Stitched Assistant MTG Card
2021-11-19 - Number 81
2022-01-28 - Number 348
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Zombie |
| Abilities | Exploit,Scry |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Key Takeaways
- Offers card advantage by streamlining graveyard-focused strategies and enhancing deck consistency.
- Acts as a mana accelerant, enabling faster play of high-cost spells crucial for outpacing rivals.
- Flexible activation at instant speed provides players with strategic control over the game’s flow.
Text of card
Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a creature.) When Stitched Assistant exploits a creature, scry 1, then draw a card. (To scry 1, look at the top card of your library, then you may put that card on the bottom of your library.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Stitched Assistant offers a subtle form of card advantage by enabling graveyard strategies to convert excess or specific creatures into new draws, smoothly integrating into your deck’s flow.
Resource Acceleration: This utility creature assists in resource acceleration by self-sacrificing or sacrificing other creatures to aid in casting higher-cost spells more quickly, a key tactic in outpacing opponents.
Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, the ability of Stitched Assistant can be activated at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to decide the most opportune moment during the game to leverage its effect, whether that’s in your turn or in response to an opponent’s actions.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Embarking on the path of necromancy with Stitched Assistant means embracing its discard requirement. While this can strategically fuel your graveyard for other synergies, it’s not without downsides. The need to shed another card from your hand each time you summon this creature could leave you in a bind, especially if your hand is nearly empty or filled with high-value cards you prefer to keep.
Specific Mana Cost: Casting Stitched Assistant requires a precise blend of mana— one blue and two generic—to animate its undead form. This specificity binds you to decks with a strong blue mana base, potentially excluding it from a variety of other deck types where it could otherwise serve as a useful asset.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: For those mindful of the economy of spells and creatures, the mana investment for Stitched Assistant can be a point of contention. Investing three mana for a 1/2 creature that assists only upon the death of another creature may not always equate to getting the most bang for your buck, especially when considering other competitive options available that might provide immediate impact or greater value over time in your game plan.
Reasons to Include Stitched Assistant in Your Collection
Versatility: Stitched Assistant is a flexible card that can be easily integrated into various blue-based or artifact-centric decks. Its ability to sacrifice creatures provides a repeatable source of card filtering, ensuring you get to the spells and creatures you need.
Combo Potential: With its inherent sacrifice ability, this card can be a key piece in numerous combo setups. It enables the likes of graveyard synergy, undying/persist mechanics, and even works well with enter-the-battlefield triggers for a dynamic game experience.
Meta-Relevance: As game environments see a rise in creature strategies, having a tool like Stitched Assistant that capitalizes on creature presence is incredibly useful. It’s particularly effective in a meta where exploiting your own board state for value is a common tactic.
How to beat
Stitched Assistant offers a unique blend of sacrifice mechanic and mana generation in the world of Magic: The Gathering. The card’s ability to both provide a mana boost and refine the deck mid-game by sifting through the top couple of cards gives it a not-insignificant edge. However, one of the key strategies in countering Stitched Assistant lies in its inherent weakness: the necessity to sacrifice another creature.
To effectively beat Stitched Assistant, keeping the battlefield clear of expendable creatures hobbles its utility. Utilizing removal spells to consistently eliminate potential sacrifice fodder can stall the advantage Stitched Assistant is meant to confer. Additionally, graveyard hate cards disrupt the benefit gained from the self-mill aspect, denying the player the opportunity to retrieve valuable cards from the graveyard later on.
Board control and timely disruption are your allies in this battle. By focusing on limiting the available creatures to sacrifice and obstructing graveyard strategies, you take away the power that Stitched Assistant wields, turning it into a mere spectator rather than a powerful enabler in your opponent’s deck.
Cards like Stitched Assistant
Stitched Assistant is an intriguing creature card in MTG that offers utilitarian value to deck builders, especially in self-mill or sacrifice strategies. It invites comparison to other creatures that provide a similar functionality, like Apprentice Necromancer. Apprentice Necromancer allows for instant reanimation of a creature card at the cost of a mana and sacrificing the Necromancer itself, providing an immediate but fleeting advantage. Stitched Assistant, on the other hand, focuses on setting up future plays by helping you sculpt your graveyard while also ramping you slightly with the generation of a mana resource.
This card also shares nuances with the likes of Deranged Assistant, which incidentally mills your library and provides mana without demanding a sacrifice. Even though Stitched Assistant requires a creature sacrifice to trigger its effect, it can synergize with cards that benefit from or grant boons upon dying. Therefore, while both assistants perform similar roles, Stitched Assistant asks for a higher cost with potentially greater payoff in decks tailored to such synergies.
Among creature cards that can fill your graveyard and accelerate your mana, Stitched Assistant creates a niche by balancing resource advancement with strategic planning, cementing its role in decks that capitalize on the interplay between the battlefield and the graveyard.
Cards similar to Stitched Assistant by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Stitched Assistant MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad: Crimson Vow and Innistrad: Double Feature, 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 Stitched Assistant 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 MTG Products
Printings
The Stitched Assistant Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-11-19 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by Andrey Kuzinskiy.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2021-11-19 | Innistrad: Crimson Vow | VOW | 81 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Andrey Kuzinskiy | |
| 2 | 2022-01-28 | Innistrad: Double Feature | DBL | 348 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Andrey Kuzinskiy |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Stitched Assistant has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
