Offalsnout MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Elemental
Abilities Evoke, Flash
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Offalsnout offers card advantage with its evoke ability, providing dual benefits in a single move.
  2. Its instant-speed exile can disrupt opponents’ strategies, giving a notable strategic edge.
  3. The card demands precise play due to its discard requirement and specific mana cost.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash When Offalsnout leaves play, remove target card in a graveyard from the game. Evoke (You may play this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it comes into play.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Offalsnout, you gain a tactical edge due to its evoke ability, which lets you utilize its effect without having it permanently on the board. This can often mean you’re effectively getting two benefits for the price of one — the creature itself and the ability’s impact. This aspect of card advantage can be particularly useful in situations where every card counts.

Resource Acceleration: While Offalsnout itself doesn’t accelerate your mana resources directly, its low-cost and evoke option make it a flexible play in any stage of the game. It can be a cost-effective way to disrupt an opponent’s strategy by exiling a key card from their graveyard. This strategic play can put you in a better position without setting you back in your own resource development.

Instant Speed: The ability to exile a card at instant speed with Offalsnout can be invaluable. This permits you to respond to graveyard-based strategies of your opponent at the most opportune moment, potentially interrupting combos or other critical plays. Having this level of control and interaction on an opponent’s turn grants you a significant advantage, keeping you one step ahead in the match.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Offalsnout’s exile ability may seem advantageous, yet it requires you to exile it from your graveyard as an additional cost. This demands strategic timing since the creature(s) you might need for recursion or other graveyard interactions will no longer be available.

Specific Mana Cost: Offalsnout’s hybrid mana cost, although flexible, still necessitates at least one black or white mana. This can be cumbersome in multicolored decks that are not focused on either of these hues, potentially causing delays or inconsistencies in play.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Considering its 2/2 body and the one-time use of its exile effect, the three-mana investment might not hold up against other creatures or utility cards at the same cost that could provide ongoing or more impactful benefits to your game strategy.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Offalsnout easily slots into decks that require graveyard interaction or can benefit from instant-speed, creature-based effects. Its flexibility as either a surprise blocker or a sudden graveyard disruptor makes it a utilitarian choice for various strategies.

Combo Potential: With its ability to exile cards from a graveyard on demand, Offalsnout can be pivotal in disrupting opponent combos or enhancing your own strategies that may rely on timing and the precise control of graveyard contents.

Meta-Relevance: In metas heavy on graveyard strategies, such as those featuring reanimator decks or utilizing flashback mechanics, Offalsnout becomes an invaluable tool. Its relevance increases with the dependency on graveyard synergy, making it a wise addition to keep up with shifting gameplay dynamics.


How to beat

Offalsnout might seem like a straightforward black creature card in MTG, but its capacity for graveyard disruption can pose a unique challenge during gameplay. This card’s flash allows players to surprise an opponent, exiling cards from graveyards at crucial moments. However, its power lies in both timing and the graveyard-dependence of the opposing strategy.

To outmaneuver an Offalsnout, consider playing around its ability. You can do this by either baiting out its flash ability prematurely or by having backup plans if key cards are targeted from the graveyard. Instant-speed graveyard replenishment, for example, can recover vital cards before the opponent’s next turn begins. Alternatively, focus on strategies less reliant on the graveyard, diminishing Offalsnout’s potential impact on your game plan.

Understanding the timing and conditional strength of Offalsnout can give savvy players insight into the card’s weaknesses. With careful planning and strategic response measures, overcoming the challenges presented by Offalsnout is decidedly within reach for prepared MTG enthusiasts.


Cards like Offalsnout

Within the vast array of cards available in MTG, Offalsnout presents itself as a unique creature with a certain niche. It’s often weighed against cards like Faerie Macabre for its graveyard interaction ability. Both creatures can exile cards from graveyards, an essential move in disrupting opponent strategies. Offalsnout, while less flexible due to its mana cost, offers the added benefit of leaving behind a body on the battlefield after its use.

Comparing it further, we come across Nihil Spellbomb in the realm of graveyard control. While not a creature, Spellbomb can bring about a similar effect in terms of graveyard exile, complete with a draw mechanic if its controller chooses to sacrifice it. Differently from Offalsnout, Spellbomb can target the entirety of a graveyard, making it a powerful tool, albeit without providing a creature presence.

In conclusion, Offalsnout’s value in MTG is multifaceted. It’s not only an immediate response to graveyard tactics but also a creature that could be a threat later on. Its uniqueness lies in its duality, serving as both a tactical play and potential offense, establishing a solid position amongst cards designed for strategic graveyard management.

Faerie Macabre - MTG Card versions
Nihil Spellbomb - MTG Card versions
Faerie Macabre - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Nihil Spellbomb - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Offalsnout MTG card by a specific set like Morningtide 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 Offalsnout and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Offalsnout Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2008-02-01 and 2018-12-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12008-02-01MorningtideMOR 712003normalblackAlex Horley-Orlandelli
22018-12-07Ultimate MastersUMA 1082015normalblackLars Grant-West

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Offalsnout has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2008-04-01 Effects that cause you to pay more or less to cast a spell will cause you to pay that much more or less while casting it for its evoke cost, too. That’s because they affect the total cost of the spell, not its mana cost.
2008-04-01 Evoke doesn’t change the timing of when you can cast the creature that has it. If you could cast that creature spell only when you could cast a sorcery, the same is true for cast it with evoke.
2008-04-01 If a creature spell cast with evoke changes controllers before it enters the battlefield, it will still be sacrificed when it enters the battlefield. Similarly, if a creature cast with evoke changes controllers after it enters the battlefield but before its sacrifice ability resolves, it will still be sacrificed. In both cases, the controller of the creature at the time it left the battlefield will control its leaves-the-battlefield ability.
2008-04-01 If you’re casting a spell “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t use its evoke ability.
2008-04-01 When you cast a spell by paying its evoke cost, its mana cost doesn’t change. You just pay the evoke cost instead.
2008-04-01 Whether evoke’s sacrifice ability triggers when the creature enters the battlefield depends on whether the spell’s controller chose to pay the evoke cost, not whether they actually paid it (if it was reduced or otherwise altered by another ability, for example).

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