Keen Duelist MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Human Wizard
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Keen Duelist offers potential card advantage and strategic deck manipulation, enabling informed gameplay decisions.
  2. Deck synergy is essential, given the card’s color-specific mana cost and its discard requirement as a trade-off.
  3. Incorporating Keen Duelist in your collection can add calculated risk and recurring damage strategies to your game.

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, you and target opponent each reveal the top card of your library. You each lose life equal to the mana value of the card revealed by the other player. You each put the card you revealed into your hand.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Keen Duelist provides players with the potential to manipulate both players’ decks. This can pave the way for strategic planning and gaining card advantage, ensuring that you have access to the resources needed as the duel progresses.

Resource Acceleration: By potentially revealing land cards or lower-cost spells, the Keen Duelist may indirectly contribute to resource acceleration. This can be particularly advantageous in decks that look to outpace the opponent by efficiently deploying threats and answers.

Instant Speed: While the Keen Duelist itself doesn’t act at instant speed, its ability to manipulate the top card of each player’s library can synergize with instant-speed spells. This allows savvy players to react to the newfound information immediately, maintaining momentum and catching opponents off guard.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Keen Duelist forces the player to discard, which can deplete valuable hand assets pivotal for maintaining strategic momentum in-game.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both red and black mana, Keen Duelist’s mana cost restricts its inclusion to decks running these colors, reducing its versatility across diverse deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that isn’t negligible, Keen Duelist may compete for a slot with other impactful four-cost cards that potentially offer a higher return on investment.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Keen Duelist fits smoothly into a variety of deck builds, acting as a lively addition that brings extra excitement to the start of each turn.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to deal damage based on the top card of both libraries could be a crucial piece in strategies focusing on life total manipulation or deck manipulation.

Meta-Relevance: Given that games can often swing on incremental advantages, Keen Duelist can hold its ground well in formats where small amounts of recurring damage can tip the scales.


How to beat

The card Keen Duelist offers a unique dynamic to Magic: The Gathering matches. It provides an edge to high-risk, high-reward strategies, pushing players to weigh the risks of life loss against the potential for drawing a powerful card. At its core, it is a game of chance that benefits players with higher life totals or those wielding decks stacked with high-cost spells.

To effectively counter Keen Duelist, one approach is to manage your own life total, ensuring it stays higher than your opponent’s. This strategy could include cards that offer life gain, preventing the damage from turning the tables against you. Moreover, controlling the battlefield by removing the Keen Duelist before the ability triggers or utilizing cards that nullify triggered abilities can tilt the match in your favor. Board control through sweepers or targeted removal spells is crucial when dealing with such risk-oriented cards.

In essence, countering Keen Duelist requires a mix of life total management, removal spells, and disruption tactics. Carefully planning your plays and maintaining control over the board and your life total will help in negating the advantages that Keen Duelist presents to your opponent.


BurnMana Recommendations

The Keen Duelist is a provocative choice for MTG players who thrive on strategy and calculated risk. Remember, exploiting its full potential demands keen deck building and sharp in-game tactics. Embracing its pros as well as mitigating its cons will sharpen your gameplay. In your search for the perfect blend of cards for your arsenal, consider the Keen Duelist as a catalyst for dynamic plays and unexpected turns. Ready to embrace the challenge and dive deeper into strategic deck building? Visit us to discover more strategies and integrate the Keen Duelist into your winning MTG decks effectively.


Cards like Keen Duelist

Keen Duelist finds its place among the selection of creature cards offering both a tactical advantage and a touch of unpredictability in Magic: The Gathering. It’s often compared to cards like Dark Confidant, which shares the trait of potentially providing card advantage each turn. Though Dark Confidant allows for the draw with no immediate trade-off, Keen Duelist introduces a more balanced field by revealing the top card of both players’ libraries, dealing damage equal to the mana cost of the cards revealed. This symmetrical effect can be a risk or reward scenario, reminiscent of the delicate equilibrium seen in cards like Pain Seer.

Mirroring the dynamics of risk, we find Goblin Dark-Dwellers. While this card doesn’t directly draw, it does offer an opportunity to cast an instant or sorcery card from the graveyard without paying its mana cost, also at the cost of revealing cards. However, unlike Keen Duelist, the Goblin Dark-Dwellers steer clear of potentially harming its controller. Then there’s also Stromkirk Occultist, which provides card advantage through combat and exiles cards rather than simply revealing them, steering the game into a more aggressive direction.

Keen Duelist thus stands out by finely threading the line between beneficial gambles and strategic play, making it a noteworthy option for players who relish a calculated gamble to potentially sway the game’s momentum in their favor.

Dark Confidant - MTG Card versions
Pain Seer - MTG Card versions
Goblin Dark-Dwellers - MTG Card versions
Stromkirk Occultist - MTG Card versions
Dark Confidant - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Pain Seer - Born of the Gods Promos (PBNG)
Goblin Dark-Dwellers - Oath of the Gatewatch Promos (POGW)
Stromkirk Occultist - Eldritch Moon (EMN)

Cards similar to Keen Duelist by color, type and mana cost

Drudge Skeletons - MTG Card versions
Nether Shadow - MTG Card versions
Erg Raiders - MTG Card versions
Cyclopean Mummy - MTG Card versions
Cuombajj Witches - MTG Card versions
Order of the Ebon Hand - MTG Card versions
Bog Imp - MTG Card versions
Wall of Corpses - MTG Card versions
Blighted Shaman - MTG Card versions
Rabid Rats - MTG Card versions
Dakmor Bat - MTG Card versions
Ravenous Rats - MTG Card versions
Flesh Reaver - MTG Card versions
Bloodcurdler - MTG Card versions
Nantuko Shade - MTG Card versions
Piper of the Swarm - MTG Card versions
Undead Augur - MTG Card versions
Black Knight - MTG Card versions
Shepherd of Rot - MTG Card versions
Swarm of Rats - MTG Card versions
Drudge Skeletons - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nether Shadow - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Erg Raiders - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Cyclopean Mummy - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Cuombajj Witches - Rinascimento (RIN)
Order of the Ebon Hand - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Bog Imp - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Wall of Corpses - Mirage (MIR)
Blighted Shaman - Mirage (MIR)
Rabid Rats - Stronghold (STH)
Dakmor Bat - Portal Second Age (P02)
Ravenous Rats - Invasion (INV)
Flesh Reaver - Urza's Saga (USG)
Bloodcurdler - Odyssey (ODY)
Nantuko Shade - Commander 2014 (C14)
Piper of the Swarm - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Undead Augur - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Black Knight - The List (PLST)
Shepherd of Rot - Onslaught (ONS)
Swarm of Rats - Eighth Edition (8ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Keen Duelist MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Commander 2021, 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 Keen Duelist and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Keen Duelist Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-04-23 and 2021-04-23. Illustrated by Lindsey Look.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 900582015normalblackLindsey Look
22021-04-23Commander 2021C21 3692015normalblackLindsey Look
32021-04-23Commander 2021C21 422015normalblackLindsey Look

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Keen Duelist has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

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