Floodbringer MTG Card


Floodbringer - Betrayers of Kamigawa
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Moonfolk Wizard
Abilities Flying
Released2005-02-04
Set symbol
Set nameBetrayers of Kamigawa
Set codeBOK
Power 1
Toughness 2
Number34
Frame2003
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byIttoku

Key Takeaways

  1. Gives card advantage by returning creatures and disrupting opponents, aiding in maintaining board control.
  2. Allows for resource acceleration and instant speed responses, enhancing flexibility and gameplay strategies.
  3. Faces challenges like hand depletion and specific mana demands, which require careful deck construction.

Text of card

Flying , Return a land you control to its owner's hand: Tap target land.

"Such a small thing, a drop of water . . . And yet enough of them together can flood a field, cleanse a mire, or choke a forest."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When you play Floodbringer, the potential to bounce creatures to an opponent’s hand can disrupt their board presence and leave you with more options on the field. It effectively sets back your opponent while you maintain your resources, contributing to overall card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: By returning tapped Islands to your hand, Floodbringer enables a form of resource acceleration. This synergizes with landfall abilities or cards that benefit from lands entering the battlefield or being cast multiple times in a turn.

Instant Speed: Although Floodbringer itself is not an instant, it carries the significant benefit of activating its ability at instant speed. This allows flexible control over the state of the game, offering the chance to disrupt an adversary’s strategy during their turn or at the end of their turn to maximize your mana efficiency.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of using Floodbringer is its need to discard a card every time you activate its ability. This can pose a challenge when your hand is running low, potentially leaving you with fewer options as the game progresses.

Specific Mana Cost: Deck building requires strategic planning, particularly with Floodbringer, as its activation cost demands both blue mana and generic mana. This specificity can make it challenging for decks that either don’t prioritize blue mana or have a limited ability to generate it consistently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Floodbringer can be an asset in controlling the board by bouncing lands, its activation cost is considered high for the impact it has. In the wide universe of MTG cards, there might be more cost-effective alternatives for managing opponent’s resources or advancing your board state without investing multiple mana every turn.


Reasons to Include Floodbringer in Your Collection

Versatility: Floodbringer brings a level of tactical adaptability to blue focused decks. Its bounce ability can disrupt opponent’s mana base or save your own creatures from removal, making it a solid choice for decks that capitalize on control and tempo plays.

Combo Potential: This card has inherent synergy with strategies that benefit from tapping or untapping creatures. It can be combined with cards that trigger draw effects on creature taps or with those that buff your field for each returning land, thus enhancing its combative use.

Meta-Relevance: With a land-heavy playstyle dominating many formats, having Floodbringer on your side can be a strategic counter. By returning lands to an opponent’s hand, you can effectively slow them down while you build up your board presence and maintain control of the game’s pace.


How to beat

Floodbringer is a unique creature in the MTG universe, known for its ability to bounce lands back to an opponent’s hand. This can become a disruptive force, effectively setting back an opponent’s mana development and hindering their efforts to play high-cost spells. To overcome Floodbringer’s tide-inducing power, players should focus on retaining a robust mana base. Prioritize lands that are resilient to such tactics, including those with indestructible or those that can be played from the graveyard.

Additionally, players could employ instant-speed removal spells or abilities that can neutralize Floodbringer before its controller can untap and utilize its land-returning skill. Cards with flash allow you to wait for the optimum moment to strike, ensuring that your lands stay in play. Another efficient strategy would be to use counterspells to prevent Floodbringer from ever entering the battlefield, or to implement cards that restrict activated abilities, thereby negating Floodbringer’s primary mechanic.

Strategic deck building and situational awareness are key when contending with Floodbringer. Understanding when to deploy your answers allows you to maintain momentum and prevent your opponent from capitalizing on Floodbringer’s debilitating potential.


Cards like Floodbringer

Floodbringer is a unique creature card with abilities that create strategic advantages for MTG players. The card’s capability to return a target land to its owner’s hand can be likened to cards like Soratami Rainshaper. However, the advantage of Floodbringer is its repeatability. Unlike one-off spells, it can continue to disrupt opponents’ mana bases turn after turn as long as you have the resources to activate its ability.

Looking at another comparable card, Temporal Adept offers a similar land-bouncing effect but gives players the flexibility to target any permanent instead. Floodbringer, with a focus solely on lands, means it has less versatility but can be more consistent in a strategy centered around land control. Additionally, creatures like Tradewind Rider could also enter the fray with the ability to return other permanents to their owner’s hand, delivering broader utility at the cost of higher mana requirements.

Ultimately, Floodbringer finds its niche within MTG as a repeatable and mana-efficient option for players who want to take advantage of a land-denial strategy. Its specificity in targeting lands may restrict its flexibility but it’s precisely this focused ability that can be incredibly effective in the right deck.

Soratami Rainshaper - MTG Card versions
Temporal Adept - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions
Soratami Rainshaper - MTG Card versions
Temporal Adept - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions

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Vodalian Soldiers - MTG Card versions
Zephyr Falcon - MTG Card versions
Giant Albatross - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Sphere - MTG Card versions
Skyshroud Condor - MTG Card versions
School of Piranha - MTG Card versions
Coral Merfolk - MTG Card versions
Wu Light Cavalry - MTG Card versions
Sea Eagle - MTG Card versions
Overtaker - MTG Card versions
Hazy Homunculus - MTG Card versions
Darting Merfolk - MTG Card versions
Thought Eater - MTG Card versions
Spellstutter Sprite - MTG Card versions
Sneaky Homunculus - MTG Card versions
Coral Eel - MTG Card versions
Storm Crow - MTG Card versions
Aquamoeba - MTG Card versions
Soratami Cloudskater - MTG Card versions
Minamo Sightbender - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Floodbringer MTG card by a specific set like Betrayers of Kamigawa, 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 Floodbringer and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Floodbringer has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2005-02-01 The land Floodbringer returns to its owner’s hand can be the targeted land.

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