Air Servant MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Elemental
Abilities Flying
Power 4
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Air Servant controls the aerial battlefield, providing a tactical edge in matches with flying creatures.
  2. Resource-heavy and blue mana-dependent, Air Servant can challenge deck versatility and efficiency.
  3. Despite its power, smart removal and flying countermeasures can effectively mitigate Air Servant’s dominance.

Text of card

Flying : Tap target creature with flying.

"Wind is forceful, yet ephemeral. It can knock a dragon out of the sky, yet pass through the smallest crack unhindered." —Jestus Dreya, *Of Elements and Eternity*


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Air Servant’s ability to lock down opposing flyers gives you a form of virtual card advantage, effectively negating the utility of your opponent’s aerial threats and leaving you in control of the skies.

Resource Acceleration: While the Air Servant itself does not directly provide resource acceleration, its presence can protect your other mana-producing creatures from flying attackers, ensuring your mana base remains intact for strategic plays.

Instant Speed: The wind servant’s ability to tap flying creatures operates at instant speed, allowing you to respond to threats on the fly and surprising opponents who might not account for the flexibility of your defenses during their turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Air Servant doesn’t directly demand that you discard, holding it in your hand could prevent you from playing other cards, causing indirect pressure to discard strategically.

Specific Mana Cost: Its mana requirement includes two blue, which can limit gameplay to decks that support heavy blue mana or dual lands, potentially restricting deck diversity.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, including two blue, it could be criticized for its mana inefficiency, especially when there are alternatives with lower mana costs or more impactful board presence.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Air Servant provides an impressive skill set suitable for decks that leverage flying mechanics. As a creature with the ability to control the skies, it can become a substantial threat in both offensive and defensive scenarios.

Combo Potential: This card’s ability to tap target creature with flying opens doorways for synergies with cards that profit from tapping or untapping creatures, along with various other control strategies.

Meta-Relevance: With the right setup, Air Servant has the potential to excel in a meta where flyers are prevalent. It fits snugly into decks tailored to dominate aerial combat and can disrupt opponents who rely on flying creatures.


How to beat

Air Servant is a powerful flyer in Magic: The Gathering that can dominate the skies with its ability to both attack from above and potentially lock down opposing creatures with flying. With its 4/3 body and the wind control ability, it poses a significant threat on the battlefield. However, like all creatures, it has weaknesses that can be exploited. To counter this airborne threat, removal spells are a valuable asset to any player’s arsenal. Including versatile removal like Doom Blade or Path to Exile in your deck can swiftly take an Air Servant out of the skies. Deck strategies that heavily utilize reach or flying creatures of their own can also help maintain aerial superiority against this threat. Another effective method is to employ enchantments that negate flying abilities, grounding the Air Servant and making it vulnerable to a broader range of blockers and other battlefield interactions.

Ensnaring cards that restrict the ability to tap for the wind control can also be a viable counter. Ultimately, playing smart around the Air Servant’s capacities, while ensuring that you have the means to remove or neutralize it before it becomes insurmountable, is key to overcoming this card’s potential impact on the game.


Cards like Air Servant

Air Servant is a powerful flyer in Magic: The Gathering, well placed within the blue strategies focusing on air dominance. When sized up against other creatures like Cloud Elemental, which also has a flying ability, Air Servant shines due to its additional skill to control the battlefield by tapping down opposing flyers. While Cloud Elemental is a more cost-effective creature in terms of mana, Air Servant brings versatility and board control into play.

Wind Drake serves as another point of comparison, a steady airborne threat in a player’s arsenal. Although it shares the same casting cost as Air Servant, it lacks the extra functionality and sheer size that the Servant provides. This makes Air Servant a favorable choice for those looking to exert more influence over aerial combat. On the upper end of the mana scale, we encounter cards like Sphinx of Magosi, which also offers powerful flying capabilities, coupled with card drawing and buffing itself. However, its higher mana cost can be a decisive factor in gameplay choices.

Considering the aspects of cost-effectiveness, combat presence, and utility, Air Servant stands out as a robust option for control-oriented deck builders and players seeking to command the skies in Magic: The Gathering.

Cloud Elemental - MTG Card versions
Wind Drake - MTG Card versions
Sphinx of Magosi - MTG Card versions
Cloud Elemental - Visions (VIS)
Wind Drake - Portal (POR)
Sphinx of Magosi - Rise of the Eldrazi (ROE)

Cards similar to Air Servant by color, type and mana cost

Vesuvan Doppelganger - MTG Card versions
Water Elemental - MTG Card versions
Air Elemental - MTG Card versions
Pirate Ship - MTG Card versions
Sandbar Crocodile - MTG Card versions
Segovian Leviathan - MTG Card versions
Psionic Entity - MTG Card versions
Taniwha - MTG Card versions
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - MTG Card versions
Wu Admiral - MTG Card versions
Mawcor - MTG Card versions
Timin, Youthful Geist - MTG Card versions
Geology Enthusiast - MTG Card versions
Dreamtail Heron - MTG Card versions
Coastal Hornclaw - MTG Card versions
Meloku the Clouded Mirror - MTG Card versions
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - MTG Card versions
Richard Garfield, Ph.D. - MTG Card versions
Cloudhoof Kirin - MTG Card versions
Drelnoch - MTG Card versions
Vesuvan Doppelganger - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Water Elemental - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Air Elemental - Core Set 2020 (M20)
Pirate Ship - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Sandbar Crocodile - Media Inserts (PMEI)
Segovian Leviathan - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Psionic Entity - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Taniwha - Mirage (MIR)
Sun Ce, Young Conquerer - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Wu Admiral - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Mawcor - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Timin, Youthful Geist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Geology Enthusiast - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Dreamtail Heron - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Coastal Hornclaw - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Meloku the Clouded Mirror - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Commander Masters (CMM)
Richard Garfield, Ph.D. - Unhinged (UNH)
Cloudhoof Kirin - Saviors of Kamigawa (SOK)
Drelnoch - Coldsnap (CSP)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Air Servant MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2011 and Magic 2014, 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 Air Servant and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Air Servant Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2010-07-16 and 2016-04-08. Illustrated by Lars Grant-West.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-07-16Magic 2011M11 422003normalblackLars Grant-West
22013-07-19Magic 2014M14 422003normalblackLars Grant-West
32014-06-06ConspiracyCNS 902003normalblackLars Grant-West
42015-05-22Modern Masters 2015MM2 402015normalblackLars Grant-West
52016-04-08Welcome Deck 2016W16 42015normalblackLars Grant-West

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Air Servant has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

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