Subtlety MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityMythic
TypeCreature — Elemental Incarnation
Abilities Evoke,Flying, Flash
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Subtlety can delay opponents while providing instant speed, giving players a strategic edge in gameplay.
  2. The Evoke cost of Subtlety allows resource acceleration, making it a clever tactical option in matches.
  3. While powerful, Subtlety requires careful hand and mana management, which impacts its overall utility.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash Flying When Subtlety enters the battlefield, choose up to one target creature spell or planeswalker spell. Its owner puts it on the top or bottom of their library. Evoke—Exile a blue card from your hand.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Subtlety offers a unique way to disrupt your opponent while maintaining card equilibrium. Unlike a traditional counterspell, it doesn’t fully stop a spell but effectively delays it. This can lead to a temporary card advantage as your opponent’s resources are tied up in waiting to replay their key cards.

Resource Acceleration: As part of its Evoke cost, Subtlety can be cast by simply exiling a blue card from your hand rather than paying its mana cost. This allows for a potentially quicker deployment of threats on your side of the board, as your mana can be preserved for other spells or accelerating your board presence.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Subtlety at instant speed provides a strategic edge. You have the flexibility to respond to opponents’ spells during their turn, all while keeping your options open. Subtlety’s surprise factor can shift the momentum of the game in your favor by countering your opponent’s significant creature spells when they least expect it.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When choosing to deploy Subtlety via its Evoke ability, players must be prepared to pay a steep price. This exchange requires the player to discard a card, potentially depleting their hand and sacrificing valuable resources that could be critical for maintaining momentum in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Subtlety’s casting cost demands a specific combination of blue mana. This requirement can pose a deck-building challenge, as it necessitates a commitment to blue mana sources, potentially limiting deck diversity and making the card less flexible for inclusion in multicolored strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a regular casting cost of two generic and two blue mana, Subtlety stands on the higher-end of the mana curve for its effect. This may deter some players from including it in their decks, as alternatives could provide similar disruption or tempo advantage at a lower cost, thereby allowing players to execute more actions or hold up counterspells within a single turn.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Subtlety can be a pivotal addition to decks geared towards control or tempo strategies. Its ability to disrupt opponents by returning creatures to their library is universally applicable, making it a flexible pick regardless of the opposing deck.

Combo Potential: This card’s Evoke mechanic allows for early game interaction without the need to hard-cast, potentially setting up for synergistic plays or fueling graveyard strategies alongside other combo pieces.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment dominated by creature-heavy decks or where powerhouse creatures dictate the pace, Subtlety stands out as a tool to keep those threats at bay and maintain board stability, ensuring its relevance in a variety of competitive scenes.


How to beat Subtlety

Subtlety is a crafty addition to the blue creature spells in Magic: The Gathering. This card can disrupt an opponent’s strategy by returning a creature or planeswalker to their owner’s library. To outmaneuver Subtlety, it’s essential to diversify your threats and not overcommit to the board. Consider casting spells that either can’t be countered or have effects that occur upon casting to mitigate the impact of Subtlety’s ability.

One effective strategy is to bait out Subtlety with a less critical spell before playing your high-value target. Also, employing cheap counter spells can protect your key spells from being bounced. Cards like Cavern of Souls that make your creatures uncounterable or spells with Flashback that provide value even from the graveyard are excellent ways to minimize Subtlety’s influence on the game.

In essence, defeating Subtlety involves smart baiting, employing redundancy in your threats, and utilizing abilities that can operate from the graveyard. By doing so, Subtlety’s potential to throw off your gameplay can be greatly diminished, allowing you to maintain control over the match and outmaneuver your blue opponent.


BurnMana Recommendations

The role of the card Subtlety in the diverse world of MTG cannot be overstated. With its unique disruptiveness and the strategic edge it offers, mastering its use can be a game-changer. Understanding when to cast it or choosing to Evoke can make all the difference in your matches. If you’re intrigued by the blend of resourceful tempo and cunning gameplay it provides, expanding your knowledge is key. Dig deeper into strategies that encompass Subtlety’s strengths, explore deck-building nuances, and learn to counteract its influence. Elevate your card-slinging prowess by studying with us and unravel the subtle art of MTG domination.


Cards like Subtlety

In the strategic landscape of Magic: The Gathering, Subtlety stands out as a unique option among disruptive cards. Comparable in some ways to well-known cards like Vendilion Clique, Subtlety offers a twist on creature-based interaction. Unlike Vendilion Clique’s ability to target an opponent’s hand and offer a limited form of control, Subtlety allows players to preemptively respond to an opponent’s creature spell, effectively delaying its cast. It’s a less intrusive but more strategically timed form of interference.

Another analogous card is Remand, which also serves to temporarily halt an opponent’s spell by returning it to their hand. Although Remand applies to any spell and draws a card, Subtlety offers the additional benefit of being a creature that can influence the battlefield state. Spell Queller is a further point of comparison, capable of exiling spells of a certain mana value. Subtlety, in contrast, doesn’t restrict based on mana value and can prove to be a more flexible form of disruption.

When analyzing these cards side by side, Subtlety affords a subtle yet powerful playstyle adaptation, enriching control strategies in the diverse metagame of MTG.

Vendilion Clique - MTG Card versions
Remand - MTG Card versions
Spell Queller - MTG Card versions
Vendilion Clique - Morningtide (MOR)
Remand - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Spell Queller - Eldritch Moon (EMN)

Cards similar to Subtlety by color, type and mana cost

Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Phantom Monster - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions
Archivist - MTG Card versions
Thieving Magpie - MTG Card versions
Inga Rune-Eyes - MTG Card versions
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
Laboratory Drudge - MTG Card versions
Johnny, Combo Player - MTG Card versions
Dream Prowler - MTG Card versions
Clone - MTG Card versions
Cytoplast Manipulator - MTG Card versions
Crookclaw Transmuter - MTG Card versions
Dreamborn Muse - MTG Card versions
Turtleshell Changeling - MTG Card versions
Glen Elendra Archmage - MTG Card versions
Fatestitcher - MTG Card versions
Argent Sphinx - MTG Card versions
Lumengrid Drake - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Forces - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Phantom Monster - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Wall of Vapor - Chronicles (CHR)
Tradewind Rider - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Archivist - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Thieving Magpie - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Inga Rune-Eyes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Laboratory Drudge - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Johnny, Combo Player - Unhinged (UNH)
Dream Prowler - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Clone - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Cytoplast Manipulator - Dissension (DIS)
Crookclaw Transmuter - Time Spiral (TSP)
Dreamborn Muse - Tenth Edition (10E)
Turtleshell Changeling - Lorwyn (LRW)
Glen Elendra Archmage - Eventide (EVE)
Fatestitcher - Shards of Alara (ALA)
Argent Sphinx - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Lumengrid Drake - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Subtlety MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Modern Horizons 2, 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 Subtlety and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Subtlety Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2021-06-18 and 2021-06-19. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 912272015normalblackSvetlin Velinov
22021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 672015normalblackAnastasia Ovchinnikova
32021-06-18Modern Horizons 2 Art SeriesAMH2 222015art_seriesborderlessAnastasia Ovchinnikova
42021-06-18Modern Horizons 2 Art SeriesAMH2 22s2015art_seriesborderlessAnastasia Ovchinnikova
52021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 3092015normalborderlessSvetlin Velinov
62021-06-19Modern Horizons 2 PromosPMH2 67s2015normalblackAnastasia Ovchinnikova

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Subtlety has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-06-18 A spell that's put into its owner's library doesn't resolve, but it isn't countered. This will work on spells that say they can't be countered.
2021-06-18 If you pay the evoke cost, you can have the creature's own triggered ability resolve before the evoke triggered ability. You can cast spells after that ability resolves but before you have to sacrifice the creature.
2021-06-18 Subtlety's triggered ability targets a spell on the stack. It can't target creatures or planeswalkers on the battlefield.
2021-06-18 The owner of the spell is the one who chooses whether it goes on the top or bottom of their library. All players will know this information.
2021-06-18 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as an evoke cost), add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined by only its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast that spell was.

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