Sage-Eye Avengers MTG Card
2015-01-23 - Number 50s
2015-01-23 - Number 50
2015-01-23 - Number 50
2017-03-31 - Number 8
2002-06-24 - Number 55709
| Card sets | Released in 5 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Djinn Monk |
| Abilities | Prowess |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 5 |
Key Takeaways
- Returning creatures to hands, Sage-Eye Avengers offers sustained card advantage and game disruption.
- Its spell mastery boosts late-game strategies, fitting well in instant-speed control decks.
- Despite a high mana cost, the Avengers’ adaptability and combo potential make it a powerful ally.
Text of card
Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) Whenever Sage-Eye Avengers attacks, you may return target creature to its owner's hand if its power is less than Sage-Eye Avengers's power.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: When Sage-Eye Avengers enters the battlefield or attacks, you can return target creature to its owner’s hand if you have spell mastery. This disrupts your opponent’s board and pads your hand, providing substantial card advantage over the course of the game.
Resource Acceleration: While Sage-Eye Avengers doesn’t directly accelerate resources, bouncing creatures back to your opponent’s hand effectively slows them down. This allows you to use your mana efficiently, deploying threats or answers without worrying about an immediate response.
Instant Speed: Sage-Eye Avengers itself isn’t an instant, but its ability complements an instant-speed strategy. By holding up mana for instants and flashing in the Avengers during the late game, you can maintain pressure while still reacting to your opponent’s moves, pivoting as needed for control.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One aspect that players need to consider is any potential drawback when integrating Sage-Eye Avengers into their deck. A card requirement that involves discarding can equate to a tough decision when your hand is already running thin on valuable resources.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost to summon Sage-Eye Avengers is quite particular, requiring a mix that is heavily skewed towards blue mana. This can make it a challenging fit for multi-colored decks that aren’t blue-dominated and could restrict its inclusion to only blue-centric builds.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The casting cost of Sage-Eye Avengers stands out when compared to other creatures and spells within the same power bracket. Players could potentially cast other spell cards or deploy creatures with a lower mana cost and achieve similar or better results, making Sage-Eye Avengers a less attractive option when optimizing their MTG strategies.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Sage-Eye Avengers are highly adaptable, slotting effortlessly into any deck that values bouncing nonland permanents to their owner’s hands. Their prowess function only amplifies their utility as both an offensive and defensive asset.
Combo Potential: These Avengers synergize well with spells that trigger on casting, enhancing your ability to respond to opponents’ threats or building up a powerful board presence. Their ability to clear the battlefield for a direct attack can often turn the tides in your favor.
Meta-Relevance: In a game where the battlefield can quickly become cluttered with powerful creatures and threats, Sage-Eye Avengers hold their ground by providing a consistent method to disrupt your opponents’ plans. Especially in a meta where tempo plays a significant role, this card’s impact can be profound.
How to beat
Sage-Eye Avengers is a unique creature that shines in control decks in Magic: The Gathering. Its prowess and ability to bounce opponents’ creatures to their hand upon dealing damage to a player make it a formidable card on the battlefield. To counteract this card, it’s crucial to limit its opportunity to strike directly. Players can achieve this by setting up reliable defenses through creatures with high toughness, ensuring that the Avengers can’t deal combat damage easily.
Another strategy is to remove the Sage-Eye Avengers before they have a chance to attack. Efficient removal spells, such as Murder or Path to Exile, can handle this threat regardless of its size, providing a direct answer to this creature. Additionally, counter spells are effective in preventing the Avengers from ever entering the battlefield, negating their abilities altogether.
Taking a proactive stance, players can also use spells that restrict the opponent’s ability to play creatures with higher mana costs or deploy hand disruption techniques to remove key cards before they can impact the game. By employing these strategies, players can deftly navigate around the strengths of Sage-Eye Avengers and maintain control of the game.
Cards like Sage-Eye Avengers
Sage-Eye Avengers stands as a formidable presence in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, with a particular prowess in controlling opponents’ creatures. With its ability to return a target creature to its owner’s hand whenever Sage-Eye Avengers attacks, it offers a recurring disruption not unlike that of Man-o’-War. The latter also bounces creatures but does so only once upon entering the battlefield. However, Man-o’-War is more cost-efficient with less power and toughness.
Another card worth mentioning is Aether Adept, which similarly returns a creature to its owner’s hand, but like Man-o’-War, this is a one-time effect and lacks the repeatable nature of Sage-Eye Avengers. Aether Adept does, however, require less mana investment. Additionally, Venser, Shaper Savant falls into this category with its flexibility in bouncing spells or creatures, yet it diverges with a higher cost and a single-use effect.
Evaluating these options, Sage-Eye Avengers claims a unique spot on the battlefield, combining aggressive assaults with a control element that adds strategic depth to each attack, distinguishing it within the Magic: The Gathering lineup of creature control cards.
Cards similar to Sage-Eye Avengers by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Sage-Eye Avengers MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Fate Reforged Promos, 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 Sage-Eye Avengers 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 Magic products
Printings
The Sage-Eye Avengers Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2015-01-23 and 2017-03-31. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 55709 | 2015 | normal | black | Viktor Titov | ||
| 2 | 2015-01-23 | Fate Reforged Promos | PFRF | 50s | 2015 | normal | black | Dan Scott | |
| 3 | 2015-01-23 | Fate Reforged | FRF | 50 | 2015 | normal | black | Dan Scott | |
| 4 | 2015-01-23 | Fate Reforged Promos | PFRF | 50 | 2015 | normal | black | Viktor Titov | |
| 5 | 2017-03-31 | Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might | DDS | 8 | 2015 | normal | black | Dan Scott |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Sage-Eye Avengers has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Sage-Eye Avengers card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-11-24 | Any spell you cast that doesn’t have the type creature will cause prowess to trigger. If a spell has multiple types, and one of those types is creature (such as an artifact creature), casting it won’t cause prowess to trigger. Playing a land also won’t cause prowess to trigger. |
| 2014-11-24 | Once it triggers, prowess isn’t connected to the spell that caused it to trigger. If that spell is countered, prowess will still resolve. |
| 2014-11-24 | Prowess goes on the stack on top of the spell that caused it to trigger. It will resolve before that spell. |
| 2014-11-24 | Prowess triggers only once for any spell, even if that spell has multiple types. |
