Sentinel of the Pearl Trident MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Merfolk Soldier
Abilities Flash
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Its flash ability enables surprise plays, reacting to opponents and leveraging ETB effects.
  2. Double blue mana and high cost may limit deck inclusion but offer unique protection.
  3. Versatile and relevant in the meta, it can safeguard key permanents and enable combos.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash When Sentinel of the Pearl Trident enters the battlefield, you may exile target historic permanent you control. If you do, return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sentinel of the Pearl Trident provides a strategic advantage in games where maintaining or restoring board presence is key. It allows for the re-utilization of enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects, effectively offering a fresh activation of potentially game-altering abilities.

Resource Acceleration: While the card itself doesn’t generate additional mana or treasure tokens, it can reset mana rocks or other permanents that have ETB effects that accelerate your resources, contributing to your overall mana development and speed in the game.

Instant Speed: The key feature of Sentinel of the Pearl Trident is its flash ability, which allows you to deploy it at instant speed. This functionality grants you the flexibility to react to your opponents’ actions, protect your valuable creatures from removal, or surprise your opponent with unexpected blockers or ETB effects on their turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Sentinel of the Pearl Trident doesn’t require a discard itself, enabling its flash ability often means you’ll need instant-speed interaction ready; this could indirectly pressure players to hold onto cards and thus limit their plays per turn.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for this defender of the deep includes double blue mana, which may restrict its deployment primarily to mono-blue or dual-colored decks, potentially excluding it from a wider variety of multi-colored strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, Sentinel of the Pearl Trident comes in on the higher end for its protective ability. In a game where tempo is crucial, players may find that other lower-costed options provide similar protection, or additional versatility, for a smaller investment of mana resources.


Reasons to Include Sentinel of the Pearl Trident in Your Collection

Versatility: Sentinel of the Pearl Trident displays adaptability across various strategies because of its flash ability allowing it to be cast at any time, thus surprising opponents and serving defensive or offensive roles depending on the situation.

Combo Potential: This creature’s capability to exile another target permanent you control and return it to the battlefield can be exploited to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects or dodge removal, opening up a plethora of combo possibilities.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state that prizes resilience and cunning plays, the Sentinel can safeguard key permanents from board wipes, or reset loyalty counters on planeswalkers, ensuring relevance across various formats.


How to beat Sentinel of the Pearl Trident

The Sentinel of the Pearl Trident is a unique creature in MTG with a flash ability that allows it to enter the battlefield unannounced, strategically offering protection or surprise blocking opportunities. This merfolk’s key feature, however, is its capacity to make a target nonland permanent you control gain protection from all colors until end of turn, an ability that can be both versatile and disruptive.

To effectively counter the Sentinel of the Pearl Trident, it’s essential to keep removal spells in hand that work at instant speed. Cards like Cast Down or Go for the Throat can be particularly useful here as they can dispose of the Sentinel before its ability is used or in response to it targeting another permanent. Timing is critical to ensure the Sentinel doesn’t give its target a chance to dodge your spells. Alternatively, countering it with Negate or Essence Scatter as it casts can prevent its ability from even triggering. Lastly, playing around the Sentinel’s flash by holding back key spells or creatures until your opponent is tapped out can neutralize the advantage conferred by its surprise element. In essence, being aware and reactive to the Sentinel’s potential appearance on the field can help keep it from overturning the tide of the game.


Cards like Sentinel of the Pearl Trident

Sentinel of the Pearl Trident is a unique fixture in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, sharing the battlefield with other creatures that manipulate the flow of play with their blinking abilities. Take for example, the Deadeye Navigator, a card with a similar potential for board impact. It allows you to establish a formidable loop by pairing it with creatures that have enter-the-battlefield effects. While the Navigator requires a mana investment for its soulbond ability to take effect, the Sentinel provides a one-shot protection or multipurpose tool without ongoing costs.

Another peer in this category is the Flickerwisp, which offers a more aggressive stance with a flying creature that can affect any permanent, not just your own creatures. This flexibility can edge out the Sentinel in scenarios seeking temporary removal of opponent threats. Conversely, the Sentinel’s flash ability gives it the advantage of surprise, providing a tactical edge in safeguarding your key pieces at critical moments.

Lastly, we have Restoration Angel, another example with flash capability, and a powerful re-triggering of allies’ abilities. While it doesn’t offer the historical preservation of Sentinel, it compensates with a stronger body for combat. Sentinel of the Pearl Trident holds its ground well, particularly for players who value instant speed interaction and protective measures in their MTG decks.

Deadeye Navigator - MTG Card versions
Flickerwisp - MTG Card versions
Restoration Angel - MTG Card versions
Deadeye Navigator - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Flickerwisp - Eventide (EVE)
Restoration Angel - Avacyn Restored Promos (PAVR)

Cards similar to Sentinel of the Pearl Trident by color, type and mana cost

Vesuvan Doppelganger - MTG Card versions
Water Elemental - MTG Card versions
Air Elemental - MTG Card versions
Pirate Ship - MTG Card versions
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Wu Admiral - MTG Card versions
Mawcor - MTG Card versions
Timin, Youthful Geist - MTG Card versions
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Coastal Hornclaw - MTG Card versions
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Richard Garfield, Ph.D. - MTG Card versions
Cloudhoof Kirin - MTG Card versions
Drelnoch - MTG Card versions
Adarkar Windform - MTG Card versions
Infiltrator il-Kor - MTG Card versions
Mulldrifter - MTG Card versions
Vesuvan Doppelganger - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Water Elemental - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Air Elemental - Core Set 2020 (M20)
Pirate Ship - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Sandbar Crocodile - Media Inserts (PMEI)
Segovian Leviathan - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Wu Admiral - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Mawcor - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Timin, Youthful Geist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Geology Enthusiast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Coastal Hornclaw - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Meloku the Clouded Mirror - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Commander Masters (CMM)
Richard Garfield, Ph.D. - Unhinged (UNH)
Cloudhoof Kirin - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Drelnoch - Coldsnap (CSP)
Adarkar Windform - Coldsnap (CSP)
Infiltrator il-Kor - Future Sight (FUT)
Mulldrifter - The List (PLST)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sentinel of the Pearl Trident MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria and Double Masters, 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 Sentinel of the Pearl Trident and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Sentinel of the Pearl Trident Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-04-27 and 2020-08-07. Illustrated by Jonas De Ro.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-04-27DominariaDOM 652015normalblackJonas De Ro
22020-08-07Double Masters2XM 672015normalblackJonas De Ro

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sentinel of the Pearl Trident has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-08-07 Auras attached to the exiled permanent will be put into their owners' graveyards. Equipment attached to the exiled permanent will become unattached and remain on the battlefield. Any counters on the exiled permanent will cease to exist. Once the exiled permanent returns, it's considered a new object with no relation to the object that it was.
2020-08-07 If a token is exiled this way, it will cease to exist and won't return to the battlefield.
2020-08-07 If the permanent that returns to the battlefield has any abilities that trigger at the beginning of the end step, those abilities won't trigger that turn.
2020-08-07 The exiled card will return to the battlefield at the beginning of the end step even if Sentinel of the Pearl Trident is no longer on the battlefield.

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