Shard Phoenix MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 9 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Phoenix
Abilities Flying
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Repeated board clears from Shard Phoenix disrupt opponents, maintaining a player’s card advantage.
  2. Instant speed activation allows surprise plays, swinging momentum in the player’s favor during matches.
  3. Players should consider graveyard disruption to effectively counter Shard Phoenix’s resilience.

Text of card

Flying o Ro Roo R Put Shard Phoenix into your hand. Use this ability only if Shard Phoenix is in your graveyard and only during your upkeep. Sacrifice Shard Phoenix: Shard Phoenix deals 2 damage to each creature without flying.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Shard Phoenix offers a strategic edge through its recursion ability. By sacrificing it, you not only deal damage to all creatures but you also have the option to return it to your hand during your upkeep. This repeatable process ensures that you have a perpetual threat, maintaining card advantage over your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: While Shard Phoenix itself doesn’t directly produce additional mana or resources, its ability to control the board by clearing smaller creatures can accelerate your game plan by keeping the opponent’s resources in check. This allows you to progress through the game with less resistance, helping to pave the way for your more impactful plays.

Instant Speed: The phoenix’s sacrifice ability can be activated at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions during their turn. This surprise element can disrupt their strategy, particularly if they are committing to a wide attack or need specific creatures to execute their game plan.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike other creatures that can be played with no additional costs, Shard Phoenix necessitates the sacrifice of another creature for its return from the graveyard to hand. This can be problematic when you’re aiming to maintain board presence.

Specific Mana Cost: Shard Phoenix requires a specific combination of mana types to cast—three generic and one red mana. This restricts the card’s flexibility as it’s less compatible with multi-color or non-red decks that might struggle to consistently produce the required mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total mana cost of four, Shard Phoenix is a considerable investment, especially when compared to other cards with similar or greater effects for a lower mana investment. This could make it a less appealing choice for players looking to optimize their mana curve.


Reasons to Include Shard Phoenix in Your Collection

Versatility: Shard Phoenix offers flexibility, thriving in decks that can capitalize on its repeatable flying threat as well as its ability to sweep the board of smaller creatures. This makes it an adaptable card that can find a home in various strategies.

Combo Potential: This fiery fowl boasts inherent synergy with strategies that benefit from sacrificing creatures. Its recursion ability can be exploited to repeatedly gain value from death triggers or fuel graveyard-based mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: Should the environment be saturated with aggressive strategies employing numerous small creatures, Shard Phoenix emerges as a key stabilizer. Additionally, as players build their decks around graveyard utility, this phoenix aligns seamlessly, adding strategic depth to your game plan.


How to beat

Shard Phoenix serves as a formidable creature in Magic: The Gathering, known for its resilience and ability to disrupt the playing field. The card’s standout feature is its recursion ability, allowing it to return from the graveyard to your hand. This, coupled with its potential for mass removal of smaller creatures, can pose a real challenge. To effectively counter this fiery bird, players should strategize around graveyard disruption or employ spells that exile it directly, thus preventing its return.

Utilization of cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can prove to be particularly effective, as they attack the root of Shard Phoenix’s power by removing its graveyard comeback mechanic. Additionally, executing removal spells like Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares ensures that once the Phoenix is dealt with, it stays out of play, circumventing its recurrent nature. These strategies, when applied correctly, can neutralize the Phoenix’s impact and tilt the match in your favor. Anticipating its arrival and keeping the aforementioned solutions at hand can transform a seemingly difficult obstacle into a manageable challenge within your MTG game.


Cards like Shard Phoenix

Shard Phoenix has captured the attention of Magic: The Gathering players with its unique blend of attributes and abilities. This fiery creature stands out in the pantheon of phoenix cards. With its ability to return to a player’s hand from the graveyard, Shard Phoenix shares a thematic similarity with other phoenixes such as Chandra’s Phoenix, which also has the capability to rise from the ashes of the graveyard under certain conditions. However, Shard Phoenix requires a mana investment to return, differentiating it from the automatic trigger seen with Chandra’s Phoenix.

Another card worth comparing is the Flamewake Phoenix. Much like Shard Phoenix, Flamewake can be returned from the graveyard to the battlefield, though it banks on the ferocious condition being met. Additionally, the two cards differ in their damage-dealing capabilities; Shard Phoenix can deal damage to each creature without flying when sacrificed, giving it potential as a board sweeper. Akoum Firebird also bears some resemblance in its resurgence mechanic but stands apart with its landfall trigger and emphasis on attacking each turn if able.

Ultimately, Shard Phoenix presents itself as a versatile option within phoenix-themed cards, offering both a recurring threat and a strategic tool for controlling the board state in Magic: The Gathering.

Chandra's Phoenix - MTG Card versions
Flamewake Phoenix - MTG Card versions
Akoum Firebird - MTG Card versions
Chandra's Phoenix - Magic 2012 Promos (PM12)
Flamewake Phoenix - Fate Reforged Promos (PFRF)
Akoum Firebird - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)

Cards similar to Shard Phoenix by color, type and mana cost

Fire Elemental - MTG Card versions
Earth Elemental - MTG Card versions
Eron the Relentless - MTG Card versions
Balduvian War-Makers - MTG Card versions
Hivis of the Scale - MTG Card versions
Hulking Cyclops - MTG Card versions
Flame Spirit - MTG Card versions
Flowstone Salamander - MTG Card versions
Ma Chao, Western Warrior - MTG Card versions
Covetous Dragon - MTG Card versions
Dwarven Strike Force - MTG Card versions
Volatile Arsonist // Dire-Strain Anarchist - MTG Card versions
Tephraderm - MTG Card versions
Avarax - MTG Card versions
Bonethorn Valesk - MTG Card versions
Frost Ogre - MTG Card versions
Heartless Hidetsugu - MTG Card versions
Soul of Magma - MTG Card versions
Hunted Dragon - MTG Card versions
Torchling - MTG Card versions
Fire Elemental - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Earth Elemental - Salvat 2011 (PS11)
Eron the Relentless - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Balduvian War-Makers - Alliances (ALL)
Hivis of the Scale - Mirage (MIR)
Hulking Cyclops - Visions (VIS)
Flame Spirit - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Flowstone Salamander - Tempest (TMP)
Ma Chao, Western Warrior - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Covetous Dragon - World Championship Decks 1999 (WC99)
Dwarven Strike Force - Odyssey (ODY)
Volatile Arsonist // Dire-Strain Anarchist - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Tephraderm - Onslaught (ONS)
Avarax - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Bonethorn Valesk - Scourge (SCG)
Frost Ogre - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Heartless Hidetsugu - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Soul of Magma - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Hunted Dragon - The List (PLST)
Torchling - Planar Chaos (PLC)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shard Phoenix MTG card by a specific set like Stronghold and Junior Super Series, 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 Shard Phoenix and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Shard Phoenix Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 1998-03-02 and 2015-05-06. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-03-02StrongholdSTH 971997normalblackPaolo Parente
21999-12-01Junior Super SeriesPSUS 132003normalblackRon Spencer
32002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 363082003normalblackRon Spencer
42003-01-01Japan Junior TournamentPJJT 2N062003normalblackRon Spencer
52005-01-01Junior Series EuropePJSE 2E062003normalblackRon Spencer
62005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 2172003normalwhitePaolo Parente
72005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 217★2003normalblackPaolo Parente
82006-01-01Junior APAC SeriesPJAS 2U062003normalblackRon Spencer
92015-05-06Tempest RemasteredTPR 1582015normalblackPaolo Parente

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Shard Phoenix has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2005-08-01 Shard Phoenix uses Last Known Information. If, for example, it was blue when it was sacrificed, the damage will come from a blue source.
2005-08-01 You can return Shard Phoenix any time during your upkeep; this is not a beginning of upkeep triggered ability.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks