Village Watch // Village Reavers MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Human Werewolf
Abilities Daybound,Haste
Power 4
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Transformative play is enhanced as Village Watch shifts between a defensive Human and an aggressive Werewolf.
  2. Flash ability allows surprise plays, maintaining mana for optimal tactical responses during the game.
  3. Village Watch’s madness ability could deplete hands, requiring careful deck construction to optimize.

Text of card

Haste Daybound (If a player casts no spells during their own turn, it becomes night next turn.)

"You have my word. You'll see no wolf attacks while we're around!"


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Village Watch has a significant role in card advantage by transforming into Village Reavers, allowing you to bypass your own draw step and instead rely on the top card of your library to play with an empty hand. This keeps your options open and applies pressure on your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: This werewolf creature, which has transformative abilities, switches effortlessly between two states. As a Human it might facilitate a more defensive play, but when it becomes a Village Reavers, it can ramp up your attacking strategy, providing an accelerated threat that must be dealt with hastily.

Instant Speed: With the flash ability, Village Watch can enter the battlefield at instant speed, which means you can surprise your opponent by bringing in a creature during their turn or at the end of it, keeping your mana available for reactions until it is most tactically advantageous to act.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Village Watch demands a card to be discarded when leveraging its madness ability, which can deplete your hand quickly, especially in decks not equipped to mitigate such loss.

Specific Mana Cost: With a red-centric mana requirement, Village Watch might struggle to find a place in multicolored decks that can’t consistently provide the necessary red mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Clocking in at four mana, Village Watch might be overshadowed by other creatures in the same cost bracket that bring more utility or power to the battlefield.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Village Watch thrives in decks that emphasize speed and transformations, seamlessly shifting between Human and Werewolf forms to adapt to the game’s pace.

Combo Potential: With its ability to instantly become a Werewolf, this card interacts well with strategies that revolve around creature type changes and buffs that target Werewolves or Humans.

Meta-Relevance: Given its quick transformation and formidable stats as a Werewolf, it can effectively counter decks with a slower setup, making it a relevant choice in a meta that favors agility and adaptable tactics.


How to Beat

Village Watch is a card that presents itself as a challenge on the battlefield with its haste ability and the clause that allows it to flip into Village Reavers, which grants your other werewolf creatures haste. To navigate against this, control decks should focus on removal spells that can target Village Watch before it becomes a more substantial threat. Consider using instant-speed removal to deal with the creature on your opponent’s turn, preventing it from flipping due to werewolf transformation mechanics.

It’s also beneficial to mitigate the window of opportunity for your opponent to attack with haste. Cards like Frost Breath can temporarily remove Village Watch from combat, allowing for a setup of a more strategic defense or counterattack. Moreover, employing board wipe spells after Village Watch has transformed could prove efficient as well, as the transformed side has a higher mana cost for your opponent to recast.

Ultimately, recognizing the rapid tempo that Village Watch can introduce to the game is crucial. Players should keep their removal spells at the ready or set up scenarios where Village Watch will be less impactful, thus preserving the balance of the game in their favor.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG requires a blend of strategy and card knowledge. Village Watch offers tactical diversity as it transitions from a defensive human to a threatening werewolf, boosting deck dynamics. If you’re building a collection or refining your gameplay, understanding cards like Village Watch, with its flash ability and transformation mechanics, can be a game-changer. Ready to harness the power of such versatile cards and sharpen your competitive edge? Delve deeper into the intricacies of MTG with us. We’re here to enhance your arsenal, providing insights that turn each duel into a display of expertise. Expand your horizons and join the ranks of informed players today.


Cards like Village Watch // Village Reavers

Village Watch from Magic: The Gathering is a solid creature that boasts not only the ability to haste but also to transform into Village Reavers, which gives all your other Werewolves and Wolf creatures haste as well. In comparing Village Watch to similar cards, Skyknight Vanguard is a creature to consider. While this creature doesn’t offer haste, it compensates by creating a 1/1 white Soldier creature token with lifelink every time it attacks, which can swiftly bolster your board presence.

Keldon Marauders is another creature that offers a different form of utility. While it doesn’t have haste inherently, it causes direct damage to a player when it enters or leaves the battlefield, presenting immediate impact whether it sticks around or not. Unlike Village Watch, it doesn’t impact other creatures but is a reliable source of damage in the right deck.

Ultimately, Village Watch holds a unique position, offering both immediate attack potential and the transformative edge to empower other creatures in Werewolf or Wolf-focused decks, aligning with a gameplay style that values speed and unrelenting assault.

Skyknight Vanguard - MTG Card versions
Keldon Marauders - MTG Card versions
Skyknight Vanguard - MTG Card versions
Keldon Marauders - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Village Watch // Village Reavers MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, 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 Village Watch // Village Reavers and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Village Watch // Village Reavers Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-09-24 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12021-09-24Innistrad: Midnight HuntMID 1652015TransformBlackNestor Ossandon Leal
22021-09-24Innistrad: Midnight HuntMID 2972015TransformBlackAndrea De Dominicis
32022-01-28Innistrad: Double FeatureDBL 1652015TransformBlackNestor Ossandon Leal

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Village Watch // Village Reavers has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2021-09-24 Before a player untaps their permanents during the untap step, the game checks to see if the day/night designation should change.
2021-09-24 Day and night are designations that the game itself can have. The game starts as neither. Once the game becomes day (or less commonly, night), the game will be exactly one of them—day or night—going back and forth for the rest of the game.
2021-09-24 Double-faced permanents with daybound transform to their nightbound faces as it becomes night. Similarly, double-faced permanents with nightbound transform to their daybound faces as it becomes day. This happens immediately and is not a state-based action. It happens any time it becomes day or night, not just during the untap step.
2021-09-24 For more information about Day and Night and the Daybound and Nightbound abilities, please see the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Mechanics atricle (https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/innistrad-midnight-hunt-mechanics-2021-09-02).
2021-09-24 If it is day, and the active player of the previous turn cast no spells during their turn, it becomes night.
2021-09-24 If it is night, and the active player of the previous turn cast two or more spells during their turn, it becomes day.
2021-09-24 If it is night, permanents with daybound that enter the battlefield without being cast will enter with their nightbound faces up.
2021-09-24 If it's neither day nor night, and a creature with daybound and a creature with nightbound somehow appear on the battlefield at the same time, it becomes day. The creature with nightbound will transform.
2021-09-24 If you cast a spell with daybound during night, that spell will be front face up (that is, daybound face up) on the stack. However, it will enter the battlefield with its back face up (that is, with its nightbound face up). It won't enter with its daybound face up and then transform.
2021-09-24 Permanents with daybound and nightbound can't transform via any means other than their daybound and nightbound abilities. Notably, older cards such as Moonmist that instruct a player to transform permanents don't affect permanents with daybound or nightbound.

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