Crimestopper Sprite MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Faerie Detective |
| Abilities | Collect evidence,Flying |
| Released | 2024-02-09 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Murders at Karlov Manor |
| Set code | MKM |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
| Number | 49 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Julia Metzger |
Key Takeaways
- Crimestopper Sprite provides card advantage by retrieving instants or sorceries after dealing combat damage.
- Its ability to recover key spells indirectly accelerates your mana resources, crucial for strategy.
- Balancing its advantages requires careful consideration due to the discard condition and specific mana needs.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Crimestopper Sprite MTG card by a specific set like Murders at Karlov Manor, 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 Crimestopper Sprite and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Text of card
As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may collect evidence 6. (Exile cards with total mana value 6 or greater from your graveyard.) Flying When Crimestopper Sprite enters the battlefield, tap target creature. If evidence was collected, put a stun counter on it. (If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, remove one from it instead.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Crimestopper Sprite offers players a unique mechanism for potential card advantage. When it deals combat damage to a player, you may return an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand. This recycling of powerful spells ensures a continuous stream of resources that can be the key to outmaneuvering your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: While the sprite itself may not directly ramp your mana, the retrieval of key instant or sorcery cards can lead to indirect resource acceleration. By recovering cards that generate extra mana or untap lands, you effectively fuel your ability to cast more spells in a single turn.
Instant Speed: The capabilities of the Crimestopper Sprite are heightened by the fact that many instants it retrieves can be played at instant speed. This synergizes well with the sprite’s agility on the battlefield, allowing you to effectively plan your tactics and react swiftly to the evolving game state, keeping you one step ahead of your opponent.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Crimestopper Sprite comes with a caveat for its potential benefit. It requires the player to discard a card, which can be a substantial setback, especially when the hand is already depleted or when holding onto key pieces for a combo or strategy later in the game.
Specific Mana Cost: The card demands an exact mana composition to cast, necessitating both blue and another color. This specificity can be restrictive and often mandates a deck to be tailored around such requirements, reducing the card’s versatility across various MTG archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering its abilities and impact on the game, the mana cost of Crimestopper Sprite may not align with the efficiency sought after by competitive players. There are numerous alternatives that could fulfill a similar role or provide a greater advantage at a lower cost, leading to less demand for this sprite in a mana-conscious environment.
Reasons to Include Crimestopper Sprite in Your Collection
Versatility: Crimestopper Sprite is a multifunctional card that can serve multiple roles within a variety of decks. Its ability to disrupt opponents’ strategies while being a flying creature makes it a valuable asset in both offense and defense.
Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with other cards that capitalize on flying creatures or spells that benefit from targeting opponents’ cards. The Sprite’s interaction can set the stage for powerful combos.
Meta-Relevance: Given its potential to interfere with an opponent’s plans, Crimestopper Sprite is particularly useful in metas with a high density of spell-based or creature-heavy decks. Timing its ability right can tip the scales in your favor during a match.
How to beat
Crimestopper Sprite is a unique creature card that brings a layer of defense and disruption to the board in Magic: The Gathering. When faced with this pesky fairy, its ability to counter spells unless their caster pays an additional mana can become a real thorn in an opponent’s side. It’s a tactical advantage that can control the tempo of the game, particularly against decks that operate on tight mana curves.
To effectively counter the Crimestopper Sprite, it’s key to focus on mana efficiency. Utilizing low-cost spells might not be the best strategy as the additional cost imposed by the sprite’s ability could set you back significantly. Instead, consider playing spells when you have mana to spare or employing instant removal spells to neutralize the sprite before it can impose its additional cost effect.
Another strategy is to bait the Crimestopper Sprite’s controller into using their mana prematurely, leaving them unable to pay for its effect when you cast your more critical spells. In sum, patience and foresight are your best assets in outmaneuvering this defensive fairy and ensuring that your key spells can be played without interruption.
Cards like Crimestopper Sprite
Crimestopper Sprite uniquely contributes to the family of flying creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its parallels, such as Faerie Seer, offer a glance into this whimsical world. Like Crimestopper Sprite, Faerie Seer takes to the skies with ease. While the Seer might lack Crimestopper Sprite’s direct disturbance abilities, it compensates with its scry potential, enhancing the player’s strategic depth.
Turning our gaze to another alternative, Cloudkin Seer stands out. This card similarly boasts flight but delivers immediate value by adding a card to your hand on its arrival on the battlefield. Crimestopper Sprite skips card draw but shines in its potential to hinder an opponent’s hand. The Sprite’s interruptive capability shapes game outcomes in more subtle, strategic ways than the straightforward advantage offered by Cloudkin Seer’s card draw.
In summary, Crimestopper Sprite brings a nuanced strategy to MTG decks, setting itself apart from other flying creatures with its unique skill set. When compared to its kin in the realm of flying allies, it may forego card draw, but it gains a tactical edge, demonstrating that in MTG, versatility can be just as valuable as resource acquisition.
Cards similar to Crimestopper Sprite by color, type and mana cost
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Crimestopper Sprite has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Standardbrawl | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |