Blood Pet MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Thrull
Power 1
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Blood Pet offers mana at instant speed, crucial for tempo and complex strategic plays.
  2. While offering rapid black mana, its requirement to sacrifice limits board presence.
  3. Potential in combos and its role in fast-paced meta games makes it a worthwhile inclusion.

Text of card

Sacrifice Blood Pet: Add o B to your mana pool. Play this ability as a mana source.

"You are wrong," Volrath said. "I do not hate the living. They often prove quite useful to me." And then he laughed.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Not traditionally a source of card advantage, Blood Pet has a unique role in allowing you to maintain tempo by ensuring you have that crucial extra mana when you need it, potentially leading to winning combinations or the deployment of game-changing cards ahead of schedule.

Resource Acceleration: Blood Pet provides a burst of resource acceleration the moment you need it. Sacrificing it for one black mana can be pivotal, enabling you to cast impactful cards a turn earlier or fueling synergistic strategy for decks that benefit from creatures entering and leaving the battlefield.

Instant Speed: While Blood Pet itself is not an instant, its ability to be sacrificed for mana is usable at instant speed. This gives you the flexibility to decide the best moment during the course of a game to gain that extra mana, whether that’s during your turn or in the middle of your opponent’s actions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Blood Pet requires you to sacrifice it as part of its ability’s cost. This means you’re losing a creature on the board, which could be a drawback if you’re aiming to maintain a presence or plan to use creature synergies.

Specific Mana Cost: Blood Pet adds only a single black mana to your mana pool. While this can be perfect for mono-black decks, it’s not as versatile for multicolored decks that might require different types of mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While one black mana might not seem like a lot, considering you are sacrificing a creature to gain this, there might be other low-cost creatures or spells that provide mana without necessitating a sacrifice, offering potentially more efficient ways to ramp.


Reasons to Include Blood Pet in Your Collection

Versatility: Blood Pet is a card that can be easily slotted into decks that require a quick burst of mana or a sacrificial creature. Its simple yet effective ability to provide one black mana makes it a choice fit for various strategies.

Combo Potential: This card excels in combinations with cards that capitalize on creature sacrifice or death triggers. The ability to sacrifice Blood Pet at instant speed allows for unexpected plays and tactical advantages mid-game.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where fast-paced aggro decks or combo decks prevail, Blood Pet can play a critical role. The instant mana boost can enable key spells to be played a turn earlier, or provide the necessary resources for a game-winning combo.


How to beat

Blood Pet serves as a useful resource in Magic: The Gathering, primarily found within decks that seek to exploit the sacrifice mechanic for rapid mana gain. Understanding its role in enabling combo decks or accelerating key plays early in the game is crucial in countering its effectiveness. To combat a Blood Pet, consider disrupting your opponent’s graveyard strategies, as the card is often utilized in tandem with recursion tactics. Graveyard hate cards can effectively neutralize the benefits Blood Pet provides by preventing it from returning to the battlefield or being utilized for additional mana.

Removal spells are another effective measure, although the instant gain of mana upon sacrificing Blood Pet might still allow the opponent a pivotal play. A more strategic approach could be to limit the opportunities for your opponent to capitalize on the mana boost through timing your control cards appropriately. Ultimately, minimizing the impact of Blood Pet revolves around anticipating your opponent’s strategies and meticulously choosing the moment to disrupt their plays, thereby mitigating the acceleration Blood Pet offers to their game plan.

When played correctly, strategic interaction with Blood Pet can prevent it from tipping the scales in your opponent’s favor, ensuring that you maintain control of the match tempo.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG involves much more than just playing cards; it’s about understanding the synergies that propel your strategy forward. Blood Pet may not be the flashiest card, but it carves its niche in the nuanced world of resource acceleration and combo plays. If you’re looking to optimize your deck’s performance, consider the tactical advantages this creature offers. For those exploring the depths of MTG, incorporating cards like Blood Pet could be the key to unlocking new levels of strategic play. Dive deeper with us and uncover how to effectively integrate this card into your powerful deck arsenal.


Cards like Blood Pet

Blood Pet brings utility in MTG as a modest creature that doubles as a mana source. When looking at creatures offering a sacrifice for mana, we often compare it to Skirk Prospector, allowing for the sacrifice of goblins for a red mana. Unlike Skirk Prospector, Blood Pet’s ability is useful in black mana decks needing a quick mana boost or fuel for a larger play. Moreover, Blood Pet presents a one-time use in contrast to potential multiple uses with Skirk Prospector in a Goblin-focused deck.

Another relative in the group is Blood Vassal. Though it provides a larger mana return, yielding two mana upon sacrifice, the increased casting cost and lack of immediate return compared to Blood Pet’s swift one black mana make it less favorable in tight situations. On the other hand, Carrion Feeder emerges as a similar sacrificial creature, which instead of providing mana, grows in strength, accentuating a differing strategic approach.

Altogether, Blood Pet may not be the most explosive of options, but it stands out for its immediate mana utility in MTG, especially within combo decks or as a quick accelerant in dire circumstances.

Skirk Prospector - MTG Card versions
Blood Vassal - MTG Card versions
Carrion Feeder - MTG Card versions
Skirk Prospector - Onslaught (ONS)
Blood Vassal - Urza's Saga (USG)
Carrion Feeder - Scourge (SCG)

Cards similar to Blood Pet by color, type and mana cost

Stone-Throwing Devils - MTG Card versions
Will-o'-the-Wisp - MTG Card versions
Vampire Bats - MTG Card versions
Bog Rats - MTG Card versions
Muck Rats - MTG Card versions
Vebulid - MTG Card versions
Urborg Skeleton - MTG Card versions
Carrion Rats - MTG Card versions
Foulmire Knight // Profane Insight - MTG Card versions
Dark Supplicant - MTG Card versions
Bile Urchin - MTG Card versions
Rimebound Dead - MTG Card versions
Plague Beetle - MTG Card versions
Festering Goblin - MTG Card versions
Sleeper Agent - MTG Card versions
Knucklebone Witch - MTG Card versions
Nightshade Stinger - MTG Card versions
Smolder Initiate - MTG Card versions
Kjeldoran Dead - MTG Card versions
Deathgreeter - MTG Card versions
Stone-Throwing Devils - Arabian Nights (ARN)
Will-o'-the-Wisp - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Vampire Bats - Renaissance (REN)
Bog Rats - Chronicles (CHR)
Muck Rats - Portal (POR)
Vebulid - Urza's Saga (USG)
Urborg Skeleton - Invasion (INV)
Carrion Rats - Torment (TOR)
Foulmire Knight // Profane Insight - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Dark Supplicant - Legions (LGN)
Bile Urchin - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Rimebound Dead - Coldsnap (CSP)
Plague Beetle - Salvat 2011 (PS11)
Festering Goblin - Tenth Edition (10E)
Sleeper Agent - Tenth Edition (10E)
Knucklebone Witch - Lorwyn (LRW)
Nightshade Stinger - Lorwyn (LRW)
Smolder Initiate - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Kjeldoran Dead - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Deathgreeter - Shards of Alara (ALA)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Blood Pet MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and Classic Sixth Edition, 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 Blood Pet and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Blood Pet Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 2001-04-11. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-10-14TempestTMP 1091997normalblackBrom
21999-04-21Classic Sixth Edition6ED 1151997normalwhiteBrom
32001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 1211997normalwhiteHeather Hudson
42001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 121★1997normalblackHeather Hudson
52020-09-26The ListPLST TMP-1091997normalblackBrom

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Blood Pet has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2009-10-01 Because combat damage resolves immediately after it is assigned, you cannot sacrifice Blood Pet in between assigning and dealing combat damage. The last chance you have to sacrifice it before combat damage is dealt is during the Declare Blockers step.

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