Serendib Djinn MTG Card
1993-12-17 - Number 19
2011-01-10 - Number 61
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Djinn |
| Abilities | Flying |
| Power | 5 |
| Toughness | 6 |
Key Takeaways
- Serendib Djinn pressures opponents, possibly leading to card advantage through forced resource expenditure.
- Demands strategic land management to mitigate its unique upkeep cost and maintain tempo.
- Combines potent abilities and aggression, challenging players to maximize its high-risk stance.
Text of card
Flying During your upkeep, you must choose one of your own lands and destroy it. If you destroy an island in this manner, Serendib Djinn does 3 damage to you. Serendib Djinn is destroyed immediately if at any time you have no land in play.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Serendib Djinn provides an ongoing threat that can consistently pressure an opponent. Its ability to consistently deal damage every turn can force the opponent to answer it or fall behind, potentially leading to card advantage as they expend resources to deal with the Djinn.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating resources in the traditional sense of providing additional mana, Serendib Djinn’s relatively high power helps speed up the game in your favor. This can indirectly lead to a form of resource acceleration as you might reach the endgame quicker than your opponent, especially in an aggressive strategy where the Djinn’s power can be a significant advantage.
Instant Speed: Although Serendib Djinn is a creature cast at sorcery speed, the instant speed of many protective spells that can be used in conjunction with the Djinn can become pivotal. Counterspells, bounce spells, or instant-speed buffs that help protect or leverage the Djinn’s abilities during the opponent’s turn can significantly reinforce its presence on the battlefield.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Among the drawbacks of Serendib Djinn is its upkeep demand that obliges players to sacrifice an Island every turn or face discarding the Djinn itself. This can quickly deplete a player’s valuable land resources, particularly in mono-blue or island-heavy decks.
Specific Mana Cost: Serendib Djinn’s casting cost requires three blue mana symbols, limiting its inclusion mainly to blue-centric or mono-blue decks. This specific mana cost can be challenging in multicolored mana bases, rendering the card less flexible across various deck archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total casting cost of four mana, including the three blue mana, it has a high initial cost relative to other creatures. Its casting cost demands a certain tempo that may not always align with the player’s strategy, especially given its demanding upkeep costs and vulnerability to land destruction.
Reasons to Include Serendib Djinn in Your Collection
Versatility: Serendib Djinn offers a unique set of abilities, making it a powerful creature that fits well into blue-centric control or aggressive decks. Its ability to fly gives it an edge in evading ground defense, and its substantial power makes it a consistent threat on the board.
Combo Potential: With the ability to bring significant damage every turn, Serendib Djinn works well in combos that manipulate or take advantage of the upkeep sacrifice requirement, turning a potential drawback into a strategic asset for canny players.
Meta-Relevance: In a game that values powerful creatures and long-term board presence, Serendib Djinn remains relevant. Its impact on the game can be immediate and substantial, pressuring opponents and dictating the pace of the match.
How to beat
Serendib Djinn, while a potent force in MTG, requires careful deck management to get around its drawbacks. Primarily, it demands a sacrifice of an Island during your upkeep, and should you run out of Islands, it blows itself to smithereens, along with the rest of your lands. To effectively counter this aerial threat, targeted removal spells are key—think along the lines of Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile, which remove the Djinn without triggering its cataclysmic effect.
Ensnaring this Djinn can also involve manipulating your opponent’s lands. Cards like Blood Moon can transform all nonbasic lands into mountains, reducing the Island count and leveraging the Djinn’s own downside. Furthermore, playing around with countermagic when the Djinn is cast ensures that the threat never hits the battlefield. Strategies should be adaptable; containing the Djinn before the high-flying havoc begins is paramount.
In essence, understanding both timing and the art of removal is vital. When facing Serendib Djinn, preparedness and prediction turn the tides of battle, keeping lands safe and the Djinn at bay.
Cards like Serendib Djinn
Serendib Djinn, one of the compelling creatures from the early days of Magic: The Gathering, is often measured against its contemporaries from the “Arabian Nights” expansion. Its counterparts, like Erhnam Djinn, provide an interesting comparison. Erhnam Djinn offers a simpler cost-to-effect ratio, giving players a straightforwardly powerful creature without the upkeep sacrifice required by Serendib Djinn. On the other hand, Serendib Djinn delivers a more aggressive flying capability, making it a formidable threat from the skies.
Looking beyond the Djinn family, Mahamoti Djinn appears as another benchmark within the realm of blue creatures. While it lacks the initial board impact of Serendib Djinn, Mahamoti Djinn’s freedom from upkeep costs and its sustained aerial dominance make it a strong alternative for control-focused decks. These comparisons underline Serendib Djinn’s high-risk, high-reward playstyle, calling for strategic finesse and timing.
Thus, when evaluating Serendib Djinn alongside similar Magic: The Gathering cards, its unique combination of raw power and upkeep drawback carves out a distinctive niche, challenging players to leverage its strengths while navigating its complex cost.
Cards similar to Serendib Djinn by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Serendib Djinn MTG card by a specific set like Arabian Nights and Masters Edition IV, 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 Serendib Djinn and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Serendib Djinn Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1993-12-17 and 2011-01-10. Illustrated by Anson Maddocks.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1993-12-17 | Arabian Nights | ARN | 19 | 1993 | Normal | Black | Anson Maddocks | |
| 2 | 2011-01-10 | Masters Edition IV | ME4 | 61 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Anson Maddocks |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Serendib Djinn has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Oldschool | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Serendib Djinn card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2004-10-04 | The sacrifice of the land is done during the resolution of the triggered ability. You also choose the land at that time. |
