Airborne Aid MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Released	2002-10-07
Set symbol
Set name	Onslaught
Set code	ONS
Number	62
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Bradley Williams

Key Takeaways

Draws multiple cards in flying-focused decks, significantly bolstering hand size and strategic options.
Instant speed allows flexible play, maximizing opportunities and maintaining mana efficiency.
Requires flying creature presence to extract full value, impacting deck construction and play style.

Text of card

Draw a card for each Bird in play.

"We help our Southern Order comrades as much as we can. But the Cabal's insidious influence spreads, dividing our forces and leaving new arrivals to fend for themselves." —Commander Eesha

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Airborne Aid is a potent tool for gathering more cards into your hand, particularly beneficial for players who capitalize on having a large quantity of creatures with the flying trait. As you draw a card for each creature with flying you control, the advantage scales with your board presence, potentially refilling your hand significantly and tipping the game in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: While Airborne Aid itself doesn’t create mana or treasure tokens directly, it can be a critical part of a resource acceleration strategy in decks that focus on drawing cards. More cards often mean more opportunities to land drops and cast more spells, which collectively accelerates your resources over the course of the game.

Instant Speed: Airborne Aid’s usefulness is heightened by its instant speed, allowing for flexibility in response to gameplay. It provides the option to wait until the end of your opponent’s turn to maximize the number of flying creatures you control, or to use your mana efficiently if no other actions are needed. This keeps opponents guessing and gives you the tactical advantage of adaptability.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Airborne Aid requires players to have a considerable number of creatures with flying on the battlefield to maximize its card draw potential, which could be a setback in decks not focused on such a synergy.

Specific Mana Cost: Its casting cost includes blue mana, which necessitates a commitment to that color and can restrict the card’s inclusion in multicolored decks or those that don’t support blue mana as effectively.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The card costs four mana, which may be on the higher side when considering other card drawing options available in the game. The payoff is directly proportional to the number of flying creatures you control, which could be inconsistent at times.

Reasons to Include Airborne Aid in Your Collection

Versatility: Airborne Aid is a card that seamlessly integrates into any deck focusing on flying creatures. It offers card draw proportional to the number of flyers, making it a great addition for decks that swing in the air regularly.

Combo Potential: This card can be a key component in synergistic strategies, playing well with effects that multiply the presence of flying creatures or ways to make all your creatures gain flight temporarily, increasing the card draw yield significantly.

Meta-Relevance: In a game landscape where flying creatures are a common sight, Airborne Aid could help keep your hand full and provide a continuous flow of resources, maintaining the pace against other tempo-heavy or creature-based decks.

How to beat Airborne Aid

Airborne Aid, a card unique to the nuances of flying creature strategies, presents a compelling twist on card advantage in Magic: The Gathering. This card allows its controller to draw a card for each creature with flying they control, effectively turning an aerial squadron into a sizable hand refill. Though it excels in a deck teeming with winged threats, it’s not without its vulnerabilities.

To mitigate the impact of Airborne Aid, it is essential to control the skies. Utilize removal spells or effects that can sweep multiple targets, such as “Wrath of God” or “Pyroclasm,” to keep your opponent’s flying creatures at bay. These are effective measures to preemptively reduce the value that Airborne Aid can potentially provide. Additionally, cards that strip an opponent’s hand can be useful, as casting a “Thoughtseize” or “Inquisition of Kozilek” can disrupt their plans and leave Airborne Aid stranded in their hand without targets.

Deck building with Airborne Aid in mind means preparing flexible answers to flying threats while managing your own board state. This dual approach will not only diminish the card’s power but also put you in a controlling position, no matter how many wings your opponent might deploy.

Cards like Airborne Aid

Airborne Aid is a unique spell in the realm of Magic: The Gathering that rewards players for having creatures with the flying ability. When it comes to drawing cards, it finds a parallel in Keep Watch, which also allows card draw based on creatures but with a different condition, focusing on creatures attacking that turn. Unlike Airborne Aid, it does not require the creatures to have flying.

Another card that shares the spirit of Airborne Aid is Bident of Thassa, which turns any damaged dealt by your creatures with flying or otherwise into card draw. Bident of Thassa boasts permanence on the field as an enchantment, while Airborne Aid has a one-time effect upon casting. Then there is Coastal Piracy, which has a consistent card drawing mechanic for attacking creatures without singling out any particular ability.

Overall, Airborne Aid provides a tailored benefit for those with a strategy lifting off the ground, so to speak. It can offer tremendous card advantage in the right deck, similar yet distinctly more niche than its card-drawing counterparts in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Airborne Aid by color, type and mana cost

Inscription of Insight - MTG Card versions

Argivian Restoration - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Airborne Aid MTG card by a specific set like Onslaught, 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 Airborne Aid and other MTG cards: