Drake Familiar MTG Card

Drake Familiar excels in granting card advantage by resetting enchantments for repeated triggers and interactions. Instant speed capability provides strategic flexibility during gameplay, allowing for unexpected moves and combos. Requisite enchantment sacrifice may deter its use in low-enchantment decks, balancing its potential power.

Drake Familiar - Ravnica: City of Guilds

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Drake
Abilities	Flying
Released	2005-10-07
Set symbol
Set name	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Set code	RAV
Power	2
Toughness	1
Number	44
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Darrell Riche

Text of card

Flying When Drake Familiar comes into play, sacrifice it unless you return an enchantment in play to its owner's hand.

"Falconry? A fine sport I suppose, if you're attracted to the frailty of birds." —Trivaz, Izzet mage

Cards like Drake Familiar

Drake Familiar is a unique creature card that engages with enchantments in the world of Magic: The Gathering. Its closest relative could be Auratog, which also interacts with enchantments but instead of returning one to hand, it sacrifices them for a temporary power boost. This difference in ability can shift the dynamics on the battlefield significantly.

Examining further, Keen Sense can be likened to Drake Familiar’s enchantment synergy. Keen Sense offers a draw per damage to a player, while Drake Familiar provides an opportunity to reuse enchantments with enter-the-battlefield triggers, broadening strategic options. Moreover, Deputy of Detention shares a similar reset function, albeit it exiles a target until itself is removed, contrasting with Drake Familiar’s more forgiving bounce effect.

To sum up, while there are a few cards that resonate with the thematic of Drake Familiar, its distinct recursion ability provides a different approach to using enchantments. Such capability makes it a tactical piece in decks built around enchantment strategies, setting it beyond the simple utility of its kindred spells and creatures.

Cards similar to Drake Familiar by color, type and mana cost

Soratami Cloudskater - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Drake Familiar provides a continuous way to reset enchantments with its bounce effect, offering repetitive interactions that can lead to card advantage over your opponents. This ability to manipulate the board state by returning your own enchantments is particularly powerful when combined with enchantments that have entry abilities or similar triggers.

Resource Acceleration: Paired with cost-efficient enchantments, Drake Familiar can lead to a quicker build-up of your board presence. By utilizing its return-to-hand mechanic, you can effectively reuse enchantments that produce mana or generate additional effects, accelerating your resources and giving you an edge in the mana curve.

Instant Speed: The versatility of Drake Familiar is highlighted by its capacity to operate at instant speed. This advantage means you can respond to your opponent’s moves during their turn by bouncing and redeploying your enchantments, forging unexpected combos, and ensuring you’re always one step ahead.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Drake Familiar necessitates the sacrifice of an enchantment, which can be a drawback if enchantment density in your deck is low, potentially costing you a valuable asset.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands both blue and white mana, which may not always be readily available depending on your mana base, potentially resulting in a challenging casting situation.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The utility of bouncing an enchantment to hand may not always justify its three-mana cost, especially when there are other flying creatures that could provide a better cost-to-benefit ratio.

Reasons to Include Drake Familiar in Your Collection

Versatility: Drake Familiar offers a unique twist to your flying arsenal. Being able to bounce enchantments gives it a flexible role in Azure decks or those with a focus on evasion tactics.

Combo Potential: With its ability to return an enchantment to your hand, it can reignite enter-the-battlefield effects or reset pacification auras, enhancing your board control while maintaining a presence in the skies.

Meta-Relevance: At a time when enchantment-based strategies might be prevalent, Drake Familiar holds its own by interrupting opponents’ setups or reusing your own enchantment synergies, making it a strategic choice for adaptive gameplay.

How to beat

The Drake Familiar card is a unique piece in the gameplay of Magic: The Gathering. With its ability to return enchantments to the owner’s hand, Drake Familiar can serve as a tactical tool for resetting enchantment values or evading removals. To effectively counter this card, consider using spells that can neutralize creature abilities or employ instant-speed removals that can interrupt the combo before it starts.

Strategies such as employing creatures with flash to block or using counter spells when Drake Familiar is cast are both effective ways to mitigate its impact on the game. Enchantment removal also proves beneficial by eliminating targets for its ability, thereby reducing its utility. Additionally, keeping a pace that pressures the opponent into unfavorable trades can prevent the consistent bouncing of enchantments, which is central to the strategy involving Drake Familiar.

In essence, the trick to outmaneuvering a Drake Familiar is in the preemptive disruption of its synergies and maintaining control over the board state. By doing so, you can diminish the card’s influence and continue to steer the game in your favor.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Drake Familiar MTG card by a specific set like Ravnica: City of Guilds, 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 Drake Familiar and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Drake Familiar has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2005-10-01	The ability lets you return any enchantment on the battlefield, including an opponent’s enchantment. The ability isn’t targeted, so you can return an untargetable enchantment. If there are no enchantments on the battlefield, or you choose not to return one, you must sacrifice Drake Familiar.