Water Wurm MTG Card


Water Wurm - The Dark
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Wurm
Released1994-08-01
Set symbol
Set nameThe Dark
Set codeDRK
Power 1
Toughness 1
Number38
Frame1993
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byRon Spencer

Key Takeaways

  1. Water Wurm offers card advantage and resource acceleration, enhancing your strategic plays.
  2. Flexibility in use allows for instant speed responses, increasing adaptability in the game.
  3. It demands careful play, as discard requirements and mana specificity present challenges.

Text of card

Water Wurm gains +0/+1 if opponent controls at least one island.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Water Wurm provides a sustained flow of card advantage, replenishing your hand as you maintain control of the board.

Resource Acceleration: This card offers a surge in mana resources. With each attack, it potentially untaps lands or generates additional resources, streamlining your strategy and paving the way for powerful plays ahead.

Instant Speed: Being able to act at instant speed gives you the flexibility to react to your opponent’s moves, save the Water Wurm from removal, or simply provide a surprise blocker. This adaptability could swing the game in your favor at critical moments.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing a Water Wurm often comes with the stipulation of having to discard another card, which might lead to a disadvantageous trade-off in card advantage. This can prove particularly challenging during late-game scenarios where each card in hand is vital.

Specific Mana Cost: Water Wurms typically require a specific mix of mana, frequently demanding blue mana as part of their casting cost. This requirement can sometimes constrain deck-building options, making it a less flexible choice for decks that span multiple colors or for those that cannot reliably produce the required mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: In many cases, the mana cost for summoning a Water Wurm is on the higher side when compared to other creatures available within a similar mana range. This can make it a less attractive option during the early to mid-game phases, where mana efficiency can dictate the tempo of play.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Water Wurm can serve various roles in blue decks known for manipulation and control. Its adaptable nature means it can be a fit for different strategies, from aggressiveness in creature-based decks to a defensive stance in control setups.

Combo Potential: As a creature, Water Wurm can work in tandem with other cards to activate synergies, potentially unlocking powerful plays. Its participation in combos can pivot the game in your favor, especially when combined with bounce or card-draw mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: If aquatic or creature-heavy strategies are trending in the current metagame, incorporating Water Wurm could give your deck a significant edge. Its relevance to the meta can also be judged by its readiness to counter prevalent threats or bolster your board state against competitive decks.


How to beat

The elusive Water Wurm is a creature known for its synergy with water-themed spells and environments in Magic: The Gathering. With its aquatic nature, it often gains advantages from cards that alter land types or manipulate water elements in the game. Players facing this creature may need to adopt strategies that counteract these synergies to maintain control of the match. Land destruction or conversion that removes the wurm’s supportive environment can be particularly effective. Changing a land’s type from an Island to a non-water type can strip the Water Wurm of its habitat, making it easier to tackle.

Besides land manipulation, spells that negate the abilities of creatures or remove them from play altogether can also prove invaluable in dealing with the Water Wurm. Direct damage spells or targeted removal can bypass the Wurm’s benefits from its aquatic surroundings. Ensnaring the card in a web of control spells, therefore, leaves it gasping for air, metaphorically speaking. Cards with the potential to exile creatures from the game can also be a definitive way to address the threat posed by the Water Wurm, as they prevent any further in-game advantages the creature could have offered its controller.

Ultimately, understanding and disrupting the synergies that cards like the Water Wurm rely upon, while having a few universal response cards up your sleeve, can tip the scales in your favor and lead to victory against such slippery opponents.


Cards like Water Wurm

Water Wurm is an intriguing creature card that finds its place in the vast ecosystem of Magic: The Gathering. It can often be correlated with cards such as River Serpent, which also share the aquatic theme. River Serpent boasts a cycling ability, allowing for greater flexibility and card flow within deck structures. However, Water Wurm lacks this option, making its utility in a deck more straightforward and focused on its creature abilities.

Within the same realm of water-dwelling creatures, Spined Wurm is another card that may spring to mind. Like Water Wurm, it features substantial power, but it doesn’t evoke the same early-game presence due to its higher casting cost. This makes Water Wurm a more aggressive choice, especially in decks aiming to establish board control rapidly. On another note, Wall of Water provides a defensive parallel to the offensive nature of Water Wurm, with the added benefit of adjusting its toughness at will – this adaptability can be critical in certain game situations.

Evaluating the attributes of each creature, Water Wurm serves well in aggressive blue-water strategies, balancing cost-effective stats with the simplicity of its design, rendering it a solid choice for enthusiasts of aquatic-themed MTG decks.

River Serpent - MTG Card versions
Spined Wurm - MTG Card versions
Wall of Water - MTG Card versions
River Serpent - MTG Card versions
Spined Wurm - MTG Card versions
Wall of Water - MTG Card versions

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Faerie Seer - MTG Card versions
Fugitive Wizard - MTG Card versions
Wandering Ones - MTG Card versions
Teardrop Kami - MTG Card versions
Dreamcatcher - MTG Card versions
Drifter il-Dal - MTG Card versions
Sage of Epityr - MTG Card versions
Screeching Sliver - MTG Card versions
Timebender - MTG Card versions
Cloud Sprite - MTG Card versions
Merrow Witsniper - MTG Card versions
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Water Wurm MTG card by a specific set like The Dark, 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 Water Wurm and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Water Wurm has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2004-10-04 Only gets the bonus once even if more than one opponent has an Island on the battlefield.

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