Acquisitions Expert MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Human Rogue
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Power	1
Toughness	2
Number	89
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Anna Steinbauer

Key Takeaways

By forcing discards, Acquisitions Expert can swing the game balance, providing strategic advantage.
This card synergizes well with flicker effects for surprise disruption at critical times.
Acquisitions Expert’s party mechanic scales its power, amplifying its disruption ability.

Text of card

When Acquisitions Expert enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals a number of cards from their hand equal to the number of creatures in your party. You choose one of those cards. That player discards that card. (Your party consists of up to one each of Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Acquisitions Expert stands out by providing a form of card advantage that pressures your opponent’s hand. Upon entering the battlefield, it forces a player to reveal a number of their cards, giving you the chance to choose one of them to be discarded, effectively skewing the game balance in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: Although Acquisitions Expert does not inherently accelerate resources directly, it disrupts your opponent’s resource planning. Removing key cards can delay their strategy, indirectly giving you a time advantage and potentially speeding up your own game plan.

Instant Speed: While Acquisitions Expert is not an instant itself, its enter the battlefield effect can be utilized at near-instant speed through flicker or bounce mechanics. This synergistic interaction can catch an unprepared opponent off-guard during their turn, aligning with the control aspect of its capacity.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Acquisitions Expert may fall short for players who prefer maintaining a full hand. When playing this card, you challenge an opponent to discard a card, but the option they choose might not always work in your favor, especially against opponents with strategies that benefit from discarding.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise mana arrangement, one black and one generic. This might not seem restrictive initially, but in multicolored decks or those that require mana flexibility, it can sometimes halt the flow of your game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its utility, Acquisitions Expert’s mana cost is a tad pricey for its power and toughness. Considering other creatures and spells available at a similar cost, you might find that there are more impactful alternatives for your deck’s strategy.

Reasons to Include Acquisitions Expert in Your Collection

Versatility: Acquisitions Expert is a flexible card that can be integrated into various black-based or multicolor decks. Its role is not just limited to being a creature; it can also disturb your opponent’s hand, making it a valuable asset in decks that aim to control the game.

Combo Potential: This card shines when combined with other cards that care about the number of creatures you control or party mechanics. Its ability can be amplified in a deck that utilizes types like rogues, wizards, clerics, and warriors, making it a powerful addition to party-themed strategies.

Meta-Relevance: Given that many decks in the current meta often rely on specific spells or combos, having a tool like Acquisitions Expert can give you an edge by strategically discarding key pieces from your opponent’s hand, thus disrupting their game plan effectively.

How to beat

Acquisitions Expert is a card that can put players in a bind by plucking valuable cards right from their hands. This black creature card uses its party mechanic to its advantage, potentially looking at more cards in an opponent’s hand and forcing a discard choice based on that. While it may seem daunting, there are strategies to mitigate its effect.

To counter Acquisitions Expert, consider holding onto low-impact cards as decoys for its ability, ensuring that your key cards remain secure in your hand. Moreover, maximizing your hand size keeps the options open, making the Discard effect less detrimental. Instant-speed card draw can replenish your hand quickly, blunting the impact of the Expert’s interrogation. Remember, the Expert’s ability is not as potent later in the game when you have the resources to maintain card advantage or when the board state is such that losing one card is less impactful.

Tackling Acquisitions Expert requires a blend of holding cards back and timing your plays carefully. As long as you can keep a flush hand and navigate around the forced discards strategically, this card loses much of its menacing edge.

Cards like Acquisitions Expert

Acquisitions Expert stands out as a strategically intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering’s vast library. It shares a kinship with the likes of Brain Maggot, with both cards providing a way to temporarily deprive your opponent of a nonland card in hand. Unlike Acquisitions Expert, which scales its efficacy with the number of creatures in your party, Brain Maggot doesn’t share this party mechanic dependency, consistently allowing you to view and exile a card from the opponent’s hand until Brain Maggot leaves the battlefield.

Kitesail Freebooter also enters the field as a comparison. While both are creatures that offer hand disruption upon entering the battlefield, Kitesail Freebooter specifically targets noncreature, nonland cards and carries a flying ability, presenting not only hand information but also an aerial threat. Acquisitions Expert’s advantage lies in its potential to affect the opponent’s choices more significantly, especially in a party-focused deck.

Ultimately, Acquisitions Expert does more than just disrupt; it weaves hand disruption into a broader party mechanic, creating opportunities for nuanced play where the decision of which card to reveal can be strategically pivotal. It offers a versatile role in decks that capitalize on having a full party, marking its place within Magic: The Gathering’s array of thought-provoking hand disruption cards.

Cards similar to Acquisitions Expert by color, type and mana cost

Order of the Ebon Hand - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Acquisitions Expert MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Acquisitions Expert and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Acquisitions Expert has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-09-25	An ability referring to the number of creatures in your party gets a number from zero to four. Such abilities never ask which creatures are in your party, and you never have to designate specific creatures as being in your party. You can't choose to exclude creatures from this count to lower the number.
2020-09-25	If a creature has more than one party creature type, and there are multiple ways to count that creature that could result in a different number of creatures in your party, the highest such number is used. For example, if you control a Cleric and a Cleric Wizard, the number of creatures in your party is two. You can't choose to have it be just one by counting the Cleric Wizard first as a Cleric.
2020-09-25	If an ability of a creature counts the number of creatures in your party, that number is counted as the ability resolves. If that creature is still on the battlefield when the ability resolves, it'll be counted if appropriate.
2020-09-25	If there are no creatures in your party as Acquisitions Expert's ability resolves, the target opponent reveals no cards and you choose no card.
2020-09-25	To determine "the number of creatures in your party," check whether you control a Cleric, whether you control a Rogue, whether you control a Warrior, and whether you control a Wizard. The number is the total number of those checks to which you answered yes. Each creature you control can be counted for only one of those checks.