Yahenni's Expertise MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Generates card advantage by combining a wipe with a free spell cast, increasing battlefield presence.
  2. Resource acceleration without added mana cost enhances strategic plays and resource management.
  3. Flexibility in casting instants with sorcery provides unexpected plays and board state control.

Text of card

All creatures get -3/-3 until end of turn. You may cast a card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your hand without paying its mana cost.

"The Consulate pushed me to my limit, darling, and this is the result."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Yahenni’s Expertise offers a unique avenue for gaining card advantage. Upon casting, not only does it potentially clear the battlefield of smaller creatures, but it also allows you to cast a card with converted mana cost three or less for free. This can lead to significant tempo swings and situational dominance as you are essentially executing two spells for the price of one.

Resource Acceleration: While this spell doesn’t produce mana or tokens directly, the ability to cast another spell without paying its mana cost effectively accelerates your resources. Deploying additional threats or answers without tapping further into your mana reserves can be game-changing, giving you a considerable advantage over the competition.

Instant Speed: Despite Yahenni’s Expertise being a sorcery, the card you cast for free can be an instant, granting flexibility and surprise. This enables strategic plays during your main phase that can mimic the reactionary nature of instant speed spells, often catching opponents off guard and generating advantageous board states.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Yahenni’s Expertise allows for the casting of another spell with converted mana cost 3 or less without paying its mana cost, this “free” cast can sometimes feel like a discard if your hand doesn’t contain a suitable spell to take advantage of this situation. This unintended discard can be particularly stinging if your hand has predominantly higher cost spells or pivotal cards that don’t synergize well with the board wipe.

Specific Mana Cost: Yahenni’s Expertise requires a precise mana arrangement of two black and two generic mana to cast. This specific mana cost can constrain deck building, especially in multi-colored decks that may struggle to consistently produce the necessary black mana, thus potentially limiting Yahenni’s Expertise utility in some strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Weighing in at four mana, Yahenni’s Expertise may come in a tad too late against extremely swift aggro decks that have already established a threatening board presence. Additionally, its -3/-3 effect may not be impactful enough against decks with larger creatures, providing those opponents with an opportune moment to swing the game in their favor while you’re tapped out.


Reasons to Include Yahenni’s Expertise in Your Collection

Versatility: Yahenni’s Expertise offers a unique board sweep, providing a clean slate against a myriad of creature-based strategies. This flexibility makes it a strong sideboard choice for control decks or a main deck option for midrange builds.

Combo Potential: The ability to cast a three-mana spell for free after resolving Yahenni’s Expertise opens up the door for various clever plays. It can be used to seize the momentum with a deployable creature, enchantment, or another value spell without spending additional mana.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that’s crowded with aggressive creatures or token strategies, this card shines. Yahenni’s Expertise disrupts the opponent’s board presence while allowing you to maintain or advance yours, giving you a significant edge in the resource battle.


How to beat

Yahenni’s Expertise is a potent board sweeper in Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to clear multiple creatures at once and pave the way for free spellcasting. This card becomes a wall that many players struggle to overcome. At first glance, the card’s power may seem indomitable, especially when combined with its added layer of setting up subsequent plays with a free three mana or less spell.

To effectively counter Yahenni’s Expertise, it’s essential to employ a game plan that minimizes its impact. One strategy involves utilizing creatures with indestructibility or those that have a toughness greater than four to withstand the sweeping effect. Alternatively, spells like Counterspell or mana-leak effects can preemptively halt Yahenni’s Expertise before it resolves. Utilizing instant-speed removal in response to casting another spell with its ability also disrupts its intended combo. In the long game, graveyard recursion or creatures that can benefit from being in the graveyard, like those with the persist mechanic, can outpace the temporary setback.

It’s about adjusting strategies, predicting when your opponent might cast this spell, and having a diverse range of countermeasures ready. With careful planning and situational awareness, the upheaval of Yahenni’s Expertise can be transformed into an opportunity rather than a catastrophe.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the battlefield within MTG is an art, and Yahenni’s Expertise is a brush stroke that can radically change the canvas of play. It’s clear that while this card offers phenomenal board shifting capabilities, leveraging its full potential requires a nuanced understanding of your deck and the current meta. Balancing its pros and cons is key to optimizing your strategy. For those looking to refine their competitive edge or simply wishing to explore innovative deck-building techniques, we offer a wealth of resources and insights. Take your MTG expertise to new heights and ensure every match is played with precision by learning more with us.


Cards like Yahenni's Expertise

Yahenni’s Expertise stands out in the realm of sweeping board clears in MTG. This card draws a parallel to Languish, as both allow players to decrease the power and toughness of creatures by -4/-4. Yet, Yahenni’s Expertise offers the unique upside of enabling you to cast a card with a converted mana cost of 3 or less from your hand without paying its mana cost, immediately after the board is cleared.

Another notable comparison is with Damnation, a card renowned for its ability to clear the field of all creatures. While Damnation is absolute in its approach, it does not permit the follow-up action that Yahenni’s Expertise does. This subtle distinction can lead to significant strategic advantage, allowing the casting of a potentially game-shifting spell amidst a clean board state.

Therefore, evaluating Yahenni’s Expertise against its peers showcases its dual-purpose nature. Not only does it reset the board, but it paves the way for immediate value generation, securing a beneficial position for those who wield this potent sorcery within MTG.

Languish - MTG Card versions
Damnation - MTG Card versions
Languish - Magic Origins Promos (PORI)
Damnation - Planar Chaos (PLC)

Cards similar to Yahenni's Expertise by color, type and mana cost

Stench of Evil - MTG Card versions
Mind Warp - MTG Card versions
Fatal Lore - MTG Card versions
Final Strike - MTG Card versions
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Cranial Extraction - MTG Card versions
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Stench of Evil - Ice Age (ICE)
Mind Warp - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Fatal Lore - Alliances (ALL)
Final Strike - Portal (POR)
Persecute - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Ancient Craving - Crimson Vow Commander (VOC)
Stream of Acid - Starter 1999 (S99)
Unmask - From the Vault: Lore (V16)
Reprocess - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Befoul - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Agonizing Memories - Tenth Edition (10E)
Mutilate - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)
Extinction Event - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)
Terisiare's Devastation - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Damnation - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Profane Prayers - Onslaught (ONS)
Endemic Plague - Onslaught (ONS)
Zombify - Masters 25 (A25)
Cranial Extraction - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Devouring Greed - Modern Masters 2015 (MM2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Yahenni's Expertise MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Aether Revolt, 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 Yahenni's Expertise and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Yahenni's Expertise Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2017-01-20 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 629892015normalblackJason A. Engle
22017-01-20Aether RevoltAER 752015normalblackDaarken
32017-01-20Aether Revolt PromosPAER 75s2015normalblackDaarken
42017-01-20Aether Revolt PromosPAER 752015normalblackJason A. Engle
52020-11-12Kaladesh RemasteredKLR 1122015normalblackDaarken

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Yahenni's Expertise has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-02-09 A card’s converted mana cost is determined solely by the mana symbols printed in its upper right corner. The converted mana cost is the total amount of mana in that cost, regardless of color. For example, a card with mana cost has converted mana cost 3. Ignore any alternative costs, additional costs, cost increases, or cost reductions that could apply to it. A card with no mana cost has a converted mana cost of 0.
2017-02-09 Any triggered abilities that trigger while performing the Expertise spell’s first effect won’t be put onto the stack until after you’re done casting your free spell. They’re put onto the stack at the same time as any abilities that triggered while casting that spell regardless of the order in which those abilities triggered.
2017-02-09 Effects that allow you to “cast” a card don’t allow you to play a land card.
2017-02-09 If a creature’s toughness is reduced to 0 or less by Yahenni’s Expertise, that creature is still on the battlefield as you cast your free spell. It can be the target of that spell, although it will become an illegal target before that spell resolves. If it has any abilities that trigger on the spell being cast, those abilities will trigger.
2017-02-09 If the card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.
2017-02-09 If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can’t choose to cast it for any alternative costs, such as emerge costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, such as that of Cathartic Reunion, you must pay those to cast the card.
2017-02-09 While you’re casting your free spell, the Expertise spell is still on the stack. It will be put into its owner’s graveyard after the free spell is cast. The free spell can’t target the Expertise card in your graveyard. It can target the Expertise spell on the stack, but the Expertise spell will become an illegal target before the free spell resolves.
2017-04-18 The converted mana cost of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. If an expertise spell allows you to cast a split card, you may cast either half or, if that split card has fuse, both halves.

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