Cosi's Trickster MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Merfolk Wizard
Released	2009-10-02
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar
Set code	ZEN
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	45
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Igor Kieryluk

Key Takeaways

Cosi’s Trickster can escalate into a major threat through opponent-induced shuffles, elevating its power.
It fits well in blue decks, growing without extra investment, and enabling resource focus elsewhere.
Opponents’ instant actions unintentionally boost the Trickster, adding to its reactive strategic value.

Text of card

Whenever an opponent shuffles his or her library, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Cosi's Trickster.

She watches the chaos created by the Roil, seeking strength in the patterns of anarchy.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cosi’s Trickster has the potential to become a significant threat as it grows stronger with each shuffle your opponent makes. This can lead to substantial card advantage as it forces your opponent to deal with a single card that can outgrow its initial minor threat level.

Resource Acceleration: While Cosi’s Trickster itself doesn’t directly provide mana, it’s a one-mana 1/1 that can quickly escalate in power without additional investment. This scalability allows you to allocate resources elsewhere while the Trickster naturally evolves on the board.

Instant Speed: Although Cosi’s Trickster’s ability isn’t an instant speed interaction, it benefits from opponents’ instant speed actions. Every fetchland, tutor, or shuffle effect that occurs on the opponent’s watch bolsters the Trickster, making it a reactive play to an opponent’s strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: This criteria isn’t directly applicable to Cosi’s Trickster as the card does not require you to discard. However, the deck-building and playstyle constraints to maximize its potential can feel like an indirect cost, where other pieces in your strategy might be sacrificed to accommodate the Trickster’s milling conditions.

Specific Mana Cost: Cosi’s Trickster requires blue mana, which means it fits specifically into blue or multicolor decks that feature blue mana. This limits the card’s flexibility as it can’t be easily slotted into any deck, potentially restricting your deck-building options if you want to include the Trickster.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Cosi’s Trickster carries a low casting cost of just one blue mana, to really capitalize on its ability, you’ll need additional cards or a favored game state to facilitate opponent shuffling, which represents an indirect cost. Other creatures at one mana can have more immediate impact on the game without the dependency on the opponent’s actions.

Reasons to Include Cosi’s Trickster in Your Collection

Versatility: Cosi’s Trickster has the unique ability to find a place in decks that focus on opponents shuffling their libraries. Whether it’s a casual mill strategy or a control build, the Trickster can become a significant threat simply by the opponent’s actions.

Combo Potential: This modest one-drop has the capability to grow rather quickly in the right setup. Pairing it with archive-disrupting cards or landfall mechanics can turn what seems to be an unassuming merfolk into a powerhouse, and fast.

Meta-Relevance: Given how prevalent fetch lands and tutors are in various formats, Cosi’s Trickster can easily find relevance. It acts as both a deterrent and a benefactor of such strategies, potentially changing how your opponent plays their game – all while gaining value each time they search their library.

How to beat

Cosi’s Trickster is a unique card in Magic: The Gathering, notorious for capitalizing on the opponent’s shuffling to grow stronger. Each time an opponent shuffles their library, the Trickster gains a +1/+1 counter, potentially becoming a significant threat as the game progresses. To counteract this, strategies that minimize shuffling through searching your library are essential. Cards like Path to Exile that cause an opponent to search can be avoided in favor of direct removal spells such as Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt.

Another way to approach Cosi’s Trickster is by controlling the number of cards that go into the graveyard, thus reducing the need for your opponent to shuffle their library with cards like Scavenging Ooze. Moreover, employing graveyard hate cards like Rest in Peace can entirely negate the Trickster’s shuffling triggers. Keeping the battlefield clear of the Trickster with consistent removal or shifting strategies to avoid involuntary shuffling can effectively neutralize this trickster’s power and keep it from becoming an unstoppable force.

Ultimately, understanding your deck’s synergies and the importance of limiting shuffling occurrences when facing a Cosi’s Trickster is key to gaining the upper hand in a match. By adjusting your responses and carefully selecting your actions, you can mitigate the strength of this merfolk and secure your position in the game.

Cards like Cosi's Trickster

Cosi’s Trickster presents a unique presence within Magic the Gathering’s arsenal of “growth by enemy action” creatures. Comparable to cards like Mindsculptor Prodigy, it gains momentum from the same deck manipulation strategy employed by opponents. While the Prodigy itself is a utility creature that becomes stronger whenever a library is searched, Cosi’s Trickster is more specifically focused on growing with every instance of an opponent shuffling their library.

Another similar card is Hedron Crab, which capitalizes on landfall triggers to mill cards, whereas Cosi’s Trickster receives a +1/+1 counter. In this way, the Trickster can potentially grow larger than the Crab throughout a match, especially in formats where fetch lands and tutors are prevalent. Then we have Aven Mindcensor, which limits the efficiency of opponents’ library searches, creating a synergy with Cosi’s Trickster by forcing more frequent shuffles without yielding results.

Cosi’s Trickster stands out in the realm of MTG for its ability to exploit specific actions from the opponent’s side of the board. This can lead to a substantial creature, which, if left unchecked, can become a formidable threat over time.

Cards similar to Cosi's Trickster by color, type and mana cost

Merfolk of the Pearl Trident - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cosi's Trickster MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar, 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 Cosi's Trickster and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cosi's Trickster 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 Cosi's Trickster card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2009-10-01	Cosi’s Trickster’s ability triggers when an opponent shuffles their library because that player was instructed to do so by a spell or ability that specifically contains the word “shuffle” in its text or (in the case of a keyword ability) in its rules.
2009-10-01	If an opponent’s library is empty or has just a single card in it when a spell or ability instructs that player to shuffle their library, Cosi’s Trickster’s ability will still trigger.
2009-10-01	The cascade ability doesn’t cause a player to shuffle their library, even if that player revealed their entire library. The revealed cards are put on the bottom of their owner’s library in a random order, but they’re not “shuffled.”