Sylvan Scrying MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Secures land-based strategy consistency and card advantage, critical for maintaining in-game momentum.
  2. Faces challenges like deck space and mana requirements, necessitating strategic planning.
  3. Despite limitations, its versatility and meta relevance make it a worthy addition for various decks.

Text of card

Search your library for a land card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

One glimpse of an elf's home lasts her weeks away in the wild.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Sylvan Scrying, you secure yourself a precise land grab from your library. This can be just the strategy to maintain momentum or to retrieve a critical piece of your deck’s engine.

Resource Acceleration: Sylvan Scrying propels your game by swiftly getting you the land you need, be it a utility land with tap abilities or one that simply bolsters your mana base, streamlining the acceleration of your resources and giving you the edge over opponents.

Instant Speed: While Sylvan Scrying is not at instant speed, its straightforward sorcery timing can still align perfectly with your tactical needs, ensuring you have the right land accessible for your next move.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Sylvan Scrying does not have a discard requirement itself, it often forces players to make tough decisions. You may need to discard another valuable card to make room for the land fetched with Sylvan Scrying when at maximum hand size.

Specific Mana Cost: Sylvan Scrying’s mana cost requires one green. This can be restrictive for non-green decks that might benefit from land searching spells. Deck builders need to carefully consider their manabase to accommodate this spell.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although costing only two mana, for some fast-paced or low-curve strategies, this cost is significant. Other land fetching cards or ramp spells offer more immediate board presence or a quicker path to casting high-impact spells.


Reasons to Include Sylvan Scrying in Your Collection

Versatility: Sylvan Scrying stands out for its ability to slot into numerous deck archetypes, with its core function of fetching any land ensuring a place in mana-fixing, landfall strategies, or even just to ensure your land drops are consistent.

Combo Potential: This card is a key piece in numerous combos, particularly those requiring specific nonbasic lands like Tron pieces in Modern or the infamous Dark Depths in Legacy, serving as a reliable tutor to assemble your win conditions.

Meta-Relevance: In a format where the land base can make or break a game, Sylvan Scrying remains a perennially relevant card. Its ability to secure utility lands gives it a distinct edge in various meta environments, offering consistent performance regardless of the shifting tides of competitive play.


How to Beat Sylvan Scrying

Sylvan Scrying is a powerful library manipulation card in MTG, enabling players to search their library for a land card and put it into their hand. This enables precise deck tuning and can set the stage for big plays, especially in combinations with cards that capitalize on specific lands. However, countering Sylvan Scrying effectively requires strategic disruption.

To mitigate the impact of Sylvan Scrying, consider incorporating targeted discard spells in your deck such as Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek. These disrupt your opponent’s hand, potentially removing Sylvan Scrying before it can be cast. Additionally, graveyard disruption tools like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can be useful if your opponent relies on land recursion strategies. Just remember, timing is crucial, and observing your opponent’s deck type might give you a clue about the right moment to strike.

Thus, while Sylvan Scrying offers a significant advantage by bolstering land-based strategies, it can be countered by preemptive hand disruption and graveyard hate. Keeping your opponent off-balance and unable to execute their game plan smoothly is key to overcoming the advantage granted by Sylvan Scrying.


BurnMana Recommendations

As you delve deeper into the nuances of MTG, cards like Sylvan Scrying offer a strategic edge in sculpting the perfect land plays. Its pivotal role in fetching crucial pieces of your deck highlights its importance in competitive and casual circles alike. We at BurnMana encourage you to further enrich your MTG experience by integrating such versatile tools in your arsenal. Whether you’re refining a landfall strategy, executing complex combos, or simply ensuring consistent land drops, Sylvan Scrying deserves a slot in your deck. Continue to advance your MTG expertise with us and unlock the full potential of your collection.


Cards like Sylvan Scrying

Sylvan Scrying holds a unique position in Magic: The Gathering as a powerful tool for mana fixing and ensuring land continuity. In comparison, other cards such as Expedition Map offer similar utility in searching for any land card. However, Sylvan Scrying has the advantage of being a green spell, seamlessly fitting into land-centric strategies that are characteristic of green decks.

For those exploring multiple options, Crop Rotation provides an instant alternative, with the additional cost of sacrificing a land. While this may seem like a drawback, in certain decks that benefit from lands entering the graveyard, this could be more synergistic. Another comparable card is Pir’s Whim, which expands the search to not just lands, but also artifacts. Although more expensive in terms of mana cost, the flexibility it offers can be crucial in particular deck builds.

Comparing these cards, Sylvan Scrying stands out for its straightforward land tutor ability with minimal setup. Its impact is evident in formats where having the right land at the right time can alter the pace and outcome of a game significantly.

Expedition Map - MTG Card versions
Crop Rotation - MTG Card versions
Pir's Whim - MTG Card versions
Expedition Map - Zendikar (ZEN)
Crop Rotation - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Pir's Whim - Battlebond (BBD)

Cards similar to Sylvan Scrying by color, type and mana cost

Regrowth - MTG Card versions
Superior Numbers - MTG Card versions
Summer Bloom - MTG Card versions
Rampant Growth - MTG Card versions
Gaea's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Monstrous Growth - MTG Card versions
Nostalgic Dreams - MTG Card versions
Nylea's Intervention - MTG Card versions
Revive - MTG Card versions
Weird Harvest - MTG Card versions
Farseek - MTG Card versions
Channel - MTG Card versions
Explore - MTG Card versions
Nature's Spiral - MTG Card versions
Savage Punch - MTG Card versions
Mulch - MTG Card versions
Thunderherd Migration - MTG Card versions
Broken Bond - MTG Card versions
Aggressive Instinct - MTG Card versions
Bond of Flourishing - MTG Card versions
Regrowth - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Superior Numbers - Mirage (MIR)
Summer Bloom - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Rampant Growth - Fallout (PIP)
Gaea's Blessing - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Monstrous Growth - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nostalgic Dreams - Torment (TOR)
Nylea's Intervention - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Revive - Magic 2013 (M13)
Weird Harvest - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Farseek - Doctor Who (WHO)
Channel - Strixhaven Mystical Archive (STA)
Explore - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Nature's Spiral - Magic 2011 (M11)
Savage Punch - The List (PLST)
Mulch - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Thunderherd Migration - Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
Broken Bond - Dominaria (DOM)
Aggressive Instinct - The List (PLST)
Bond of Flourishing - War of the Spark (WAR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sylvan Scrying MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Mirrodin, 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 Sylvan Scrying and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Sylvan Scrying Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2003-10-02 and 2021-03-19. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 604762015normalblackChristine Choi
22003-10-02MirrodinMRD 1302003normalblackScott M. Fischer
32007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 3022003normalblackScott M. Fischer
42015-10-02Battle for ZendikarBFZ 1922015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
52016-01-01Friday Night Magic 2016F16 62015normalblackChristine Choi
62019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 13452015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
72020-09-26The ListPLST BFZ-1922015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
82021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 3671997normalblackDaniel Ljunggren

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sylvan Scrying has restrictions

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

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