Aven Skirmisher MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Bird Warrior |
| Abilities | Flying |
| Released | 2015-01-23 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Fate Reforged |
| Set code | FRF |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 1 |
| Number | 6 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Jason Rainville |
Text of card
Flying
"We do not hide from the dragons that pretend to rule the skies. If we did, the dragons would become our rulers, and our way of life would be lost."
Cards like Aven Skirmisher
Aven Skirmisher joins the ranks of low-cost creatures in Magic: The Gathering, where it serves a role reminiscent of cards such as Healer’s Hawk and Suntail Hawk. Its flying ability provides a tactical advantage by allowing it to evade many ground-based blockers. However, Aven Skirmisher’s main distinction lies in its tribal synergies, fitting seamlessly within Aven or Bird centric decks.
Healer’s Hawk comes with not only flying but lifelink as well, offering a card that can both bypass blockers and help stabilize your life total. Suntail Hawk, while missing extra abilities, comes in as another one-mana flyer providing a similar early game offensive potential. Ultimately, the Aven Skirmisher shines due to its tribal connections, enabling it to be a strategic component in decks focused on bird and Aven themes.
Choosing between these cards depends on the specific strategy and needs of a player’s deck. For those looking to exploit creature types and tribal buffs, Aven Skirmisher might well be the preferred pick. If sustaining life is crucial, or if a player prefers a standalone evasive creature, Healer’s Hawk could be a more fitting option, showcasing the diversity of choices available to players creating their airborne arsenal.
Cards similar to Aven Skirmisher by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While the Aven Skirmisher may not directly offer card draw, its low cost makes it an efficient inclusion in decks that capitalize on tribal synergies, potentially leading to indirect card advantage through synergistic plays and board presence. It allows you to fill the board early, which can translate to maintaining pressure and tempo against your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: Despite not offering literal acceleration of resources, the Aven Skirmisher’s low mana cost aids in curving out your plays more efficiently. This means you can deploy other spells sooner, interacting with the board or advancing your strategy with minimal delay, which can be a critical advantage in faster-paced games or formats.
Instant Speed: While Aven Skirmisher itself is not an instant, its mere presence on the field can keep your opponents guessing. Playing a cheap creature early in the game can leave your mana available to cast instants in the later phases of the turn, thereby providing a subtle strategic benefit of bluffing potential instant-speed interactions which might affect your opponent’s decisions.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Aven Skirmisher doesn’t actually have a discard requirement, it’s important to consider this aspect when discussing gameplay drawbacks. Cards that demand a discard as part of their casting cost can negatively impact your hand, especially when you’re struggling to maintain card advantage on the battlefield.
Specific Mana Cost: Aven Skirmisher requires a specific amount of white mana to be played. This can be a limiting factor, considering that mono-colored decks may not always have the flexibility or resilience of multicolored ones. In formats where mana flexibility is essential, the Skirmisher might not make the cut.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of one white mana for a 1/1 creature, Aven Skirmisher might seem efficient, but within the vast array of cards available, there are creatures that offer better value or come with additional abilities at a similar cost. While Aven Skirmisher can be a good fit in certain scenarios, more competitive environments may call for cards with a stronger impact.
Reasons to Include Aven Skirmisher in Your Collection
Versatility: Aven Skirmisher’s low mana cost allows it to fit seamlessly into various decks, including aggro and tribal bird strategies. Its flying ability offers reliable early game board presence, making it a nimble choice for evasive attacks.
Combo Potential: As a bird, Aven Skirmisher can synergize with cards that benefit from flying creatures, or tribal buffs such as “Lord” effects that target birds, thus enabling potentially impactful combos on the battlefield.
Meta-Relevance: In a game where flying creatures are often unblocked in the early turns, Aven Skirmisher can be a strategic play. It takes advantage of decks that are slow to set up aerial defenses, carving a niche for itself in certain meta environments.
How to beat
Aven Skirmisher is a straightforward creature card in MTG, serving as an early-game presence with its flying ability. This card can become a pesky nuisance if left unchecked, pecking away at an opponent’s life total from the sky. However, its low toughness makes it vulnerable to removal spells such as Shock, which can eliminate the Skirmisher for a minimal mana cost. Similarly, cards with reach, such as Giant Spider, can block and usually defeat Aven Skirmisher without much hassle.
Moreover, board-clearing effects like Pyroclasm entirely remove Aven Skirmisher from the battlefield along with other low-toughness creatures, potentially disrupting an opponent’s swarm strategy. In matches where life gain is prevalent, Aven Skirmisher’s marginal impact is easily mitigated by cards like Healing Salve or even creature abilities that provide incremental life boosts. The key to outweighing Aven Skirmisher is maintaining board control and utilizing cost-effective removal options to ensure this small threat doesn’t evolve into a larger problem.
Ultimately, Aven Skirmisher’s contribution to the battlefield is limited by its fragility, and with the appropriate counters, it can be easily managed within a game of MTG, allowing players to focus on more significant threats.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Aven Skirmisher MTG card by a specific set like Fate Reforged, 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 Aven Skirmisher and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Aven Skirmisher has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |