Loathsome Chimera MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Chimera
Abilities	Escape
Released	2020-01-24
Set symbol
Set name	Theros Beyond Death
Set code	THB
Power	4
Toughness	1
Number	177
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Paul Scott Canavan

Key Takeaways

Escape mechanic grants Loathsome Chimera resilience, ensuring ongoing card advantage and enhanced late-game impact.
Its synergies support graveyard strategies, resource acceleration, and surprise plays at almost instant speed.
Despite mana and discard costs, this creature offers versatility and potential across numerous deck builds.

Text of card

Escape—, Exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.) Loathsome Chimera escapes with a +1/+1 counter on it.

"I see... elk? And lion? And... teeth! A lot of teeth!" —Teraklos of Meletis

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Loathsome Chimera brings versatility to the battlefield with its escape mechanic. It not only provides an additional creature on the board but also recycles itself from the graveyard. This process effectively nets you an extra card, maintaining a superior position in the long game.

Resource Acceleration: As a part of enabling escape, the additional cards you discard to bring Loathsome Chimera back into play can fuel delve or other graveyard strategies. It’s a strategic move that potentially accelerates your resources, as you churn through your deck for powerful synergies and combo pieces.

Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, Loathsome Chimera can be played at an almost instant speed thanks to escape. You can decide to use the escape mechanic at the end of your opponent’s turn, keeping up the illusion of available mana for instant-speed responses, and then surprise them with a robust creature on your turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Loathsome Chimera requires a card to be discarded as part of its escape cost. This can deplete your hand, leaving you with fewer options for future plays and making it a tricky choice when resources are scarce.

Specific Mana Cost: With a cost that includes one green mana, Loathsome Chimera is constrained to green-centric or multi-color decks, potentially excluding it from mono-colored or other deck builds that can’t accommodate the mana requirement.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While a 4/3 creature is solid, the escape cost of Loathsome Chimera is somewhat steep, requiring four mana and the aforementioned card to be discarded. In a fast-paced game, investing this much might not be the most efficient play, especially when compared to other creatures or spells available at lower costs.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Loathsome Chimera provides flexibility in its application as it can seamlessly integrate into various deck builds. Its utility as a creature and sacrifice outlet makes it a commendable option for any deck aiming to exploit synergies involving the graveyard or recursion strategies.

Combo Potential: The potential for combos with Loathsome Chimera is intriguing. This card thrives when combined with mechanics that capitalize on creatures entering or leaving the battlefield, boosting its efficacy in decks that focus on such interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where aggressive strategies are advantageous, Loathsome Chimera holds its ground. The card’s inherent qualities make it a robust choice against an array of current popular decks, enhancing its value in a competitive setting.

How to beat

Loathsome Chimera presents a unique challenge for players navigating the battlefield of Magic: The Gathering. As a creature commonly emerging from the graveyard with its escape mechanism, this card requires strategic counterplay. Key to overcoming this beast is timely graveyard disruption. Consider incorporating cards like Cling to Dust or the classic Tormod’s Crypt, both of which can remove the Chimera before it escapes back to the field.

Another effective tactic is utilizing cheap removal spells that can dispatch the Chimera efficiently without setting you back. Fatal Push and Path to Exile are excellent examples, dealing with the creature before it can become a recurring threat. In the realm of combat, always be prepared to face this adversary by bolstering your creature lineup with high toughness blockers. This tactic helps to deter attacks and sacrifices that would allow the Loathsome Chimera to return.

Addressing the Chimera directly on the board can be tricky, but being proactive and denying its escape is the cornerstone of a solid defense. Keep these strategies in play, and the Loathsome Chimera will be less of a menace and more of a manageable opponent in your Magic: The Gathering encounters.

Cards like Loathsome Chimera

Loathsome Chimera makes an intriguing entrance into the myriad of creatures within Magic: The Gathering. It shares similarities with other creatures that strive to offer advantageous trades, like the Boneyard Lurker. Both creatures capitalize on graveyard interaction, but the Chimera boasts an escape mechanic, allowing you to play it from the graveyard for an additional cost and a bit of exile milling.

Another comparable creature is Gorging Vulture, arriving on the battlefield ready to mill cards into the graveyard, setting up future plays. However, unlike Loathsome Chimera, Gorging Vulture does not have the capability to escape and return for another round. This self-recursion capability of the Chimera adds a layer of resilience and provides players with more strategic depth in longer matches.

Looking more closely at escape creatures, the Phoenix of Ash also flies high with this ability. Although it costs more mana, the Phoenix brings flying to the table and can pump its power at will. Loathsome Chimera, on the other hand, offers a more affordable escape cost and a solid 4/1 body that can be a considerable threat early on.

To sum it up, Loathsome Chimera distinguishes itself with its escape mechanic among creatures that interact with the graveyard, offering MTG players a budget-friendly and persistent option for their decks.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Loathsome Chimera 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 Loathsome Chimera and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Loathsome Chimera has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-01-24	After an escaped spell resolves, it returns to its owner’s graveyard if it’s not a permanent spell. If it is a permanent spell, it enters the battlefield and will return to its owner’s graveyard if it dies later. Perhaps it will escape again—good underworld security is so hard to come by these days.
2020-01-24	Escape’s permission doesn’t change when you may cast the spell from your graveyard.
2020-01-24	If a card has multiple abilities giving you permission to cast it, such as two escape abilities or an escape ability and a flashback ability, you choose which one to apply. The others have no effect.
2020-01-24	If a card with escape is put into your graveyard during your turn, you’ll be able to cast it right away if it’s legal to do so, before an opponent can take any actions.
2020-01-24	If you cast a spell with its escape permission, you can’t choose to apply any other alternative costs or to cast it without paying its mana cost. If it has any additional costs, you must pay those.
2020-01-24	Once you begin casting a spell with escape, it immediately moves to the stack. Players can’t take any other actions until you’re done casting the spell.
2020-01-24	To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you’re paying (such as an escape cost), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was and no matter whether an alternative cost was paid.