Nourishing Shoal MTG Card
2005-02-04 - Number 137
2018-12-07 - Number 175
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Instant — Arcane |
Key Takeaways
- Nourishing Shoal can generate card advantage by converting high mana value greens into life gain.
- Casting at zero mana and instant speed provides tactical leverage during key moments of the game.
- Limited by the need to exile valuable green cards, potentially hindering strategic options in a match.
Text of card
You may remove a green card with converted mana cost X in your hand from the game rather than pay Nourishing Shoal's mana cost. You gain X life.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Nourishing Shoal can lead to significant card advantage when used with high converted mana cost green cards. By exiling a green card with a substantial mana value, you replenish your life total and essentially negate the need to use other cards for life gain. This can translate into retaining more cards for critical plays, thereby maintaining a strong hand presence against your opponents.
Resource Acceleration: While not providing direct mana acceleration, Nourishing Shoal’s zero mana cost for its alternate casting allows for substantial resource saving. This effectively frees up mana resources to be used elsewhere, enabling larger spells to be cast sooner or multiple spells in a single turn, effectively accelerating your game plan.
Instant Speed: The ability to cast Nourishing Shoal at instant speed offers strategic flexibility in gameplay. You can surprise an opponent during combat or in response to direct damage, mitigating the impact of their plays. This instantaneous response can be pivotal in preserving your life total at crucial moments, potentially upsetting the pace and strategies of your adversaries.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Nourishing Shoal calls for the exile of a green card from your hand, which can impose a steep price by thinning out your potential plays. Especially in tight game scenarios where every card counts, this prerequisite can be more detrimental than advantageous.
Specific Mana Cost: The Shoal’s alternative cost demands a green card of a specific mana value, which may not always align with your hand’s composition. This constraint can reduce the flexibility of the card, potentially rendering it useless if no appropriate green cards are on hand.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the option to gain life equal to the exiled card’s mana value can be impactful, the standard casting cost of four green mana is relatively steep. In formats where speed and efficiency are key, there are other life-gain alternatives that might offer similar benefits without such a significant mana investment.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: The Nourishing Shoal card is a multifunctional asset across a variety of decks, notable for its ability to instantly gain life without expending mana through its splice mechanic.
Combo Potential: This card shines when synergized with high-cost green creatures to gain massive amounts of life or to enable strategies that capitalize on life gain as a resource.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where aggressive strategies are prevalent, Nourishing Shoal provides a substantial buffer to maintain stability, giving decks that extra edge to outlast and defeat the onslaught.
How to beat Nourishing Shoal
Nourishing Shoal is a unique instant card that allows players to gain life equal to the converted mana cost of a green card exiled from their hand. This can be a formidable defense mechanism, turning the tide of a game by giving a substantial buffer against aggressive strategies. Beating Nourishing Shoal often involves preemptive tactics or reacting swiftly to its use.
To effectively counter this card, consider employing discard effects to reduce the opponent’s hand before they can utilize the Shoal’s life-gain ability. Cards like Thoughtseize or Duress are excellent tools for disrupting your opponent’s plans. Additionally, graveyard interaction can be key; using cards like Scavenging Ooze to eat away at the graveyard may prevent the Shoal from being used effectively through cards like Snapcaster Mage or similar effects. While Nourishing Shoal can be a surprise play in the right deck, a strategy combining hand disruption and graveyard management can be an effective foil to this unique life-gain spell.
In essence, understanding and dismantling the opponent’s strategy will make Nourishing Shoal less impactful. Control the flow of the game and stay alert for the opportunities to interfere with your opponent’s plans, ensuring that Nourishing Shoal doesn’t become the cornerstone of their defense.
Cards like Nourishing Shoal
Nourishing Shoal has carved out its unique niche within Magic the Gathering’s arsenal of life gain spells. Its closest relative in function might be Beacon of Immortality, which also offers a significant increase to one’s life total. Nourishing Shoal’s standout characteristic is its alternative cost option, allowing you to exile a green card from your hand instead of paying mana, which Beacon of Immortality lacks.
Then there’s Feed the Clan, another card aiming at substantial life gain. It offers a conditional life boost that can be quite potent under the right circumstances, as it provides more life if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. However, unlike Nourishing Shoal, it requires mana investment and doesn’t facilitate card advantage through its effect.
Furthermore, comparing Nourishing Shoal to a spell like Heroes’ Reunion reveals the adaptability of Shoal. Heroes’ Reunion provides an immediate and straightforward life burst, but Shoal’s flexibility in cost and the potential card interaction through the exile mechanic provide additional strategic considerations for players bolstering their life total in a game of MTG.
Cards similar to Nourishing Shoal by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Nourishing Shoal MTG card by a specific set like Betrayers of Kamigawa and Ultimate Masters, 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 Nourishing Shoal and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Nourishing Shoal Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2005-02-04 and 2018-12-07. Illustrated by Greg Staples.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2005-02-04 | Betrayers of Kamigawa | BOK | 137 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Greg Staples | |
| 2 | 2018-12-07 | Ultimate Masters | UMA | 175 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Greg Staples |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Nourishing Shoal has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Nourishing Shoal card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-12-07 | If a card in a player’s hand has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0. |
| 2018-12-07 | If a spell has in its mana cost, include the value chosen for that X when determining the converted mana cost of that spell, even if it was cast for an alternative cost and no mana was spent on X. |
