Topiary PantherHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Topiary Panther serves two primary roles. On the battlefield, it is a formidable 6/5 creature with Trample, allowing it to push damage through blockers. However, its Basic landcycling ability allows you to discard it from your hand for two mana to search your library for any basic land card, ensuring you never miss a land drop.

Resolving the Landcycling Ability

To use Basic landcycling, you must have Topiary Panther in your hand. You pay the cost of one generic and one green mana, discard the card, and put the ability on the stack. When the ability resolves, you search your library for a basic land card (Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, or Swamp), reveal it, and put it into your hand. Finally, you must shuffle your library.

Common Mistakes

A common error is attempting to landcycle Topiary Panther while it is already on the battlefield; cycling abilities only function while the card is in your hand. Additionally, remember that Basic landcycling is an activated ability, not a spell, so it cannot be countered by traditional counterspells that target spells.

When to Play It

In the early turns, use the landcycling ability if you are missing colors or need to reach your higher-cost spells. If you already have sufficient mana, save the card to cast as a creature, as its high power and Trample make it an excellent finisher or a sturdy blocker.

Interaction examples

Preparing the Harvest

Avenger of Zendikar

If you have Avenger of Zendikar in hand but only six lands, you can use Topiary Panther's Basic landcycling to find your seventh land. This ensures you can cast the Avenger on your next turn, maximizing the number of Plant tokens created.

Cycling on Every Turn

Seedborn Muse

With Seedborn Muse on the battlefield, your lands untap during every opponent's untap step. This provides you with the mana necessary to use Topiary Panther's landcycling ability on an opponent's turn if you have a way to return the Panther to your hand, allowing you to thin your deck without tapping out on your own turn.

Trample Damage

When Topiary Panther attacks and is blocked by a 1/1 creature, its Trample ability allows it to assign 1 damage to the blocker and the remaining 5 damage directly to the defending player or planeswalker.