering the battlefield in the first place, or use exile effects which tend to be reliable solutions for creatures with persisting effects upon taking damage.

Timing is crucial when facing creatures like Imperial Ceratops. Efficient management of removal resources and prioritizing threats can mean the difference between victory and defeat. In the end, understanding how to dismantle your opponent’s strategy while protecting your own game plan will help to maintain the upper hand. This makes knowing how to deal with Imperial Ceratops essential for players looking to succeed in the current meta.

Cards like Imperial Ceratops

Imperial Ceratops presents an interesting choice for life-gain enthusiasts in Magic: The Gathering. This dinosaur stands alongside creatures like Bishop’s Soldier, sharing the lifelink ability that helps maintain a player’s life total during matches. While Bishop’s Soldier might come into play earlier due to its lower mana cost, the Ceratops compensates with a beefier body and the potential for significant life gain through enrage.

If we delve into other comparables, we also have Sunscourge Champion, which not only offers life when it enters the battlefield but can also return from the graveyard to continue the fight. This reusability aspect sets it apart from our ceratops friend. Then we have Palisade Giant, which redirects damage from you and your other creatures to itself, indirectly preserving your life points much like Imperial Ceratops wants to do through its enrage-triggered life gain.

Ultimately, when discussing resilience and the ability to affect life totals, Imperial Ceratops may not be the most cost-effective creature available, but its unique blend of toughness and the enrage mechanic ensures it can hold its own in decks built around these synergies, offering a useful tool for strategies centered around health as a resource.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Imperial Ceratops MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan, 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 Imperial Ceratops and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Imperial Ceratops has restrictions

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

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Imperial Ceratops 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 Imperial Ceratops is dealt damage, you lose the game before its enrage ability resolves.