Root Spider MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Spider
Released	1995-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Homelands
Set code	HML
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	94
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Mike Kimble

Key Takeaways

Enhances deck flow and mana availability through self-deck thinning and land play acceleration.
Entwine ability grants flexibility, making it a valuable reactive tool during an opponent’s turn.
Demands strategic hand management due to its discard requirement for full effect utilization.

Text of card

If assigned as a blocker, Root Spider gains first strike and gets +1/+0 until end of turn.

"They're not half as fierce if they don't see you coming." —Devin, Faerie Noble

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With the ability to manipulate the top deck, Root Spider enhances the chance of drawing useful cards, augmenting your hand and options on subsequent turns.

Resource Acceleration: Root Spider can effectively thin your deck by putting excess land cards from the top of your deck into play, thereby increasing your access to mana and accelerating your resource availability.

Instant Speed: Root Spider’s entwine ability allows you to cast it at instant speed, providing flexibility to respond swiftly to your opponent’s actions and strategically plan your moves during their turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the case of Root Spider, being required to discard a card to harness its full potential can pose a strategic setback. This could put you at a card disadvantage, especially if your hand is already running thin.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Root Spider demands a rigid mana base. This can be particularly restrictive for decks that aim to maintain a more flexible mana curve or for those that operate across a diverse color palette.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering its abilities, Root Spider’s mana cost may appear steep. For decks aimed at efficiency and speed, there are options that might better fit the curve while also offering similar or greater utility.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Root Spider can adapt to various deck builds due to its ability to be both a proactive and reactive card option. Its capability to handle flyers can make it a strategic choice in your sideboard or main deck depending on your setup.

Combo Potential: Its synergies with cards that care about reaching delirium or that support a graveyard strategy enhance its value. Root Spider fits seamlessly into decks looking to utilize their graveyard as a resource or into strategies focused on creature type synergies.

Meta-Relevance: Given its unique reach attribute and graveyard mechanics, Root Spider can gain importance in a meta that heavily features flying creatures or decks that benefit from graveyard interactions. It’s a sensitive pick to respond to evolving metagame trends, providing utility against popular strategies.

How to beat

Root Spider pits players against an intriguing challenger in the ecosystem of Magic: The Gathering. This creature card stands out with its entangling mechanics that ensnare the opposition in a web of board control. However, with cunning strategy, overcoming this arachnidan obstacle becomes a manageable feat.

Key to defeating Root Spider lies in leveraging spells that force it out of the battlefield, effectively bypassing its latent defensive attributes. Cards like Doom Blade or Path to Exile provide clean, uncluttered solutions to swiftly remove this eight-legged menace from play. Additionally, board wipes like Wrath of God can clear the way when facing multiple arachnids or other creatures in concert with Root Spider.

Ultimately, understanding and disrupting your opponent’s game plan is critical. A well-timed removal or board sweep can prevent the Root Spider from establishing dominance, ensuring your creatures remain untangled and your path to victory stays clear in the diverse universe of Magic: The Gathering.

Cards like Root Spider

The Root Spider card introduces a unique twist to the suite of creature spells in MTG. It bears similarities to other green creatures like Silkweaver Elite, which also benefits from reaching the battlefield when a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn. However, Root Spider stands out with its broader condition, accepting any permanent, not just creatures. Meanwhile, Silkweaver Elite focuses specifically on delirium, offering the potential draw of a card if there are four or more card types in your graveyard.

Then there’s Gilt-Leaf Seer, another card that influences the game’s flow in a similar realm of deck manipulation. The Seer, much like the Root Spider, can affect the nature of the cards you draw, although through scrying rather than Root Spider’s conditional permanent trigger which can be more unpredictable but equally rewarding in the right deck.

Comparing these options, Root Spider holds a distinct position with its triggered ability potentially offering a cascading effect of multiple creatures or other permanents to enter the battlefield in a single turn. Its synergy within decks that focus on permanents flickering in and out can be a game-changer.

Cards similar to Root Spider by color, type and mana cost

Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth - MTG Card versions

Viridian Lorebearers - MTG Card versions

Monkey Monkey Monkey - MTG Card versions

Matsu-Tribe Birdstalker - MTG Card versions

Order of the Sacred Bell - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Root Spider MTG card by a specific set like Homelands, 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 Root Spider and other MTG cards: