Ascending Aven MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ascending Aven gives you the tactical benefit of cycling to draw a card, potentially replacing itself to keep your hand filled with options.

Resource Acceleration: With a converted mana cost of three and an alternate casting option of discarding a card, it can hit the battlefield unexpectedly early, expediting your aerial offense.

Instant Speed: Ascending Aven can be cycled at instant speed, offering strategic flexibility. This allows you to adapt swiftly on your opponent’s turn, maintaining the element of surprise and readiness.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ascending Aven obliges you to part with another card from your hand to leverage its unearth ability. This stipulation can be detrimental when your hand is already depleted or if you’re trying to maintain card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Deploying Ascending Aven necessitates a precise blend of mana, including two blue, which can be restrictive if your mana base isn’t primarily blue or your deck lacks ample color fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that demands four resources, evaluating Ascending Aven against other creatures within the same cost bracket may reveal that it doesn’t provide an equivalent impact on the board state or overall game progression.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Ascending Aven offers a unique blend of flying and Morph, allowing it to adapt to various board states. Whether you need an evasive creature or surprise blocker, this card knows how to fit the bill.

Combo Potential: Its ability to be played face down and then flipped up can interact cleverly with effects that trigger upon creatures turning face up, synergizing well with other Morph-related cards to create unexpected plays.

Meta-Relevance: Given its evasion and the way it can slip past certain ground-based defenses, Ascending Aven can perform remarkably well in certain metagames, particularly ones that are heavy on grounded creature strategies.

How to beat

Ascending Aven is a unique card that has found its way into many Magic: The Gathering decks, primarily because of its flying ability and the ease of playing it through morph. While this bird soldier can be a thorn in your side, there are straightforward strategies to ground the Aven and claim victory. Firstly, direct removal spells are highly effective against Ascending Aven; a simple Doom Blade or Go for the Throat can do the trick.

Additionally, players can deploy creatures with reach or their own flyers to block the Aven’s attacks, such as Spider Spawning or Giant Spider, which not only block well but also come with beneficial side effects. Furthermore, board wipes like Wrath of God can reset the field, negating Ascending Aven’s evasion advantages. Lastly, exploiting its morph cost can turn the tables—if you manage to strip your opponent’s hand of cards, the Aven loses its alternative casting advantage, becoming a less immediate threat. Effectively, Ascending Aven requires specific counters but remains manageably within the scope of prepared players.