Mayael the Anima Avatar MTG Card

Rarity	Rare
Type	Vanguard
Released	2003-01-01
Set symbol
Set name	Magic Online Avatars
Set code	PMOA
Number	86
Frame	2015
Layout	Vanguard
Border	Black
Illustred by	UDON

Key Takeaways

Gain advantage by summoning creatures without drawing, saving turns and surprising your opponents.
Mayael’s activation at instant speed allows for strategic bluffing and uninterrupted play.
Be mindful of Mayael’s specific mana needs and the trade-off of using her high-impact ability.

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library. If it's a creature card with power 5 or greater, put it into your hand. Otherwise, you may put it on the bottom of your library.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mayael the Anima shines by potentially putting powerful creatures directly onto the battlefield, bypassing the need for drawing them, thus saving you crucial turns and preserving the element of surprise against your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: This avatar’s ability to cheat high-cost creatures into play far earlier than usual accelerates your board presence. This can tip the scale in your favor, especially when facing decks that take time to set up defenses against formidable creatures.

Instant Speed: Mayael’s ability can be activated at the end of your opponent’s turn, keeping up the pressure and transforming your mana into a significant threat without interrupting your own turn’s strategy. This also allows you to bluff having other instant-speed interactions at your disposal, keeping your opponents guessing.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Players must be aware that Mayael the Anima doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Leveraging her ability comes at the steep price of needing other creatures in hand to discard, potentially depleting valuable resources.

Specific Mana Cost: With a specific mana requirement that spans three colors, red, green, and white, Mayael the Anima can be a challenging card to play, especially in the early game or in mana-strained situations.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Five mana to activate Mayael the Anima’s ability might seem fair for potential high-impact creature drops, yet it’s a significant investment. Staples like Elvish Piper can offer a similar effect at a lower total cost and more flexibility in resource allocation.

Reasons to Include Mayael the Anima Avatar Card in Your Collection

Versatility: Mayael the Anima provides players with the ability to access powerful creatures from the top of their library, making it an asset for decks that thrive on casting large creatures. Its flexibility allows it to adapt to various board states, creating opportunities for dynamic gameplay.

Combo Potential: With Mayael’s ability to cheat out creatures, it works seamlessly with cards that benefit from creatures entering the battlefield or with abilities triggered by high-powered creatures. This can lead to powerful interactions and surprising turns that can swing the game in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where fielding substantial creatures can provide a significant advantage, Mayael the Anima becomes a valuable asset. It allows decks to bypass traditional mana constraints and establish a formidable presence that can dominate the game if left unchecked.

How to Beat

Mayael the Anima serves as a cornerstone to many creature-heavy decks in MTG, due to her ability to cheat in powerful creatures from the top of the library. To counteract her, it’s essential to inhibit her activation or diminish the available creature pool. Targeted removal like Path to Exile or counterspells such as Negate can disrupt her ability to summon formidable threats onto the battlefield.

Graveyard control also proves very effective against Mayael centric strategies. With cards like Rest in Peace or Scavenging Ooze, you can remove key creatures from the game and minimize the impact of her ability. Moreover, board wipes, such as Wrath of God, ensure that even if creatures are summoned, they don’t stick around to dominate the game.

Strategy wise, applying consistent pressure by advancing your own game plan while keeping Mayael off balance is key. Whether through fast aggro decks that can outpace her slower, heavy hitting strategy, or controlling decks that can manage the threats as they come, maintaining control over the flow of the game is paramount to outmaneuvering Mayael the Anima’s potential.

Cards like Mayael the Anima Avatar

In the strategic world of Magic: The Gathering, Mayael the Anima stands out for her unique ability to cheat creatures onto the battlefield. This powerful effect draws comparisons with other noteworthy commanders like Elvish Piper, which allows for the placement of creatures into play almost seamlessly. However, Mayael’s advantage lies in her ability to look at the top cards of your library, offering a choice and thus greater control over what hits the field.

Sneak Attack is another card that echoes Mayael’s intention to get hefty creatures into play quickly. While Sneak Attack can be more explosive, allowing for multiple creatures in a single turn, it lacks the permanence of Mayael’s ability, as the creatures are sacrificed at the end of the turn. Quicksilver Amulet shares Mayael’s flavor of evading mana costs for creature spells, although it doesn’t provide the selection capability that Mayael offers.

Analyzing the mechanics and the different strategies these cards enable portrays Mayael the Anima as a formidable option for players looking to continuously deploy large creatures without the usual casting constraints, a testament to her enduring popularity in MTG Commander format.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mayael the Anima Avatar MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Avatars, 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 Mayael the Anima Avatar and other MTG cards: