Polymorphous Rush MTG Card


Polymorphous Rush - Journey into Nyx
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeInstant
Abilities Strive
Released2014-05-02
Set symbol
Set nameJourney into Nyx
Set codeJOU
Number46
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byRyan Barger

Key Takeaways

  1. Allows immediate, transformative impact on the board, potentially multiplying powerful creature abilities.
  2. Enables resource acceleration by copying mana-generating creatures, aiding in complex plays.
  3. Acts at instant speed, providing tactical adaptability during your opponent’s turn or combat.

Text of card

Strive — Polymorphous Rush costs more to cast for each target beyond the first. Choose a creature on the battlefield. Any number of target creatures you control each become a copy of that creature until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Polymorphous Rush enables a dynamic shift in board presence, effectively multiplying your threats by turning any number of your creatures into copies of a target creature until end of turn. Not only does this provide a surprise element against opponents, but it also allows you to better utilize each creature’s potential, leading to indirect card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While Polymorphous Rush itself doesn’t directly increase your resource pool, it can mimic creatures that do. By copying a creature with mana-generating abilities, you temporarily accelerate your resources, enabling more potent plays in a single turn.

Instant Speed: As an instant, Polymorphous Rush excels in flexibility. You can wait to see how your opponent’s turn unfolds before deciding the best tactical approach, using it as a combat trick or in response to spells that would be detrimental to your creatures in their original forms.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Interestingly, Polymorphous Rush doesn’t require discarding, thus preserving your hand size while deploying its effects.

Specific Mana Cost: Polymorphous Rush demands a precise mana composition – one blue and two generic. This could limit its integration in multicolored decks that might struggle with mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost of three, Polymorphous Rush might be considered steep for an instant that doesn’t directly influence the board state by adding creatures or removing threats.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Polymorphous Rush boasts an adaptable nature, allowing players to change the dynamics of the board by transforming their creatures into copies of a single target, a true wildcard in a variety of deck builds.

Combo Potential: This card shines in scenarios where synergistic creature effects can be replicated multiple times, amplifying the potential for game-altering combos and swingy plays that can catch opponents off guard.

Meta-Relevance: With ever-shifting metagames, Polymorphous Rush can adapt to different competitive environments by mimicking the most influential creatures on the battlefield, thus maintaining its relevance regardless of the evolving landscape of the game.


How to beat

Polymorphous Rush is a unique spell in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, offering players a versatile tool to outwit opponents by transforming multiple creatures into a copy of any target creature until end of turn. As such, it can be both a tremendous offensive asset or a defensive play depending on the situation. Beating this card requires strategic foresight. Instant-speed removal spells are your best bet, allowing you to disrupt the spell’s target before the transformation takes effect. Cards such as Murderous Cut or Path to Exile can effectively nullify Polymorphous Rush by removing the target creature from play.

Counterplay also includes using counterspells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto when your opponent casts Polymorphous Rush. The timing is key – by countering on the stack, you preserve the state of the board and prevent the potentially game-changing ability to replicate a high-powered creature. Lastly, leveraging abilities or spells that grant hexproof, like Blossoming Defense, can protect your creatures from being chosen as the target by spells like Polymorphous Rush, ensuring your key pieces remain unaltered in the heat of battle.


Cards like Polymorphous Rush

Polymorphous Rush adds a layer of tactical flexibility in Magic: The Gathering, allowing players to transform their creatures temporarily. It’s in the same realm of effects as cards like Cytoshape and Mirrorweave which alter the board state by reshaping creatures. Cytoshape offers a similar ability to change a single creature, but only until the end of the turn, and without the multi-target flexibility of Polymorphous Rush. Mirrorweave, however, can affect all creatures on the battlefield, but it requires all creatures to become a copy of the same target.

Another comparable spell is Shape Anew, though it is more specific in its transformation, turning an artifact into a creature. While it lacks the surprise element of mid-combat transformation that Polymorphous Rush provides, it serves a different strategic purpose in artifact-centric decks. Polymorphous Rush, with its ability to affect multiple creatures, stands out when considering versatility and the potential for a dramatic shift during a pivotal combat phase.

By evaluating the characteristics of Polymorphous Rush against its peers, players can appreciate its unique place in MTG as a card that offers strategic depth and transformative surprise, suitable for decks that thrive on tactical versatility.

Cytoshape - MTG Card versions
Mirrorweave - MTG Card versions
Shape Anew - MTG Card versions
Cytoshape - Dissension (DIS)
Mirrorweave - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Shape Anew - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)

Cards similar to Polymorphous Rush by color, type and mana cost

Mana Short - MTG Card versions
Psionic Blast - MTG Card versions
Capsize - MTG Card versions
Forbid - MTG Card versions
Frantic Search - MTG Card versions
Exclude - MTG Card versions
Hibernation - MTG Card versions
Circular Logic - MTG Card versions
Keep Watch - MTG Card versions
Archmage's Charm - MTG Card versions
Commander's Insight - MTG Card versions
Catalog - MTG Card versions
Thirst for Knowledge - MTG Card versions
Murmurs from Beyond - MTG Card versions
Dream Fracture - MTG Card versions
Oona's Grace - MTG Card versions
Cancel - MTG Card versions
Deluge - MTG Card versions
Stoic Rebuttal - MTG Card versions
Dissipate - MTG Card versions
Mana Short - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Psionic Blast - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Capsize - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Forbid - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Frantic Search - Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC)
Exclude - Invasion (INV)
Hibernation - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Circular Logic - World Championship Decks 2003 (WC03)
Keep Watch - Judgment (JUD)
Archmage's Charm - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Commander's Insight - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Catalog - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Thirst for Knowledge - World Championship Decks 2004 (WC04)
Murmurs from Beyond - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Dream Fracture - Eventide (EVE)
Oona's Grace - Eventide (EVE)
Cancel - Ixalan (XLN)
Deluge - Salvat 2011 (PS11)
Stoic Rebuttal - Modern Masters 2015 (MM2)
Dissipate - Innistrad (ISD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Polymorphous Rush MTG card by a specific set like Journey into Nyx, 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 Polymorphous Rush and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Polymorphous Rush has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2014-04-26 Effects that have already applied to the target creatures will continue to apply to them. For example, if Giant Growth had given one of those creatures +3/+3 earlier in the turn, then Polymorphous Rush makes it a copy of Pensive Minotaur (a 2/3 creature), it will become a 5/6 Pensive Minotaur.
2014-04-26 If a spell or ability allows you to cast a strive spell without paying its mana cost, you must pay the additional costs for any targets beyond the first.
2014-04-26 If all of the spell's targets are illegal when the spell tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. If one or more of its targets are legal when it tries to resolve, the spell will resolve and affect only those legal targets. It will have no effect on any illegal targets.
2014-04-26 If such a spell is copied, and the effect that copies the spell allows a player to choose new targets for the copy, the number of targets can't be changed. The player may change any number of the targets, including all of them or none of them. If, for one of the targets, the player can't choose a new legal target, then it remains unchanged (even if the current target is illegal).
2014-04-26 If the creatures copy a creature that's copying a creature, they will become whatever the chosen creature is copying.
2014-04-26 The creature that's copied isn't targeted by Polymorphous Rush. You choose that creature as the spell resolves. It can be one of the targeted creatures. A creature can become a copy of itself this way, though this usually won't have any noticeable effect.
2014-04-26 The mana cost and mana value of strive spells don't change no matter how many targets they have. Strive abilities affect only what you pay.
2014-04-26 The target creatures copy the printed values of the chosen creature, plus any copy effects that have been applied to it. They won't copy counters on that creature or effects that have changed the creature's power, toughness, types, color, or so on.
2014-04-26 This effect can cause the targets to stop being creatures. For example, if they each become a copy of a land that has become a creature, the effect that turned that land into a creature won't be copied. The targets will become noncreature lands.
2014-04-26 You choose how many targets each spell with a strive ability has and what those targets are as you cast it. It's legal to cast such a spell with no targets, although this is rarely a good idea. You can't choose the same target more than once for a single strive spell.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks