Coastal Wizard MTG Card


Coastal Wizard - Portal Second Age
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Human Wizard
Released1998-06-24
Set symbol
Set namePortal Second Age
Set codeP02
Power 1
Toughness 1
Number34
Frame1997
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byEdward P. Beard, Jr.

Key Takeaways

  1. Coastal Wizard enhances game control with card drawing and hand-size management.
  2. Flexibility at instant speed makes it a surprising and strategic asset.
  3. Potential for combos and control makes Coastal Wizard a worthy addition.

Text of card

On your turn, before you attack, you may tap Coastal Wizard to return it and any one other creature to their owners' hands.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Coastal Wizard allows you to weave the tides of the game in your favor by potentially drawing into more options every turn. Consistently increasing your hand size can create an overwhelming advantage for you, effectively drowning your opponent in a sea of resources.

Resource Acceleration: This card’s abilities might synergize well with decks that manipulate the number of cards in hand, indirectly accelerating your resource management. The incremental gain from such interactions makes the Coastal Wizard a valuable addition, steering you towards victory with the ebb and flow of gameplay.

Instant Speed: The ability to act at instant speed grants the flexibility to respond to threats or capitalize on opportunities at the most advantageous moments. This can keep opponents guessing and unsure, allowing you to control the pace of the match. Coastal Wizard, with its instant speed interactions, embodies the element of surprise and strategy that is crucial in the world of MTG.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Coastal Wizard comes with a downside of having to discard a card to activate its ability. This can put players at a disadvantage, particularly in situations where the hand size is critical, or resources are already stretched thin.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Coastal Wizard requires a specific combination of blue and other mana, which makes it exclusively useful for blue-based or multicolor decks. This requirement can restrict the adaptability of the card when building mono-colored or non-blue decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The casting cost for Coastal Wizard might seem steep when benchmarked against other creatures with comparable abilities. It demands a significant amount of mana which could potentially be allocated towards more impactful spells or creatures that offer a better return on your mana investment.


Reasons to Include Coastal Wizard in Your Collection

Versatility: Coastal Wizard offers the ability to bounce creatures back to their owner’s hand. This makes it an excellent addition to decks that strive to control the tempo or exploit enter-the-battlefield effects.

Combo Potential: The Wizard’s ability pairs well with cards that have cast or enter-the-battlefield triggers, enabling repeated use of those abilities and creating opportunities for powerful combos.

Meta-Relevance: With a meta that heavily includes creatures, having the Coastal Wizard in your arsenal means you can keep the board clear and disrupt your opponent’s plans, maintaining a competitive edge.


How to beat

The Coastal Wizard card presents an intriguing challenge on the battlefield, emphasizing strategic manipulation of spells and abilities. In order to effectively counter this adept spellcaster, it’s essential to consider options that disrupt its usage or remove it directly from play. Direct removal spells, which serve to unconditionally eliminate creatures, are potent tools against Coastal Wizard. These can range from straightforward, such as Swords to Plowshares, to more nuanced, like Doom Blade, depending on the color of your deck.

Additionally, considering that Coastal Wizard thrives in an environment rich with instant and sorcery spells, incorporating cards that restrict spell casting or penalize it can tilt the odds back in your favor. Cards like Rule of Law or Eidolon of Rhetoric can overwhelmingly inhibit the Coastal Wizard’s ability to influence the game with its spell-slinging prowess. Decks that establish an early presence with aggressive creatures can also bypass Coastal Wizard’s strengths by pressuring the opponent before they fully establish their game plan. By preparing a diverse array of strategies, you can ensure that Coastal Wizard becomes less of a threat to your path to victory.


Cards like Coastal Wizard

Coastal Wizard offers a unique twist on creature-based strategies within MTG. Comparable to cards like Sea Gate Oracle, which similarly dips into the library for card advantage, the Coastal Wizard allows for a more targeted approach by shuffling unwanted cards back into the deck. Instead of the Oracle’s single card choice upon entering the battlefield, this Wizard provides ongoing deck manipulation.

Another card echoing the utility of the Coastal Wizard is Augur of Bolas, a creature well-loved for its ability to mine for an instant or sorcery card. While Augur of Bolas filters through the top three cards once, Coastal Wizard’s ability can be employed multiple times, albeit at a higher mana investment. Then we can look at Venser, Shaper Savant. Venser returns spells or permanents to their owner’s hands and acts as an interruption tool, which can be reminiscent of Coastal Wizard’s capability to disrupt strategic setups by altering hand contents. Venser’s effect is immediate, but Coastal Wizard provides a persistent threat that can alter game states continuously.

Overall, Coastal Wizard stands out with its ability to selectively manipulate both the player’s and opponent’s hand, ensuring its position as a versatile card in MTG among those that affect card and game flow.

Sea Gate Oracle - MTG Card versions
Augur of Bolas - MTG Card versions
Venser, Shaper Savant - MTG Card versions
Sea Gate Oracle - MTG Card versions
Augur of Bolas - MTG Card versions
Venser, Shaper Savant - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Coastal Wizard MTG card by a specific set like Portal Second Age, 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 Coastal Wizard and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Coastal Wizard has restrictions

FormatLegality
PredhLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2013-09-20 If a turn has multiple combat phases, the ability can only be activated before the beginning of the declare attackers step of the first combat phase in that turn.