Stensia Innkeeper MTG Card


Stensia Innkeeper - Eldritch Moon
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Vampire
Released2016-07-22
Set symbol
Set nameEldritch Moon
Set codeEMN
Power 3
Toughness 3
Number145
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byWinona Nelson

Key Takeaways

  1. The card’s landfall ability ensures a consistent card supply, crucial for late-game strategies.
  2. With its entry and tap effect, it can disrupt opponent tempo, aiding your own resource management.
  3. Its flexibility in-game can force opponents to alter strategies, offering a reactionary edge.

Text of card

When Stensia Innkeeper enters the battlefield, tap target land an opponent controls. That land doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.

"The perils of the road, you say? Don't worry. You won't have to face those again."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When scouting the depths of your library for answers, Stensia Innkeeper provides a foothold by offering a card draw attached to its landfall ability. This feature becomes pivotal as you edge towards the late game, ensuring your hand remains replenished and ready for what lies ahead.

Resource Acceleration: Stensia Innkeeper may not directly produce additional mana like other ramp staples, but its affordable casting cost combined with its landfall-triggered tap ability can effectively hamper an opponent’s tempo, potentially giving you the upper hand. By slowing down your opponent, you can more efficiently marshal your resources while lining up your strategy.

Instant Speed: While the Innkeeper itself may not operate at instant speed, its ability to immediately impact the board upon entering alongside a land drop offers a degree of flexibility akin to instant-speed interactions. This can drastically affect your opponent’s planning and attack phases, providing you with an agile response to the evolving game state.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Stensia Innkeeper requires players to have another Vampire on the field to trigger its discard effect. This dependency can be a setback in non-vampire-centric decks or situations where your board presence is lacking.

Specific Mana Cost: As a card that demands a precise combination of mana colors to cast—one red and three generic—it may not easily fit into multi-colored decks where mana flexibility is key.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting requirement of four mana for its ability to tap an opponent’s land, players might find other disruption options that are less taxing on their mana pool, providing similar or better control for the same or lower investment.


Reasons to Include Stensia Innkeeper in Your Collection

Versatility: Stensia Innkeeper fits well within a variety of red-based decks. The card’s ability to tap an opponent’s land can be a temporary but impactful form of mana disruption, potentially hindering their strategy long enough for an advantage to be secured.

Combo Potential: In decks focused on enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects, Stensia Innkeeper can be a functional piece. It can combine well with effects that untap your creatures, allowing it to be used multiple times for greater impact and setting up turns where the opponent is significantly hindered.

Meta-Relevance: This card can shine in metas where players rely on specific lands for crucial plays. The ability to control the pace of the game, even if just slightly, gives decks running Stensia Innkeeper an edge by limiting opponents’ resources and disrupting their curve.


How to beat

Overcoming the Stensia Innkeeper in your games requires a strategy that recognizes its potential to disrupt your tempo. This creature brings a unique ability to the battlefield that can tap down an opponent’s land, and ensuring it doesn’t slow you down is key. Planning ahead is vital, so consider keeping mana open for instant-speed removal spells. Cards like Shock or Fatal Push can efficiently take care of the Innkeeper before its ability becomes a nuisance.

Alternatively, you could bypass the Innkeeper’s ability altogether by playing land untap effects or mana acceleration. Cards such as Arbor Elf or Voyaging Satyr can negate the Innkeeper’s land-tapping impact, providing you with the resources you need. Bearing in mind the possible disruption the Innkeeper poses, maintaining a pace that keeps your land available is essential. The agility of your response ensures that the Innkeeper’s effect becomes a minor hiccup rather than a game-altering event.

Being prepared for what this card can bring to the table affords you the best chance to outmaneuver it. By employing timely removal, or by ensuring your mana base remains unaffected, you’ll keep the Stensia Innkeeper from becoming more than just a minor roadblock in your path to victory.


Cards like Stensia Innkeeper

Stensia Innkeeper is a creature card that offers a unique blend of utility and pressure in Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to cards like Keldon Halberdier, which also enters the battlefield with a tap effect on the opponent’s land. However, Stensia Innkeeper’s edge lies in its ability to tap any land without a color restriction, unlike Keldon Halberdier that specifically targets nonbasic lands.

Another card to consider alongside Stensia Innkeeper is Frost Lynx. Frost Lynx may freeze an opposing creature upon entry, which can be particularly useful in stalling an opponent’s offensive plans. On the other hand, Stensia Innkeeper targets lands, serving a role in resource denial, a strategy that can handicap an opponent’s ability to cast spells. Encroaching Wights is another creature with a comparable ability, targeting the land base to slow down the adversary. However, its higher mana cost compared to Stensia Innkeeper makes it a later game option, unlike the Innkeeper that allows for earlier control on the game’s tempo.

When evaluating the strategic applications within the world of Magic: The Gathering, Stensia Innkeeper carves out its niche through its affordable cost and the tactical advantage of land disruption, augmenting decks with a tempo-swinging ability.

Keldon Halberdier - MTG Card versions
Frost Lynx - MTG Card versions
Keldon Halberdier - Time Spiral (TSP)
Frost Lynx - Magic 2015 (M15)

Cards similar to Stensia Innkeeper by color, type and mana cost

Dragon Whelp - MTG Card versions
Keldon Warlord - MTG Card versions
Crimson Manticore - MTG Card versions
Márton Stromgald - MTG Card versions
Reckless Embermage - MTG Card versions
Wildfire Emissary - MTG Card versions
Flowstone Giant - MTG Card versions
Rathi Dragon - MTG Card versions
Mogg Bombers - MTG Card versions
Warmonger - MTG Card versions
Bloodfire Kavu - MTG Card versions
Whipkeeper - MTG Card versions
Anger - MTG Card versions
Nalathni Dragon - MTG Card versions
Everquill Phoenix - MTG Card versions
Goblin Goon - MTG Card versions
Lesser Gargadon - MTG Card versions
Krark-Clan Engineers - MTG Card versions
Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked - MTG Card versions
Ogre Taskmaster - MTG Card versions
Dragon Whelp - Limited Edition Beta (LEB)
Keldon Warlord - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Crimson Manticore - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Márton Stromgald - Ice Age (ICE)
Reckless Embermage - Mirage (MIR)
Wildfire Emissary - Mirage (MIR)
Flowstone Giant - Tempest (TMP)
Rathi Dragon - Tempest (TMP)
Mogg Bombers - Stronghold (STH)
Warmonger - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Bloodfire Kavu - Apocalypse (APC)
Whipkeeper - Odyssey (ODY)
Anger - Judgment (JUD)
Nalathni Dragon - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Everquill Phoenix - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)
Goblin Goon - Legions (LGN)
Lesser Gargadon - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Krark-Clan Engineers - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Ogre Taskmaster - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Stensia Innkeeper MTG card by a specific set like Eldritch Moon, 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 Stensia Innkeeper and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Stensia Innkeeper has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

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