Prescient Chimera MTG Card

Theros (THS)
2013-09-27 - Number 59

Jumpstart (JMP)
2020-07-17 - Number 164

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Chimera
Abilities	Flying,Scry
Power	3
Toughness	4

Key Takeaways

Scrying with every spell cast presents consistent deck manipulation, aiding in strategic planning.
Requires additional spells to activate, potentially increasing the cost of its utility.
Mana-specific and comparatively costly, which may limit deck integration options.

Text of card

Flying Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, scry 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom of your library.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Prescient Chimera provides value by allowing you to scry 1 whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, offering the chance to improve your draws and maintain a higher quality of cards in hand throughout the game.

Resource Acceleration: Although the Chimera itself doesn’t directly generate resources, its scrying ability ensures that you more consistently draw into your mana sources or key spells, effectively accelerating your access to necessary resources.

Instant Speed: This creature synergizes well with instant speed spells. Casting these on your opponent’s turn not only disrupts their strategy but also optimizes the Chimera’s scrying ability, ensuring its effect is utilized often and your game plan remains a step ahead.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Prescient Chimera offers an interesting play dynamic, it does require a non-trivial setup to unlock its full potential. Players must cast another spell to trigger the ability to scry 1, which might necessitate discarding valuable cards from hand in certain situations, reducing strategic flexibility.

Specific Mana Cost: Mana cost can be a hiccup in constructing a smooth deck. Prescient Chimera asks for a precise combination of two blue and three generic mana. This specific requirement limits the card’s incorporation into multicolored decks and can be challenging to fulfill in the early game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Mana efficiency is paramount in the pace of contemporary play. With a total casting cost of five mana for a 3/4 flying creature, Prescient Chimera sits at a higher mana value compared to other creatures that provide immediate impact upon entering the battlefield or have lower mana costs with similar or better abilities.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Prescient Chimera brings flexibility to the table, easily sliding into spell-heavy blue decks, and offering both offensive and defensive capabilities with its respectable flying body.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with instants and sorceries, as it permits scrying and thus improves deck manipulation to set up future draws or combo pieces.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where cerebral gameplay takes the forefront, Prescient Chimera offers consistent value by keeping your deck streamlined and keeping threats at bay from the skies.

How to beat Prescient Chimera

Prescient Chimera is a unique creature card that allows players to scry when they cast an instant or sorcery spell, offering valuable deck manipulation in Magic: The Gathering. Although it’s not the most formidable creature in terms of power and toughness, the scrying ability can be a thorn in your side as your opponent fine-tunes their strategy and pulls ahead in the game.

To handle this winged threat, consider using removal spells that can bypass its flying ability, such as Murder or Doom Blade. Utilizing instant-speed interactions is key to catching your opponent off-guard and nullifying the Chimera’s advantage. Another strategy is to include cards in your deck that can silence a creature’s abilities. Cards like Darksteel Mutation or Frogify can neutralize Prescient Chimera’s impact on the game by stripping away its abilities, rendering the scry effect inert and making it an ordinary creature.

Face-to-face with this peculiar beast, remember that disrupting its synergy with instant and sorcery spells is paramount. Play smart, anticipate the right moment for removal, and the victory could be yours, ensuring the Prescient Chimera’s foresight falls short on the battlefield.

Cards like Prescient Chimera

Prescient Chimera stands out in the realm of creature cards with spell manipulation abilities in MTG. This flying chimera not only deals a solid punch from the skies but also lets you scry whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, making it somewhat of a library-arranging maestro. Weighing Prescient Chimera against its kin like Augury Owl, which offers a scry 3 upon entering the battlefield, it becomes evident that the Chimera provides ongoing value with every spell cast, versus the owl’s one-time foresight.

A fair comparison can also be drawn with Prognostic Sphinx, which shares the flying trait and brings along a scry 3 whenever it attacks. Both cards excel in different stages of the game—Prescient Chimera for consistent deck filtering with spells and Prognostic Sphinx adding muscle and foresight to your attacks. Then there’s Omenspeaker, a ground-bound creature that lets you scry 2 upon its arrival, offering an immediate but not recurring advantage in organizing the top cards of your library.

In assessing the strategic value in various creature-based scry mechanics, Prescient Chimera asserts itself as a persistent and synergetic force for players who cast numerous instants and sorceries, maintaining relevance throughout the game’s progression.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Prescient Chimera MTG card by a specific set like Theros and Jumpstart, 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 Prescient Chimera and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Prescient Chimera Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2013-09-27 and 2020-07-17. Illustrated by Daarken.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2013-09-27	Theros	THS		59	2003	Normal	Black	Daarken
2	2020-07-17	Jumpstart	JMP		164	2015	Normal	Black	Daarken

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Prescient Chimera has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-15	Scry appears on some spells and abilities with one or more targets. If all of the spell or ability's targets are illegal when it tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won't scry.
2013-09-15	The triggered ability will resolve and you'll scry before the instant or sorcery spell resolves.
2013-09-15	When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom.
2013-09-15	You choose how to order cards returned to your library after scrying no matter where you put them.
2013-09-15	You perform the actions stated on a card in sequence. For some spells and abilities, that means you'll scry last. For others, that means you'll scry and then perform other actions.