Aven Surveyor MTG Card

Aven Surveyor’s bounce effect helps gain card advantage, potentially altering the board in your favor. Its flash ability provides unexpected plays and flexibility, critical for disrupting opponent strategies. While powerful, its specific mana cost and higher casting cost could be limiting in certain decks.

Fate Reforged (FRF)
2015-01-23 - Number 31

Commander Legends (CMR)
2020-11-20 - Number 57

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Bird Scout
Abilities	Flying
Power	2
Toughness	2

Text of card

Flying When Aven Surveyor enters the battlefield, choose one — • Put a +1/+1 counter on Aven Surveyor. • Return target creature to its owner's hand.

Cards like Aven Surveyor

Aven Surveyor is a unique creature card in Magic: The Gathering that offers a blend of versatility and battlefield control. When examining similar cards, Frost Lynx immediately comes to mind. Both cards can affect the state of the board by limiting opponents’ creatures. However, Aven Surveyor, with its flying ability and the choice to bolster itself or bounce an opponent’s creature back to their hand, provides a more flexible approach compared to the ground-bound Lynx which only temporarily locks a creature upon entering the battlefield.

Mana War is another card that shares a comparable bounce effect, allowing players to return creatures to their owner’s hand. It is more mana-efficient, but lacks the flying ability and potential size increase offered by Aven Surveyor, which can make a significant difference in aerial combat and board presence.

Considering these comparisons, while there are other cards in the vast universe of Magic: The Gathering with similar effects, Aven Surveyor stands out for its ability to adapt to various game situations, by either becoming a larger threat or resetting an opponent’s board development.

Cards similar to Aven Surveyor by color, type and mana cost

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Aven Surveyor enters the battlefield, it presents an option to bounce a creature back to its owner’s hand. This two-for-one scenario can swing the board state in your favor by generating card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Although Aven Surveyor does not directly accelerate resources, its influence on the board can indirectly affect your resource management. By removing an opponent’s threat, you can preserve your resources for more impactful plays.

Instant Speed: Aven Surveyor offers flexibility in your gameplay with its flash ability. This means you can keep your options open and play it at instant speed, surprising an opponent during their end step or disrupting their attacks and blocks unepectedly.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Aven Surveyor does not necessarily have a discard requirement, but in a hand with limited options, its utility as a bounce creature could force you to virtually discard by playing it without value.

Specific Mana Cost: Aven Surveyor’s casting cost includes two blue mana symbols, making it slightly restrictive in multicolored decks that may not have a consistent source of blue mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total casting cost of five mana, including two that are color specific, Aven Surveyor can be considered costly, especially when there are alternative creatures with similar or better effects at a lower mana cost.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Aven Surveyor offers flexibility in gameplay, easily fitting into blue-focused control or flyer decks. Its ability to bounce creatures upon entry provides both defensive and offensive advantages.

Combo Potential: The bird wizard’s enter-the-battlefield effect can be paired with other cards to recur or amplify its impact, making it a key piece in combo setups that aim to control the opponent’s board presence.

Meta-Relevance: With its capacity to disrupt opponent strategies by returning key creatures to their hand, Aven Surveyor is particularly useful in environments heavy with creature-based aggro or midrange decks.

How to beat

Aven Surveyor is a versatile card in MTG, known for its ability to control the battlefield. When this creature enters the play, it brings a valuable choice – to bolster its own forces or to weaken the opponent by returning a creature to its owner’s hand. This flexibility makes it a tactical piece in any player’s arsenal.

To outmaneuver Aven Surveyor, it’s wise to employ removal spells that can target creatures regardless of their size, thus neutralizing the threat it poses without triggering any “enter the battlefield” effects again. Instant speed removal, such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile, can dispatch the Surveyor before it takes advantage of its abilities. Moreover, counter spells like Negate or Essence Scatter can nip the problem in the bud by preventing the Surveyor from hitting the field in the first place.

Cards that grant hexproof to your creatures are also useful in shielding them from Aven Surveyor’s bouncing capability. By maintaining presence on the board and limiting the Surveyor’s impact, players can ensure their strategy isn’t disrupted. Always stay ahead by considering the board state and potential answers your opponent might have, adapting your gameplay to outlast and ultimately defeat Aven Surveyor’s control tactics.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Aven Surveyor MTG card by a specific set like Fate Reforged and Commander Legends, 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 Surveyor and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Aven Surveyor Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-01-23 and 2020-11-20. Illustrated by David Gaillet.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2015-01-23	Fate Reforged	FRF		31	2015	Normal	Black	David Gaillet
2	2020-11-20	Commander Legends	CMR		57	2015	Normal	Black	David Gaillet

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Aven Surveyor has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2014-11-24	If a mode requires a target and there are no legal targets available, you must choose the mode that adds a +1/+1 counter.
2014-11-24	You choose which mode you're using as you put the ability on the stack, after the creature has entered the battlefield. Once you've chosen a mode, you can't change that mode even if the creature leaves the battlefield in response to that ability.