Augur il-Vec MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Cleric
Abilities	Shadow
Released	2007-05-04
Set symbol
Set name	Future Sight
Set code	FUT
Power	1
Toughness	3
Number	2
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Daren Bader

Key Takeaways

Augur il-Vec provides card advantage by filtering draws and ensuring access to impactful spells sooner.
It offers instant-speed synergy potential, but requires careful hand management due to discard demands.
Versatile within the right deck, it can significantly impact graveyard strategies and enable combos.

Text of card

Shadow (This creature can block or be blocked by only creatures with shadow.) Sacrifice Augur il-Vec: You gain 4 life. Play this ability only during your upkeep.

"If it would end this exile, my life is yours."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Augur il-Vec is adept at providing incremental card advantage over time. Due to its ability to peek at the top card of your library, it can help ensure that draw steps are more consistent, allowing you to access the right cards at the right times.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly a resource accelerator, Augur il-Vec’s selection capability indirectly accelerates your resource quality. By filtering the top of your library, it allows you to draw into your more impactful spells sooner, effectively speeding up your game plan.

Instant Speed: The shadow ability of Augur il-Vec allows it to attack unblocked most of the time, enabling instant-speed interactions since the opponent is less likely to block it. This, combined with cards that have synergy with unblocked creatures or combat damage, can lead to powerful instant-speed plays.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Augur il-Vec necessitates discarding a card when its ability is used. This can be particularly cumbersome when your hand size is already depleted, potentially putting you at a disadvantage by further reducing your options.

Specific Mana Cost: Cast with two white mana, this card demands a deck heavily invested in white or with a reliable mana base. This requirement can make Augur il-Vec a less flexible choice for multicolored decks not centered around white.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of one generic and two white mana, Augur il-Vec’s abilities might not justify the expense when there are alternatives that offer similar or greater utility at a lower cost, allowing for a more efficient use of resources.

Reasons to Include Augur il-Vec in Your Collection

Versatility: Augur il-Vec offers subtle yet significant utility in decks that value graveyard interaction or plan on a more controlling game approach. Its ability to be sacrificed at instant speed allows players to respond dynamically to the varying circumstances of the game.

Combo Potential: In a combo-centric deck, the ability to discard a card at instant speed can be crucial. Augur il-Vec smoothly integrates into strategies that necessitate specific cards in the graveyard, triggering synergies or enabling powerful reanimation tactics.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to impact the graveyard and offer surprise blocking tactics, Augur il-Vec holds its ground in metas where graveyard strategies are prevalent or where combat tricks can shift the tide of battle in your favor.

How to beat

Augur il-Vec may not be the most overpowering card on its own, but if left unchecked in the right deck, it can certainly swing the momentum of the game. As a creature card with shadow, it can become quite a nuisance, sneaking through defenses that are otherwise solid against more conventional threats. Understanding the mechanics and synergy is key in devising a strategy to counteract it.

To effectively handle Augur il-Vec, consider using removal spells that can target creatures regardless of their evasion abilities. Cards like Murder or Path to Exile are efficient responses, allowing you to remove the Augur without the need to block it. In addition, because Augur il-Vec is a small creature, sweepers like Pyroclasm can clear it away along with other low-toughness creatures.

Focusing on a strong defense is also crucial. If you’re playing a deck that features creatures with reach or spells that can create them, you’ll make it more challenging for Augur il-Vec to slip through. Alternatively, employing strategies that limit your opponent’s ability to attack, such as Ghostly Prison, can negate the benefits of shadow altogether. By staying vigilant and leveraging your deck’s strengths, Augur il-Vec’s potential impact can be minimized effectively.

Cards like Augur il-Vec

Augur il-Vec stands out in the realm of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to shadow creatures like Soltari Monk and Soltari Priest, both embodying the elusive shadow mechanic allowing it to only be blocked by creatures with shadow. What particularly makes Augur il-Vec noteworthy is its unique discard ability upon dealing combat damage, harkening to the functionality of cards like Looter il-Kor. However, the Augur demands a targeted discard from the opponent, rather than the Looter’s self-directed card selection.

In the same category, Dauthi Mindripper offers a similar disruptiveness with its shadow and discard effect. Although it requires a mana investment to sacrifice, the Mindripper lets you strip three cards from an opponent’s hand, amplifying the potential impact. Comparing mana costs and effects, Augur il-Vec provides a subtle, recurrent option, whereas Dauthi Mindripper channels a once-off, albeit more dramatic hand destabilization.

Evaluating the nuances and strategic role of each, Augur il-Vec invokes a persistent threat to an adversary’s hand resources, holding its own within the tactics of hand disruption and combat evasion in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Augur il-Vec by color, type and mana cost

Voice of the Blessed - MTG Card versions

Silverflame Squire // On Alert - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Augur il-Vec MTG card by a specific set like Future Sight, 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 Augur il-Vec and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Augur il-Vec 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 Augur il-Vec card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2021-03-19	If an attacking creature has multiple evasion abilities, such as shadow and flying, a creature can block it only if that creature satisfies all of the appropriate evasion abilities.
2021-03-19	Multiple instances of shadow on the same creature are redundant.
2021-03-19	Once a creature has been blocked, that creature remains blocked and will deal and be dealt combat damage even if it gains or loses shadow or if the blocking creature gains or loses shadow.