Octavia, Living Thesis MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost10
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Elemental Octopus
Abilities Magecraft,Ward
Power 8
Toughness 8

Key Takeaways

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Text of card

This spell costs less to cast if you have eight or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard. Ward Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, target creature has base power and toughness 8/8 until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Octavia Living Thesis offers a unique twist on card advantage. Once the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard reaches eight, casting Octavia becomes a game-changer. This is because it allows you to leverage those graveyard spells, essentially converting them into a formidable 8/8 elemental creature, which can swing the tide of battle in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: Not only does Octavia Living Thesis bolster your board presence, but it has the potential to accelerate your resources. Since it can change its casting cost from eight to just two blue mana depending on your graveyard’s instant and sorcery card count, this could free up mana to cast additional spells in the same turn, propelling you ahead of your opponent in terms of both board state and available resources.

Instant Speed: While Octavia itself is not an instant, its ability to become an 8/8 with ward 8 at instant speed in response to casting or copying an instant or sorcery provides flexibility and resilience. It means you can adapt to the flow of the game, making Octavia a tricky threat for opponents to handle, especially when they’re considering targeted removal.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Octavia Living Thesis demands that you discard two cards when it enters the battlefield. This stipulation can be a significant setback, particularly if your hand is already depleted, or if you’re relying on key cards for your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for Octavia Living Thesis is very specific, requiring eight blue mana symbols. This can be restrictive, making the card less flexible and harder to incorporate into multicolored decks where blue mana might not be as readily available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an eight mana cost, Octavia Living Thesis sits at the higher end of the mana curve. Even though it offers a cost reduction condition based on your graveyard, its initial cost can be a deterrent, especially in fast-paced games where lower-costing spells could be more impactful in the early to mid-game.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Octavia Living Thesis is a unique card that can adapt to various strategies. As a creature that costs 8 less to cast if you have eight or more instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard, it’s a perfect fit for spell-heavy decks.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to turn tokens into 8/8 Octavia copies offers immense synergy with strategies that create numerous tokens, amplifying their threat exponentially.

Meta-Relevance: With its ability to become a powerful engine in spell-slinging decks, Octavia Living Thesis is particularly potent in formats where instants and sorceries dominate, ensuring its place in the current competitive scene.


How to beat

Octavia, Living Thesis presents a unique challenge in the world of Magic: The Gathering, offering players a creature with the potential to become a 8/8 Elemental with ward 8. What sets Octavia apart is her ability to cost just two blue mana if you have eight or more instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard, making her a menace in spell-heavy decks. Additionally, her ability to make other creatures 8/8 with ward 8 when an instant or sorcery is cast can rapidly swing a game.

Controlling such a powerful creature comes down to proactive grave hate, such as Scavenging Ooze or Leyline of the Void, to prevent Octavia from being cheaply cast. Efficient removal spells that bypass her ward, like Toxic Deluge or Wrath of God, also serve as reliable equalizers. Navigating around the ward by targeting the player with discard spells or abilities can also destabilize the Octavia-dependent strategy. Prioritizing these strategies can help keep her off the battlefield or mitigate the impact of her game-altering abilities, ensuring you maintain the upper hand.


BurnMana Recommendations

For those who revel in the strategic ebb and flow of MTG, Octavia Living Thesis is a card that rewards clever deck construction and tactical graveyard management. With her ability to turn spells into substantial battlefield threats and shift the balance of a match, she’s a must-consider for blue spell-centric decks. Take advantage of her potential by tailoring your strategy to maximize the graveyard count, and explore creative combos to make Octavia a devastating force. Interested in uncovering the depths of Octavia Living Thesis and integrating her into your winning formula? Dive deeper with us to discover strategies, synergies, and tips to make your deck not only competitive but victorious.


Cards like Octavia, Living Thesis

Octavia, Living Thesis stands out among the illustrious lineup of Magic: The Gathering creatures thanks to her unique ability to turn spells into massive powerhouses on the battlefield. A kin in spirit and mechanics to cards like Nadir Kraken, which also grows through the casting of spells, Octavia requires eight instant or sorcery cards in your graveyard to harness her full potential at a reduced cost. Unlike Nadir Kraken, however, Octavia is not incrementally grown but immediately presents a hefty 8/8 threat when specific conditions are met.

Stormwing Entity is another creature that benefits from a spellslinging strategy, yet Octavia’s cost reduction is rooted in the graveyard count, diverging from the Entity’s contingency on casting a spell in the same turn. Moreover, Octavia can turn any other creature into an octopus with her secondary ability, an aspect that no other current MTG creature can mimic. Finally, looking at Aven Windreader as a comparable flyer with a different advantage, we see that while the Aven offers card peeking abilities, it lacks the raw power and transformative capacity of Octavia.

Therefore, Octavia, Living Thesis claims a distinctive spot in decks that favor spell-heavy strategies and graveyard manipulation, excelling as a late-game powerhouse with a transformative ability that can overwhelmingly shift the battlefield dynamics.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Octavia, Living Thesis 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 Octavia, Living Thesis and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Octavia, Living Thesis Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-04-23 and 2024-04-19. Illustrated by Simon Dominic.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 900262015NormalBlackSimon Dominic
22021-04-23Commander 2021C21 3562015NormalBlackSimon Dominic
32021-04-23Commander 2021C21 292015NormalBlackSimon Dominic
42024-04-19Outlaws of Thunder Junction CommanderOTC 1032015NormalBlackSimon Dominic

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Octavia, Living Thesis has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2021-04-16 Each magecraft ability has a different effect, although they all have the same trigger condition, whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell.
2021-04-16 For example, if you control Archmage Emeritus and cast an instant or sorcery spell, Archmage Emeritus’s magecraft ability will trigger and you will draw a card.
2021-04-16 If a player casts a spell that targets multiple permanents their opponent controls with ward, each of those ward abilities will trigger. If that player doesn’t pay for all of them, the spell will be countered.
2021-04-16 If an effect creates a copy of an instant or sorcery spell, this will also cause the magecraft ability to trigger.
2021-04-16 If an effect creates multiple copies of an instant or sorcery spell, magecraft abilities trigger once for each copy created by the effect.
2021-04-16 Some effects instruct you to copy an instant or sorcery card in a zone other than the stack. These copies do not cause magecraft abilities to trigger. However, most effects that do this also allow you to cast the copy, and casting the copy will cause magecraft abilities to trigger.

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