Magic is a pretty complicated game with a ton of mechanics and abilities constantly being added. In this article, I’ll go over everything you need to know about the Ravenous mechanic.
Ravenous is an ability featured on 10 creatures from the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks. Creatures with Ravenous have an X in their casting cost and all enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters equal to X. Then, if X is five or more, the creature’s controller gets to draw a card when it enters the battlefield.
As far as MTG abilities go, Ravenous is one of the simpler ones. That said, there’s always lots of questions and interactions that arise from any new mechanic, and Ravenous is no different. I’ll do my best to go over everything in as much detail as possible. Let’s jump right in.
What Is Ravenous?
Only creatures with an X in their casting-cost can have Ravenous. Creatures with ability enter the battlefield with X +1/+1 Counters (the number of counters is equal to the amount of extra mana you paid for the X in the casting cost). Then, if X was five or more, you get to draw a card when it enters the battlefield.
Ravenous is basically just an extra reward certain creatures give you for putting a lot of mana into them. We’ve seen a very similar ability on Apocalypse Hydra, just with a different reward.
Drawing a card is definitely powerful and will really incentivize players to save their Ravenous creatures until they can put at least five mana into the X cost.
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How Does It Work?
As you cast a creature with Ravenous, you decide how much mana you’re going to pay for the X in the casting cost. You can pay as much or as little extra mana as you have available. You’re going to want X to be at least one, though, since otherwise, it’ll probably die as soon as it enters the battlefield.
Then, when/if the creature enters the battlefield, it gets X +1/+1 counters. So if you paid three extra mana, it’ll have three counters. Then, if X was five or more, you draw a card.
Rules
- Creatures with Ravenous get their counters as they enter the battlefield, as opposed to entering the battlefield and then gaining their counters. This means that the counters will count towards their power/toughness for spells like Elemental Bond for example.
- If another permanent enters the battlefield as a copy of a Ravenous creature, it will not enter with any of the counters from the Ravenous ability. The card-draw also won’t be activated.
- If a Ravenous creature spell is copied as it’s being cast, the copied spell enters with the same number of counters as the original spell, and you’ll draw a card for each one if X was more than five.
What Happens If a Ravenous Spell is Countered?
If you cast a Ravenous spell and X is more than five and your opponent counters the spell, do you still get to draw a card? The answer is no. The counters and the card-draw only trigger when a Ravenous creature enters the battlefield. If an opponent counters it, you won’t get to draw a card from its Ravenous ability.
Card Gallery
End Step
Ravenous might not be the most groundbreaking mechanic we’ve ever seen, but putting counters on a creature and drawing extra cards is always good. I expect these cards to see plenty of play in Commander.
I hope this article has answered any and all questions you might have. If not, drop a comment below and I’ll be happy to answer.
