Cunning Evasion MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cunning Evasion is a unique enchantment that can provide an indirect form of card advantage. Whenever one of your creatures becomes blocked, you have the option to bounce it back to your hand, essentially saving the creature and negating any potential loss of card advantage that would occur if the creature were to be destroyed in combat.

Resource Acceleration: This card shines in decks built around creatures with enter-the-battlefield effects. By returning these creatures to your hand and recasting them, Cunning Evasion indirectly contributes to resource acceleration by allowing you to retrigger those valuable effects, maximizing the utility of each creature in your arsenal.

Instant Speed: While Cunning Evasion itself is an enchantment that needs to be played at sorcery speed, it impacts the game in a way that’s reminiscent of an instant. It gives you flexibility during combat on every turn, letting you assess the situation and choose the most opportune moment to either retrieve your creatures or let them deal damage, essentially giving you the ability to react to your opponent’s actions in real time.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Cunning Evasion doesn’t ask players to discard, its utility is closely tied to having creatures to return to one’s hand, which can be problematic in creature-light decks or those facing mass removal spells.

Specific Mana Cost: Cunning Evasion’s blue mana cost means it blends well in blue-centric or blue-compatible decks, but can be a hard fit in multicolored decks not focused on blue mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Two mana for an enchantment might not seem much, but the setup required to make Cunning Evasion effective necessitates a stable board presence, which can be a hefty investment compared to other low-cost utility spells or creatures that provide immediate value on their own.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Cunning Evasion offers flexible defense tactics, allowing creatures to be returned to your hand instead of being destroyed in combat. This ability is a fit for decks focusing on creatures with “Enter the Battlefield” effects or those looking to protect key pieces from removal.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with abilities that trigger on creatures leaving the battlefield or being cast. It opens up opportunities for repeated use of beneficial creature effects, significantly enhancing various combo strategies.

Meta-Relevance: In meta-games that are heavy on creature interactions, Cunning Evasion can serve as a powerful tool to outmaneuver opponents’ strategies. It helps maintain board presence by safeguarding your creatures and can repeatedly exploit beneficial effects, adding a persistent threat level that opponents must always consider.

How to beat

Cunning Evasion is a tricky enchantment to face in Magic: The Gathering. This blue enchantment allows its controller to return a creature to their hand whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, if that creature is unblocked. This can be frustrating as it effectively nullifies your removal spells and prevents you from capitalizing on successful blocks.

To counter Cunning Evasion, the key is to force your opponent’s creatures to block or use spells that affect multiple creatures, bypassing the enchantment’s clause. Board wipe spells, which don’t target individual creatures, can be highly effective here. Consider cards such as “Wrath of God” or “Supreme Verdict” which can clear the battlefield without targeting and thus don’t trigger Cunning Evasion. Another strategy is to apply continuous board pressure or establish overwhelming board presence, which doesn’t give your opponent the opportunity to evade effectively. Denying your opponent the space to use Cunning Evasion to their advantage can negate its effects and allow you to maintain control of the game.

Understanding the limitations of Cunning Evasion and adjusting your strategy to exploit these weaknesses can decisively turn the tide of a match in your favor.

BurnMana Recommendations

Dive deep into the tactical play of MTG with Cunning Evasion, a versatile enchantment that can turn the tide of combat in your favor. If you delight in playing blue or multicolored decks peppered with creatures that benefit from entering and leaving the battlefield, this card is worth exploring. Its ability to safeguard your creatures adds a layer of unpredictability for your opponents. Keen on mastering the subtleties of creature combat or simply want to enhance your deck with smart defensive strategies? Discover Cunning Evasion’s potential in your deck builds and gameplay—potential that goes beyond the ordinary. Let’s optimize your MTG strategy together.