Skullwinder MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Snake
Abilities Deathtouch
Power 1
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Skullwinder grants reciprocal graveyard retrieval, creating both potential advantage and strategic complexity.
  2. Instant speed casting provides significant flexibility, allowing for timely and impactful plays.
  3. Despite its utility, Skullwinder requires careful play to avoid unintentionally bolstering an opponent’s position.

Text of card

Deathtouch (Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.) When Skullwinder enters the battlefield, return target card from your graveyard to your hand, then choose an opponent. That player returns a card from his or her graveyard to his or her hand.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Skullwinder not only allows you to return a card from your graveyard to your hand but also lets an opponent do the same. This strategic move can grant you significant advantage by retrieving a high-value card while potentially offering your rival a less impactful one.

Resource Acceleration: By recovering key cards from the graveyard, Skullwinder can effectively accelerate your access to resources. It facilitates the reuse of powerful spells and crucial creatures, thereby hastening your gameplay and providing a swift pathway to execute your strategy.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Skullwinder at instant speed offers immense tactical flexibility. You can wait until the most opportune moment within your own turn or during your opponent’s turn to make a calculated move, ideally when your adversaries are least prepared to benefit from its reciprocal effect.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Skullwinder may put a card into an opponent’s hand, posing a risk if you’re trying to maintain card advantage or deal with resource scarcity on the battlefield.

Specific Mana Cost: Skullwinder’s casting requires one green mana, which might not align seamlessly with multi-color deck strategies or mana bases with limited green sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing three mana might seem reasonable, but when compared to other creature cards with similar or more impactful effects, Skullwinder can be seen as less efficient in tightly tuned decks.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Skullwinder offers a unique flexibility to any deck by providing both creature presence and recursion of cards from the graveyard. It’s a card that’s at home in a variety of archetypes, dovetailing nicely with strategies looking to capitalize on repeatable effects or incremental advantages.

Combo Potential: As a piece in the puzzle, Skullwinder excels. Its ability to return a key piece from your graveyard can enable combo decks to assemble their win conditions more consistently. Meanwhile, the apparent downside of giving an opponent a card back is often mitigated in a well-constructed deck or can be manipulated to your advantage.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where the graveyard often serves as a second hand, Skullwinder’s capability to retrieve valuable spells or creatures keeps it relevant. Especially in Commander and other eternal formats, where it can be part of intricate engine setups or simply act as a valuable tool against graveyard hate tactics.


How to beat

Skullwinder presents unique challenges on the battlefield. As a creature that allows players to return a card from their graveyard to their hand, it also grants an opponent the same opportunity. This ability can turn the tide of the game. To counteract Skullwinder’s effect, strategic graveyard management is essential. Employing graveyard hate cards, such as Scavenging Ooze, can limit the options for both players, rendering Skullwinder’s ability far less beneficial.

Tackling Skullwinder also involves considering the timing of its deployment. If you’re anticipating the summoning of this devious serpent, holding onto an instant-speed removal can ensure it doesn’t have a lasting impact on the game. Instantaneous exile effects, like Swords to Plowshares, bypass the return from graveyard benefit and neutralize the advantage it offers your opponent. Additionally, choosing when to play your valuable cards and when to hold back is vital in mitigating the potential advantage Skullwinder could provide to an opposition.

Overall, beating Skullwinder requires a mix of foresight, control over the graveyard, and precise timing. Much like the serpent itself, players must be cunning and resourceful, leveraging their own strengths while deftly handling the boons it could provide to others.


BurnMana Recommendations

Skullwinder proves to be a creature of cunning and strategy in the MTG arena. It enriches the game with its graveyard retrieval mechanism that can be a game-changer in the right deck. Combining finesse with forethought, it aligns with those who thrive on intricate playstyles and thoughtful exchanges. If you’re intrigued by the duality of providing both you and an opponent a renewed resource, embracing Skullwinder’s potential is the next stage in your MTG journey. For more on maximizing the impact of cards like Skullwinder and weaving them into a winning strategy, continue to explore with us. Enhance your deck’s cunning — the wisdom of Skullwinder awaits.


Cards like Skullwinder

In the realm of creature-based recursion, Skullwinder stands as a unique feature in Magic: The Gathering. Its closest equivalents might be Eternal Witness and Greenwarden of Murasa, both of which also return cards from the graveyard to the player’s hand. Skullwinder, with its deathtouch ability and a lower cost, adds a layer of strategy by allowing an opponent to also benefit from a card return. This can lead to interesting political moves in multiplayer games.

Delving into the depths of MTG’s library, Den Protector mirrors Skullwinder’s recursion effect, albeit with a morph ability that provides an element of surprise. It does not, however, provide an opponent with the same advantage, making it a safer, if slightly costlier, choice. Den Protector lacks deathtouch, but can become unblockable, offering a different offensive angle.

Comparing these creatures, Skullwinder presents a more affordable and diplomatic approach to retrieving key cards. Its delicate balance of benefit and drawback creates intriguing gameplay dynamics, positioning it as a compelling choice for decks that exploit graveyard synergy and embrace the political complexities of MTG’s multifaceted battles.

Eternal Witness - MTG Card versions
Greenwarden of Murasa - MTG Card versions
Den Protector - MTG Card versions
Eternal Witness - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Greenwarden of Murasa - Battle for Zendikar Promos (PBFZ)
Den Protector - Dragons of Tarkir (DTK)

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Cat Warriors - Legends (LEG)
Rysorian Badger - Homelands (HML)
Sabertooth Cobra - Mirage (MIR)
Quirion Druid - Visions (VIS)
Spike Feeder - Stronghold (STH)
Hungry Hungry Heifer - Unglued (UGL)
Titania's Chosen - Urza's Saga (USG)
Taoist Mystic - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Femeref Archers - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Lydari Druid - Sega Dreamcast Cards (PSDG)
Steel Leaf Champion - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Realmwalker - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Topiary Stomper - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Territorial Scythecat - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Wirewood Savage - Onslaught (ONS)
Reki, the History of Kamigawa - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Timberwatch Elf - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Pincher Beetles - Tenth Edition (10E)
Yavimaya Elder - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Awakener Druid - Magic 2011 (M11)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Skullwinder MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2015 and Legendary Cube Prize Pack, 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 Skullwinder and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Skullwinder Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2015-11-13 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-11-13Commander 2015C15 392015normalblackJames Paick
22015-11-18Legendary Cube Prize PackPZ1 872015normalblackJames Paick
32017-06-09Commander AnthologyCMA 1462015normalblackJames Paick
42020-04-17Commander 2020C20 1892015normalblackJames Paick
52020-09-26The ListPLST C20-1892015normalblackJames Paick
62022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 2562015normalblackJoe Slucher

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Skullwinder has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-11-04 Skullwinder's enters-the-battlefield ability targets only the card in your graveyard. If that card is an illegal target as the ability tries to resolve, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. No cards will be returned to any player's hand.
2015-11-04 You choose the opponent as the ability is resolving. You may choose an opponent with no cards in their graveyard.
2022-06-10 The chosen opponent gets to choose which card to return from their graveyard to their hand.
2022-06-10 You choose the target card as you put Skullwinder's triggered ability on the stack, but you don't choose an opponent until after you have returned the card to your hand.
2022-06-10 You may choose an opponent with no cards in their graveyard. In that case, they will not get to return anything.

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