Gladehart Cavalry MTG Card


Gladehart Cavalry excels in boosting your creatures’ stats and your life total upon entering the battlefield. Its seven mana cost is steep but justifiable for the substantial board presence and advantage it provides. In the right deck, this card can be pivotal for outlasting opponents and enhancing combat prowess.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Elf Knight
Abilities Support
Power 6
Toughness 6

Text of card

When Gladehart Cavalry enters the battlefield, support 6. (Put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to six other target creatures.) Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies, you gain 2 life.


Cards like Gladehart Cavalry

The Gladehart Cavalry is an intriguing creature card in the verdant realms of Magic: The Gathering. It echoes traits found in other green creature cards like Baloth Woodcrasher, sharing the theme of landfall – a mechanism that benefits from lands entering the battlefield. Where Gladehart Cavalry distinguishes itself is in its immediate board impact, bolstering your other creatures’ toughness the moment it arrives on the scene.

Exploring cards with similar effects, we uncover Serra’s Guardian. Both provide a substantial presence on the board and share the ability to empower other creatures – Serra’s Guardian via vigilance. While not landfall-centric, the Guardian offers a consistent advantage every combat phase. The Cavalry, on the other hand, offers a significant one-time life gain boost connected to its landfall ability, giving it an edge in life-oriented decks.

The comparison ultimately shows the unique space Gladehart Cavalry occupies. Despite sharing similarities with other buff-related creature cards, it delivers a special blend of support and sustainability, enriched by its synergy with landfall, making it a worthy inclusion in decks built to leverage the dynamic landscape of the game.

Baloth Woodcrasher - MTG Card versions
Serra's Guardian - MTG Card versions
Baloth Woodcrasher - MTG Card versions
Serra's Guardian - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Gladehart Cavalry shines in providing card advantage by generating significant board presence upon entering the battlefield. Its ability to put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control doesn’t just bolster your current forces but also maximizes the value gained from every creature played thereafter.

Resource Acceleration: This card indirectly contributes to resource acceleration by reinforcing your creatures. As your creatures grow stronger, you’re more likely to maintain a solid front and have ample blockers, preserving your life total and resources for subsequent turns. As opponents focus on dealing with your strengthened army, you’re gaining subtle tactical advantages that help speed up your victory.

Instant Speed: While Gladehart Cavalry does not operate at instant speed itself, its presence can influence how you play your instant-speed spells. By cementing a strong board state, you free up mana in future turns to utilize your instant-speed interactions without having to commit to less efficient plays.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Gladehart Cavalry does not have a discard requirement literally, its high mana cost can deplete your hand significantly, acting as an indirect discard since you’ll be using most of your available resources to cast it.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature card has a specific mana cost including two green mana, which means it fits primarily in green-centric decks, limiting its versatility across various deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Seven mana is a significant investment, and in the fast-paced games of modern MTG, there might be other creatures or spells that could offer a higher impact on the game when considering efficiency and timing.


Reasons to Include Gladehart Cavalry in Your Collection

Versatility: Gladehart Cavalry serves a dual purpose by providing a significant boost in life total with its enter-the-battlefield ability while also offering a formidable body that can stand toe-to-toe with other large creatures on the battlefield. It’s a great fit in decks focussed on life gain strategies or simply looking for solid top-end threats.

Combo Potential: This creature synergizes well with decks that take advantage of +1/+1 counters. With its ability to distribute counters among your creatures when it enters the battlefield, Gladehart Cavalry can be the linchpin in turning a moderate board presence into a threatening one. It works particularly well with proliferate mechanics or other counter-multiplying effects.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where board stalls are common, Gladehart Cavalry can shine. Not only does it boost your life total, providing a cushion against aggressive strategies, but it’s also capable of breaking through stalemates with its considerable size and ability to empower your other creatures, making them more formidable in combat.


How to beat

Gladehart Cavalry enters the battlefield with a considerable impact, especially in games that are drawn out or in decks focused on +1/+1 counters. The card excels in a supportive role, offering not just a substantial creature presence but also life gain with its ability to bolster other creatures. This can turn the tide in protracted matches and sway momentum in your favor.

To effectively counter Gladehart Cavalry, removal spells that can bypass its 6/6 stature are key. Direct damage spells may not always suffice due to its robust toughness, thus exile or sacrifice effects could be more reliable. Cards like Path to Exile or Tragic Slip can handle the Cavalry without triggering any death benefits that may come from other cards. Timing is crucial, as removing it before it can stabilize the board with its enter-the-battlefield effect is ideal. Furthermore, in multiplayer settings, players must consider the collective ability to limit the Cavalry’s lifegain advantage by using board wipes or spot removal before its controller gets to leverage the creature’s full potential.

All in all, respect for Gladehart Cavalry’s power is warranted, but with the right response strategy, it can be mitigated, ensuring that this steadfast creature doesn’t gallop away with the game.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Gladehart Cavalry MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Oath of the Gatewatch Promos, 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 Gladehart Cavalry and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Gladehart Cavalry Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-01-22 and 2016-01-22. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 596612015NormalBlackDan Scott
22016-01-22Oath of the Gatewatch PromosPOGW 1322015NormalBlackDan Scott
32016-01-22Oath of the Gatewatch PromosPOGW 132s2015NormalBlackSteven Belledin
42016-01-22Oath of the GatewatchOGW 1322015NormalBlackSteven Belledin

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Gladehart Cavalry has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2016-01-22 If Gladehart Cavalry dies at the same time as a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it, its ability will trigger.
2016-01-22 If Gladehart Cavalry somehow gets a +1/+1 counter, it dying will cause its own ability to trigger.
2016-01-22 If a spell with support has other abilities that target creatures, those abilities and the support ability can target the same creature.
2016-01-22 Support can target a creature you don’t control.
2016-01-22 You can’t put more than one +1/+1 counter on any one target using the support action.
2016-01-22 You gain 2 life per creature, not per +1/+1 counter.