Winnow MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Instant
Released	2000-10-02
Set symbol
Set name	Invasion
Set code	INV
Number	45
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Roger Raupp

Key Takeaways

Winnow enables selective disruption of opponent plays while boosting card advantage on your side.
Playing Winnow at instant speed offers tactical advantages by disrupting opponent moves.
While versatile, Winnow’s casting conditions and cost may limit its use in some decks.

Text of card

Destroy target nonland permanent if another permanent with the same name is in play. Draw a card.

"Strength in numbers? I think not." —Gerrard

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Winnow ensures that players can selectively disrupt an opponent’s strategy while gaining card advantage. This action facilitates maintaining a strong hand while depleting an opponent’s resources.

Resource Acceleration: With the right strategic play, Winnow can lead to a notable tempo boost. By removing key pieces of an opponent’s setup, the path is cleared for faster advancement of your board state.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Winnow at instant speed provides a significant tactical edge. It allows for reactive play during an opponent’s turn, potentially disrupting their strategy at a crucial moment and keeping you one step ahead.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Engaging with Winnow requires you to discard a card along with its casting, which can put you at a disadvantage, particularly when your hand is already depleting. This trade-off sometimes leads to tough decisions about resource management during critical moments in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Winnow demands exactly one white mana. This specificity can pose a challenge in multicolor decks that may struggle with mana fixing or when you’re facing a tight mana situation, thus hindering its flexibility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that might be on the higher end for its effects, Winnow challenges players to evaluate their strategy carefully. Alternative cards might provide similar or better utility at a lower cost, making it essential to weigh the strategic benefits against its mana demands.

Reasons to Include Winnow in Your Collection

Versatility: Winnow offers flexibility in deck-building, fitting nicely into strategies that capitalize on noncreature spells. It can be a versatile removal tool in formats where noncreature permanents are prevalent.

Combo Potential: This card holds the potential to synergize with strategies that reward you for casting spells during an opponent’s turn, like prowess or flash-based decks, providing an unexpected twist in gameplay.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where enchantments and artifacts dictate the pace, Winnow serves as a targeted removal option. The ability to eliminate key pieces from your opponent’s strategy can never be underestimated, particularly in metas with heavy noncreature spell reliance.

How to beat

Winnow is a unique removal spell from Magic: The Gathering that demands specific conditions to be effective. Unlike broad-spectrum removal such as Path to Exile or Doom Blade, Winnow requires the target creature to be in play together with an artifact. This means that its effectiveness hinges heavily on your opponent’s board state. To strategically outmaneuver Winnow, consider playing decks that aren’t heavily reliant on artifacts. Alternatively, you can prioritize the use of hexproof or indestructible creatures to render Winnow ineffective.

Moreover, maintaining awareness of the potential for Winnow by keeping track of your artifact plays can provide an advantage. It could be beneficial to bait out Winnow with less crucial creatures before committing more important ones to the board. In the case where Winnow does become a threat, having instant-speed interaction like counterspells can help safeguard your key creatures and artifacts, securing your position and blunting the potential impact Winnow might have on your game plan.

Successfully negating the hindrances posed by Winnow hinges on a balanced combination of deck-building choices and tactical play. Employing these strategies can ensure that Winnow doesn’t pose a significant obstacle to your path to victory.

Cards like Winnow

Winnow is an intriguing utility card in the world of card removal in Magic: The Gathering, sitting alongside spells like Dispatch. Both cards require white mana and target nonland permanents, but where Dispatch demands metalcraft to be effective, Winnow can be cast without it. In casting Winnow, the added boon of drawing a card if the permanent is an artifact sweetens the deal, setting it apart from Dispatch’s unconditional, but solitary, removal.

Another relative in this category is Oblivion Ring. While Oblivion Ring can exile any nonland permanent at a cost of three mana, Winnow serves a similar function at a cheaper two mana cost, contingent on it being an artifact or enchantment. The subsidiary effect of drawing a card with Winnow provides a distinct advantage, offering card advantage along with pinpoint removal.

Deconstruct is also worth noting, offering removal of artifacts with the added benefit of generating three green mana. Nevertheless, Winnow’s elegance lies in its dual nature, balancing the acts of removal and card advantage. This makes it a particularly suitable choice for decks that prize efficiency and fluidity over the potential for mana acceleration.

Winnow excels in the arena of specialized removal spells within Magic: The Gathering, striking a harmonious balance between targeted exile actions and strategic card draw mechanics.

Cards similar to Winnow by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Winnow MTG card by a specific set like Invasion, 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 Winnow and other MTG cards: