Blade Instructor MTG Card
2018-10-05 - Number 1
2019-11-07 - Number 37
2020-09-26 - Number GRN-1
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Human Soldier |
| Abilities | Mentor |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 1 |
Key Takeaways
- Mentor ability enhances smaller creatures, subtly growing your board without extra card draws.
- Blade Instructor’s combat boost at attack declaration can be a game-changer.
- Demands strategic deck building due to specific mana requirements and discard effects.
Text of card
Mentor (Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on target attacking creature with lesser power.)
"Watch carefully. The gap between death and victory is thinner than your blade."
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While the Blade Instructor does not directly allow you to draw cards, mentoring a smaller creature essentially places another +1/+1 counter in your card inventory, subtly increasing your board presence without the need for additional cards.
Resource Acceleration: Blade Instructor might not produce mana or tokens, but its mentor ability effectively ‘accelerates’ your resources by enhancing your creatures’ power and toughness, giving you more bang for your creature investments.
Instant Speed: Although the Blade Instructor operates at sorcery speed, its impact is immediately felt during combat, which can be pivotal—granting a permanent power boost at the moment you’re declaring attackers can alter your opponent’s calculations and potentially swing the game in your favor.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Unlike other cards that allow you to maintain your hand strength, Blade Instructor mandates you to discard a card under some gameplay situations, potentially depleting key resources at crucial moments.
Specific Mana Cost: With its specific mana requirement leaning towards white, Blade Instructor demands a particular color composition which might not seamlessly integrate into all deck builds, limiting its versatility.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: For its mana cost, Blade Instructor’s impact on the board might not measure up favorably against other creatures in the same mana range, considering its stats and effects.
Reasons to Include Blade Instructor in Your Collection
Versatility: Blade Instructor is a flexible addition to any aggressive deck looking to increase its creature power. With mentor ability, it ensures that smaller creatures become significant threats as well.
Combo Potential: The mentor mechanic naturally supports and intensifies proliferate-strategies or any scenario where +1/+1 counters synergize with your battlefield lineup, making Blade Instructor a solid choice for combos in such decks.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where combat-focused strategies prevail, Blade Instructor can consistently strengthen your other creatures, making it a resilient and relevant pick for those seeking to enhance their aggro tactics.
How to beat
Blade Instructor is a capable creature card in Magic: The Gathering that can become a persistent problem on the battlefield due to its mentor ability. To effectively neutralize its impact, prioritize removing it quickly with removal spells. Swift action with cards like Shock or Murder can eliminate the Instructor before the mentor ability boosts fellow creatures. Exploit the Instructor’s weakness in toughness by engaging it in combat with stronger creatures or using damage-based removal like Lightning Strike.
Alternatively, counterplay strategies such as negating attacks with cards like Fog, or through the clever deployment of deathtouch creatures to deter or neutralize mentor-supported attacks are effective. Maintaining board control with consistent creature removal or presenting threats that require immediate answers from your opponent can distract from the Instructor’s mentoring, minimizing the card’s impact and swiftly turning the tides of the match in your favor.
In essence, focus on early intervention and control tactics to prevent Blade Instructor from amplifying your opponent’s board state, ensuring that this mentoring instructor does not graduate its pupils into a more formidable army on the playing field.
Cards like Blade Instructor
Blade Instructor, a creature card in MTG, merits comparison with other mentor-focused cards in the game. Standing as a 3/1 creature, this card embodies the mentor mechanic, allowing players to bolster smaller creatures in combat. A parallel can be drawn with another mentor card, Wojek Bodyguard. Wojek Bodyguard is slightly tougher with a 3/3 body, but it requires another creature to attack, which can be seen as a drawback compared to the more flexible Blade Instructor.
Conclave Mentor from the recent sets is another card worth mentioning. While it doesn’t have mentor, it bolsters the +1/+1 counter strategy that meshes well with the mentor mechanic, indirectly enhancing the benefits provided by Blade Instructor’s ability. Training Caracal, albeit lacking the mentor ability, is a creature with comparable stats, being a 3/1 as well, reinforcing the sense of camaraderie within the low-cost creatures that can benefit from the Blade Instructor’s mentor ability. Each card optimizes creature interactions in their own way, offering diversity in strategic approaches to creature-based decks.
Ultimately, Blade Instructor holds its ground amidst the pool of mentor and counter-centric cards in MTG, providing a unique combination of offensive enhancement and strategic creature growth.
Cards similar to Blade Instructor by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Blade Instructor MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica and Mystery Booster, 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 Blade Instructor 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 Blade Instructor Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-10-05 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Zoltan Boros.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018-10-05 | Guilds of Ravnica | GRN | 1 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Zoltan Boros | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 37 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Zoltan Boros | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | GRN-1 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Zoltan Boros |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Blade Instructor has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Blade Instructor card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-05 | If the creature with mentor leaves the battlefield with mentor on the stack, use its power as that creature last existed on the battlefield to determine whether the target creature has less power. |
| 2018-10-05 | If the target creature’s power is no longer less than the attacking creature’s power as the ability resolves, mentor doesn’t add a +1/+1 counter. For example, if two 3/3 creatures with mentor attack and both mentor triggers target the same 2/2 creature, the first to resolve puts a +1/+1 counter on it and the second does nothing. |
| 2018-10-05 | Mentor compares the power of the creature with mentor with that of the target creature at two different times: once as the triggered ability is put onto the stack, and once as the triggered ability resolves. If you wish to raise a creature’s power so its mentor ability can target a bigger creature, the last chance you have to do so is during the beginning of combat step. |
