Hooting MandrillsHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Hooting Mandrills is a 4/4 creature with Trample that normally costs six mana. However, it features the delve keyword, which allows you to exile cards from your graveyard to help pay for the generic portion of its mana cost. Each card exiled this way pays for {1} of the total cost, meaning you can cast it for as little as a single green mana if you have at least five cards to exile.

How Delve Resolves Step by Step

When you cast Hooting Mandrills, you first announce the spell and put it on the stack. Next, you determine the total cost, which is the mana cost of {5}{G} plus any cost increases or minus any reductions. During the step where you pay costs, you may choose to exile cards from your graveyard. Importantly, delve can only pay for generic mana; you must still pay the {G} using a mana source. Once the chosen cards are exiled and the remaining mana is paid, the spell is officially cast.

Common Mistakes and Nuances

A frequent misconception is that delve changes the mana value of the spell. Regardless of how many cards you exile, the mana value of Hooting Mandrills is always 6. Additionally, you cannot exile more cards than the amount of generic mana in the total cost. Since Hooting Mandrills has {5} generic mana, you can exile a maximum of five cards unless an effect like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben has increased the cost.

When to Play It

Hooting Mandrills is best played in decks that naturally fill the graveyard with fetch lands, sorceries, or discarded cards. Because it has Trample, it remains relevant in the late game by pushing damage through small blockers. It is particularly effective after a board wipe or a heavy exchange of resources when your graveyard is full and your opponent's defenses are low.

Interaction examples

Managing Resources

Seedborn Muse

If you control Seedborn Muse, your permanents untap during every player's untap step. While this provides you with plenty of mana, Hooting Mandrills allows you to preserve that mana for other spells. In an opponent's turn, if you have five cards in your graveyard, you can tap just one Forest and exile your graveyard to cast Hooting Mandrills, leaving all your other untapped lands ready for reactive plays.

The Power of Trample

Avenger of Zendikar

If your opponent has played Avenger of Zendikar and has a wall of 0/1 Plant tokens, Hooting Mandrills is an excellent attacker. When Hooting Mandrills attacks, the Trample ability allows it to deal lethal damage to a Plant token blocker (1 damage) and carry the remaining 3 damage over to the opponent or planeswalker. This prevents the opponent from simply 'chump blocking' with tokens to stall the game.