Tilonalli's Summoner MTG Card


Tilonalli's Summoner - Rivals of Ixalan
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Human Shaman
Abilities Ascend
Released2018-01-19
Set symbol
Set nameRivals of Ixalan
Set codeRIX
Power 1
Toughness 1
Number121
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byLius Lasahido

Key Takeaways

  1. Tilonalli’s Summoner excels at creating creature tokens, effectively multiplying your battlefield presence with each attack.
  2. Leveraging the Ascend mechanic helps transform your mana into a powerful army, simulating resource acceleration.
  3. The threat of instant army creation influences opponent strategies, offering a tactical advantage in combat.

Text of card

Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.) Whenever Tilonalli's Summoner attacks, you may pay . If you do, create X 1/1 red Elemental creature tokens that are tapped and attacking. At the beginning of the next end step, exile those tokens unless you have the city's blessing.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Tilonalli’s Summoner offers a unique type of card advantage by generating a wealth of creature tokens. Each attack can potentially result in a significant increase in your battlefield presence, converting one card into several threats.

Resource Acceleration: While it does not produce mana or treasure tokens directly, the Summoner can rapidly accelerate your board presence. By leveraging the Ascend mechanic, once the city’s blessing is achieved, the resources invested in activating its ability become overwhelmingly impactful, simulating a form of resource acceleration through creature volume.

Instant Speed: Although Tilonalli’s Summoner’s ability is not used at instant speed, by simply holding the mana for its activation, you effectively force opponents to consider the potential instant speed of a large army appearing during combat. This can deter attacks or unfavorable spells during their turn, influencing the pace of the game as if you had an instant ready in your hand.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Tilonalli’s Summoner requires you to have another card in hand to discard to maximize its Ascend ability, potentially dwindling your hand if you’re not well-stocked.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature demands both red and generic mana, making it slightly restrictive and better suited for red-centric or two-color decks that can reliably provide the necessary mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the initial cost is manageable, the cumulative expenditure to keep creating Elementals with its ability can become a considerable resource drain, especially in fast-paced games.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Tilonalli’s Summoner offers flexible gameplay, being a powerhouse in red-based aggressive decks and a key piece in token strategies. Its ability to create multiple tokens meshes well with increasing board presence and applying pressure on opponents.

Combo Potential: This card is a combo enabler, synergizing with cards that benefit from entering creatures or those that capitalize on sacrifices for greater effect, effectively escalating the damage potential and board control in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: In a landscape where creature-based strategies prevail, Tilonalli’s Summoner can be an unexpectedly formidable threat. Its ability to swing games with an army of tokens caters to the dynamic nature of current competitive play, ensuring your deck remains a step ahead.


How to Beat Tilonalli’s Summoner

Tilonalli’s Summoner is a card that can quickly turn the tide of a game in Magic: The Gathering by filling the battlefield with Elemental creature tokens. This ability makes it a noteworthy threat once it declares an attack. To effectively counter Tilonalli’s Summoner, prioritize removal spells that can deal with the summoner before its ability triggers. Instant-speed interaction like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can remove it for a low mana cost, potentially even during your opponent’s combat phase to disrupt their strategy.

Board wipes are another robust method for clearing out the tokens that Tilonalli’s Summoner may generate. Cards such as Wrath of God or Damnation can reset the board, making it difficult for your opponent to capitalize on the summoner’s potential. Another strategy is to include cards that prevent token creation altogether, such as Tocatli Honor Guard, which ignores the triggered ability of the summoner upon attack.

Finally, enchantments like Propaganda or Ghostly Prison increase the cost of attacking you, which can limit the effectiveness of Tilonalli’s Summoner’s ability, given that your opponent’s available mana will be taxed. Overall, timely removal, strategic board wipes, and token prevention measures can efficiently deal with the dynamic playstyle Tilonalli’s Summoner brings to the table.


BurnMana Recommendations

Refine your MTG arsenal with the understanding that cards like Tilonalli’s Summoner can offer explosive plays and reshape the battlefield in an eyeblink. Whether it’s fostering a token army or escalating towards game-winning combos, incorporating this card into your deck can be a turning point in your MTG journey. Be it aggressive strategies or intricate combos, adding this elemental force can tip the scales in your favor. Keen to expand your gameplay horizons and push the boundaries of your deck’s capacity? Dive deeper with us and explore strategies to harness the true power of this fiery summoner in your MTG conquests.


Cards like Tilonalli's Summoner

In the thrilling world of Magic: The Gathering, Tilonalli’s Summoner introduces a dynamic game mechanic that lets a player create a growing army of elemental creatures. This card echoes the functionality of cards like Krenko, Mob Boss, which also thrives on generating creature tokens. Krenko, however, does not require a mana investment to create tokens, as it relies on the number of Goblins you control.

Breath of Fury serves as another parallel, offering the potential to swing multiple times with creature tokens, although it necessitates an enchanted creature to connect with a player. Unlike Tilonalli’s Summoner, Breath of Fury requires a pre-existing board presence and doesn’t embed the token generation within itself.

The Summoner can instantly change the complexion of a game, though it does demand a considerable mana reserve to exploit its exponential potential. Despite this, its instant impact and versatility on the battlefield make it a formidable asset, especially when compared to cards like Krenko that benefit from long-term, accumulative strategies.

Krenko, Mob Boss - MTG Card versions
Breath of Fury - MTG Card versions
Krenko, Mob Boss - Magic 2013 (M13)
Breath of Fury - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Tilonalli's Summoner 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 Tilonalli's Summoner and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Tilonalli's Summoner has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-01-19 A permanent is any object on the battlefield, including tokens and lands. Spells and emblems aren’t permanents.
2018-01-19 As each Elemental token enters the battlefield, you choose which opponent or opposing planeswalker it’s attacking. It doesn’t have to attack the same player or planeswalker that Tilonalli’s Summoner is attacking.
2018-01-19 Ascend on a permanent isn’t a triggered ability and doesn’t use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can’t respond to getting the city’s blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can’t respond before you get the city’s blessing.
2018-01-19 If you cast a spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city’s blessing.
2018-01-19 If you control ten permanents but don’t control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won’t have the city’s blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control.
2018-01-19 If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterwards (most likely due to the “Legend Rule” or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city’s blessing before it leaves the battlefield.
2018-01-19 Once you have the city’s blessing, you have it for the rest of the game, even if you lose control of some or all of your permanents. The city’s blessing isn’t a permanent itself and can’t be removed by any effect.
2018-01-19 Some cards have triggered abilities that check if you have the city’s blessing, but don’t use an intervening “if” clause. These abilities trigger regardless of whether you have the city’s blessing and check whether you do only as they resolve.
2018-01-19 Whether you have the city’s blessing is checked only as the delayed triggered ability resolves during the end step. The tokens you create can help you ascend.

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