Elspeth's Devotee MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Human Soldier
Released	2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set name	Theros Beyond Death
Set code	THB
Power	3
Toughness	3
Number	272
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Caroline Gariba

Key Takeaways

Fetches Elspeth Planeswalkers, offering a card advantage and bolstering strategies centered around her abilities.
Can accelerate resource development and board presence, with the ability to use its ability at instant speed.
Demands specific white mana and discarding a card, potentially limiting its versatility in certain deck builds.

Text of card

When Elspeth's Devotee enters the battlefield, you may search your library and/or graveyard for a card named Elspeth, Undaunted Hero, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle it.

"For her, I would gladly die again."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Elspeth’s Devotee is designed to create a significant uptick in card benefit. By bringing an Elspeth Planeswalker card directly from your library to your hand when it enters the battlefield, you secure an immediate advantage that can catapult your gameplay, all while ensuring your hand remains stocked with ready-to-play options.

Resource Acceleration: Among Elspeth’s Devotee’s capabilities is the potential to enhance your resource development. By fetching an Elspeth planeswalker, it effectively accelerates your board presence, allowing you to deploy more impactful plays sooner than you would without this solid support card. Plus, the inherent synergy with Elspeth planeswalkers can lead to an array of efficient and game-changing activations.

Instant Speed: The secondary utility of Elspeth’s Devotee lies in the ability to activate its secondary ability at instant speed. This lets you adapt to the dynamic game state, potentially creating soldiers during your opponent’s end phase or in response to an action, thus maintaining pressure and board presence without skipping a beat.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Elspeth’s Devotee demands a card to be discarded when leveraging its ability. This can put players at a significant disadvantage, especially in tight situations where card advantage is crucial for maintaining control over the game’s pace.

Specific Mana Cost: Elspeth’s Devotee requires a dedicated white mana investment, which might not blend seamlessly into multicolor decks that could use the card slot for more flexible options. This specificity may hinder its inclusion outside of mono-white or heavily-white decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost sitting at the higher end of the curve, Elspeth’s Devotee might arrive too late in the match when faster, lower-cost creatures or spells could have a more immediate impact on the game state, leading to potential disadvantages against more tempo-oriented strategies.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Elspeth’s Devotee brings flexibility to various strategies with its ability to create token creatures and support white-based decks needing solid board presence.

Combo Potential: The card can synergize well with enchantments and other permanents that capitalize on creature tokens or honor the famed planeswalker Elspeth, providing players multiple utility avenues.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where white decks and loyalty counters play a pivotal role, Elspeth’s Devotee can slot in seamlessly, bolstering your deck’s resilience and adaptability on the battlefield.

How to beat

Elspeth’s Devotee requires strategic play to effectively counter in the game. The card’s ability to bring back Elspeth from the graveyard makes it a persistent threat on the battlefield. To overcome this, players need to focus on removal spells that exile rather than destroy. This prevents the Devotee from successfully retrieving Elspeth and turning the tides of the match.

Another tactic is to manage the board by using sweepers before the Devotee can utilize its ability. By keeping the battlefield clear, you minimize the impact that Elspeth’s arrival can have. Additionally, countering the spell outright denies your opponent the chance to establish their game plan. Having a good understanding of your opponent’s strategy and maintaining control over the board state is key to defeating cards like Elspeth’s Devotee.

Ultimately, ensuring that your deck has answers to such threats and can sustain a campaign against resilient opponents will help you maintain the upper hand in any match where Elspeth’s Devotee is present.

Cards like Elspeth's Devotee

Elspeth’s Devotee brings a unique proposition to creature cards within Magic: The Gathering. It holds similarities to other dedicated support cards, such as Knight of the White Orchid. Both are dedicated to providing an advantage in creature-based strategies. Knight of the White Orchid offers a land ramp in white, which is quite rare, while Elspeth’s Devotee directly references and synergizes with the planeswalker Elspeth, creating a more focused benefit within a specific deck.

On a similar track, the card Bastion Protector offers a boon to commanders, much like Elspeth’s Devotee protects and enhances Elspeth planeswalkers. The protector grants indestructible to your commander and buffs its power. This direct support to a commander mirrors the Devotee’s tailored augmentation of its related planeswalker. Another card worth mentioning is Squadron Hawk, which, like Elspeth’s Devotee, has the virtue of fetching copies of itself, although the Devotee leans towards enhancing spellcasting.

What stands out for Elspeth’s Devotee is its twofold role – immediately impacting the battlefield with a respectable creature and setting up future plays involving Elspeth planeswalkers. This makes Elspeth’s Devotee a strategic piece in specific MTG deck builds, excelling in scenarios built around its synergistic potential.

Knight of the White Orchid - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Elspeth's Devotee MTG card by a specific set like Theros Beyond Death, 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 Elspeth's Devotee and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Elspeth's Devotee has restrictions

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