Summon the Pack MTG Card
Key Takeaways
- Summon the Pack provides significant card advantage by deploying multiple creatures at once.
- The card can be strategically staggering but requires careful resource management.
- Despite high mana costs, its unique ability can dramatically shift the game in your favor.
Text of card
Open a sealed Magic booster pack, reveal the cards, and put all creature cards revealed this way onto the battlefield under your control. They're Zombies in addition to their other types. (Remove those cards from your deck before beginning a new game.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Summon the Pack unlocks an impressive level of card advantage by potentially putting multiple creature cards onto the battlefield. The substantial payoff from opening a sealed booster pack can turn the tides by populating your side of the board with an array of creatures, each bringing their unique abilities to the fray.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing traditional mana acceleration, the potential to cheat out numerous creatures can be viewed as resource acceleration. The value derived from the cards played circumvents their mana costs, accelerating your board presence and saving resources for other crucial plays.
Instant Speed: Although Summon the Pack doesn’t function at instant speed, the instant impact it has during your main phase can be game-changing. Successfully resolving this spell often leads to a significant shift in board state, compelling opponents to react as if they were facing an instant-speed threat.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Summon the Pack’s unique ability can tempt players to toss valuable cards in hopes of clinching an overwhelming board presence. However, making use of its effect necessitates discarding another card, which could deplete your hand and diminish future strategic options, especially if the summoned creatures do not turn the tide in your favor.
Specific Mana Cost: This spell requires a substantial commitment of black mana, specifically seven, which is a substantial portion of your resource pool devoted to a single play. Its color-intensive requirement means that it’s less versatile and more difficult to cast in multi-colored decks that may not have ample black mana readily available.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Weighing in at eight mana, Summon the Pack is on the steep end for casting costs, potentially slowing down your game plan. In the fast-paced world of competitive play, where efficiency is prized and the battlefield can change in a matter of turns, the cost of Summon the Pack might hold back its possessor from playing more immediate, impactful cards. While the allure of cheating numerous creatures onto the battlefield is strong, the card’s high mana cost can prove to be a prohibitive hurdle in many matches.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Summon the Pack offers a unique twist to your deck-building experience, as it allows you to open a sealed Magic booster pack during the game and put any number of creature cards from it onto the battlefield. This unpredictability makes it a fun and flexible card for casual games and various formats.
Combo Potential: For players who enjoy a good surprise element in their gameplay, this card works wonders with effects that manipulate the top of the library or with strategies that benefit from putting a large number of creatures into play at once.
Meta-Relevance: While not typically seen in competitive formats, Summon the Pack can be a meta-call in environments where games are drawn out or in contexts that encourage innovative deck design like cube or chaos drafts. Its ability to potentially flood the board with creatures can be game-changing in the right scenario.
How to beat
Summon the Pack is a unique card that offers players a chance to unleash a torrent of creatures from an unopened booster pack, but facing it can be quite a challenge. To beat this potential avalanche, it’s crucial to apply strategy and have the right answers ready. Control decks, which wait out the opponent and counter key spells, can negate Summon the Pack before it hits the table with cards like Negate or Cancel. Hand disruption tactics also prove highly effective; by using cards like Thoughtseize or Duress early on, you’re able to pluck Summon the Pack straight from their grasp before they have the chance to cast it.
Moreover, graveyard removal cards play a pivotal role in diminishing Summon the Pack’s threat by targeting the creatures it brings. Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt can exile the creatures that spill into the graveyard, limiting the overwhelming impact. For those who already face a swarm of creatures from the pack, board wipes such as Wrath of God or Damnation can reset the playing field.
In essence, overcoming Summon the Pack requires a mix of early game proactivity and situational reactivity, enabling players to dismantle the setup or efficiently manage the creatures that it sets loose onto the battlefield.
Cards like Summon the Pack
Summon the Pack introduces a unique and thrilling dynamic to Magic the Gathering, where players get to unpack a whirlwind of creatures onto the battlefield. It shares a similar sense of unpredictability with cards like Thieves’ Auction. Both disrupt the game by introducing elements outside of the usual play. However, Summon the Pack is singular in its ability to potentially flood the board with creatures from a single booster pack.
Likewise, Booster Tutor offers the excitement of adding a random card to one’s hand from a sealed booster, providing a less overwhelming yet still random factor. While Summon the Pack requires a significant mana investment, the cost matches its potential impact. Chaos Warp presents another parallel, tossing a single permanent into the mix and potentially replacing it with any card from the deck. Unlike Summon the Pack, Chaos Warp affects the board immediately and requires less mana, but it doesn’t have the same transformative capability.
Ultimately, Summon the Pack stands as a powerhouse among MTG cards that involve chance, offering unparalleled moments that can swing the game dramatically in a player’s favor.
Cards similar to Summon the Pack by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Summon the Pack MTG card by a specific set like Unstable and The List (Unfinity Foil Edition), 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 Summon the Pack 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 Summon the Pack Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-12-08 and 2022-10-07. Illustrated by Matt Cavotta.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-12-08 | Unstable | UST | 74 | 2015 | Normal | Silver | Matt Cavotta | |
| 2 | 2022-10-07 | The List (Unfinity Foil Edition) | ULST | 25 | 2015 | Normal | Silver | Matt Cavotta |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Summon the Pack card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-01-19 | You can use any unopened, official Magic booster pack, including promotional booster packs. |
| 2018-01-19 | You must put all the creature cards revealed this way onto the battlefield. |
| 2018-01-19 | You own creatures put onto the battlefield this way. If they die, they’ll go to your graveyard. They can be returned to your hand, shuffled into your library, and so on. |
