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Commander Nexus
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  3. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

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Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Legendary Creature — Human Cleric

Yawgmoth wants a deck that throws away its own cards on purpose for a reward. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.

  • Mana cost2 genericblackblack
  • Black ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 4
  • RarityMythic

Protection from Humans

Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.

blackblack, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)

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Themes

Cards That Fit Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Picked for what they do in Yawgmoth's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Yawgmoth's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Humans plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

explain how Yawgmoth works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 19 Mar 2021

Protection from Humans refers only to the creature type Human. As far as Yawgmoth is concerned, you, your opponents, and planeswalkers aren't Humans.

Wizards of the Coast 19 Mar 2021

You may activate Yawgmoth's first activated ability without choosing a target creature. You'll just draw a card. However, if you choose a target and it becomes illegal before the ability tries to resolve, the ability won't resolve and you won't draw a card.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Dec 2022

If a permanent has +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it, they're removed in pairs as a state-based action until that permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Dec 2022

Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it's too late for anyone to respond.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Dec 2022

To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can't choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Dec 2022

You don't have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since "any number" includes zero, you don't have to choose any permanents at all, and you don't have to choose any players at all.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

An ability that triggers "Whenever you proliferate" triggers even if you chose no permanents or players while doing so.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

If a permanent ever has both +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it at the same time, they're removed in pairs as a state-based action so that the permanent has only one of those kinds of counters on it.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

If a player or permanent has more than one kind of counter on it, and you choose for it to get additional counters, it must get one of each kind of counter it already has. You can't have it get just one kind of counter it already has and not the others.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

Players can respond to a spell or ability whose effect includes proliferating. Once that spell or ability starts to resolve, however, and its controller chooses which permanents and players will get new counters, it's too late for anyone to respond.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

To proliferate, you can choose any permanent that has a counter, including ones controlled by opponents. You can choose any player who has a counter, including opponents. You can't choose cards in any zone other than the battlefield, even if they have counters on them.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Feb 2023

You don't have to choose every permanent or player that has a counter, only the ones you want to add another counter to. Since "any number" includes zero, you don't have to choose any permanents at all, and you don't have to choose any players at all.

12 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Yawgmoth, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryBPlayers write colors as letters: B for black.Madness/DiscardDiscard decks throw away their own cards on purpose and play cards that reward each discard. Cards with madness can even be cast for a different, usually cheaper, cost at the moment you discard them.Open the Madness/Discard pageLootingDraws and discards in the same breath. Faithless Looting, Frantic Search. It does not gain you cards. It improves the ones you have, and fills your graveyard on purpose, which is exactly what a reanimator card like Animate Dead wants.Open the Looting pageSelf-DiscardDiscards your own cards as a cost or an effect. Filling your own graveyard on purpose is the point: it feeds cards that bring things back, madness and channel abilities, and some cards are worth more there than in hand. Faithless Looting, Boseiju, Who EnduresOpen the Self-Discard pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters pageCounter ManipulationAdds, moves or multiplies counters already on permanents. It works on any kind (+1/+1, loyalty, charge), so the same card can serve very different decks. Karn's Bastion, Doubling SeasonOpen the Counter Manipulation pageProliferateAdds one more counter of each kind already there, on any players and cards on the battlefield that you choose. It grows poison counters, +1/+1 counters and loyalty counters alike.Open the Proliferate pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageSacrifice OutletA permanent that lets you sacrifice your own creatures or artifacts whenever you want, usually for free. Every Aristocrats deck needs one, because cards that reward a creature dying only help if you choose when it dies. Ashnod's Altar, Viscera SeerOpen the Sacrifice Outlet pageDrawDraws you extra cards. More cards means more choices every turn, and in a 100-card deck it is the main way to find the pieces you need. Rhystic Study, SkullclampOpen the Draw pageMana SinkGives you somewhere useful to spend spare mana, usually through an ability you can activate again and again. Rogue's Passage, Mind StoneOpen the Mana Sink page