Nakaya Shade MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Shade
Released	2000-06-05
Set symbol
Set name	Prophecy
Set code	PCY
Power	1
Toughness	1
Number	69
Frame	1997
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Ray Lago

Key Takeaways

Nakaya Shade can generate card advantage, disrupting foes while maintaining your hand size.
Subtle resource acceleration is achievable with Nakaya Shade, aiding mana efficiency.
Inclusion in decks boosts versatility and combo potential, reinforcing graveyard strategies.

Text of card

oo B Nakaya Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn unless any player pays .

Made strong by reckless magic. Made horrid by reckless strife.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nakaya Shade can be a key player in creating card advantage, giving you the upper hand. When you play this card, you’re not just putting a creature on the battlefield; you’re potentially disrupting your opponent’s strategy while maintaining your hand size with its ability to draw cards upon dealing damage to a player.

Resource Acceleration: It may seem like an understated creature at first glance, but Nakaya Shade offers subtle resource acceleration. While it doesn’t directly produce additional mana or treasures, it does help you get ahead by keeping mana open to play other spells or abilities during your turn.

Instant Speed: The ability to act at instant speed is a tactical advantage, and while Nakaya Shade itself does not have this feature, it works well with spells and abilities you can cast at instant speed. Playing Nakaya Shade strategically can influence your adversaries to leave mana untapped, giving you leeway to operate with your instant speed tricks and answers.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In playing Nakaya Shade, a player must discard a card to leverage its full potential. This can be particularly taxing when your hand is already depleted, forcing you to weigh the benefits against the cost of losing additional resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Nakaya Shade’s casting requirements are quite stringent, needing two black mana. This can pose a restriction in multi-colored decks that might struggle to generate the necessary black mana consistently or in the early game when mana resources are limited.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana—one of which is tightly bound to black mana—Nakaya Shade may seem appealing; however, when measured against other options within the same mana range, it may fall short in providing an equivalent level of board presence or versatility, making it a less favorable choice in many game scenarios.

Reasons to Include Nakaya Shade in Your Collection

Versatility: Nakaya Shade offers flexibility to black deck strategies with its potential to become a recurring threat. It slots into various deck archetypes that benefit from resilient creatures.

Combo Potential: As a card that can potentially return to the battlefield, Nakaya Shade works well with sac outlets and reanimation themes, fueling synergistic plays and enabling powerful interactions within graveyard-based decks.

Meta-Relevance: Given that graveyard strategies often play a significant role in the MTG meta, having a card like Nakaya Shade could prove advantageous, especially in environments where creature removal is prevalent.

How to beat

Nakaya Shade is a nuanced card to manage in MTG. Players often seek strategies to overcome its menacing ability to become unblockable when facing a solo defender. One effective method is to use cards that can remove it from play without needing to declare blockers, such as with ‘Path to Exile’ or ‘Fatal Push’. These cards offer efficient solutions to bypass the Shade’s abilities.

Another tactic is to manipulate the number of creatures you have on the battlefield. Ensuring you always have more than one potential blocker can negate the unblockability of Nakaya Shade. Board control spells like ‘Doomskar’ or ‘Wrath of God’ can reset the field, mitigating the threat by clearing multiple creatures at once, including this troublesome Shade.

Ultimately, controlling Nakaya Shade involves a mix of careful planning and the right answers. Utilize removal spells effectively and manipulate the battlefield to maintain an upper hand against this elusive adversary.

Cards like Nakaya Shade

Nakaya Shade steps into the strategic shadow play of creatures within Magic: The Gathering. Shadowy by nature, this card brings to mind the likes of Dauthi Slayer, a creature also benefiting from the Shadow ability, allowing it to slide past defenses other creatures can’t penetrate. However, where Nakaya Shade gains an edge is in its power-boosting effect, providing a potentially substantial increase in strength when mana is plentiful.

Comparatively, another entity, Vampire Nighthawk, does not possess Shadow but boasts a suite of abilities including flying, deathtouch, and lifelink. While it doesn’t share the evasion prowess of Nakaya Shade, it provides a well-rounded set of advantages that can affect the game in multiple ways. Then we encounter Nantuko Shade, which offers a similar mana-based power enhancement ability. Nantuko Shade requires black mana to become more formidable, much like Nakaya Shade, but lacks the inherent evasiveness brought forth by the Shadow ability.

When evaluating the utility and adaptability of certain creatures, Nakaya Shade’s ability to become unblockable by creatures without Shadow and the flexibility to grow stronger with available mana make it a compelling choice in certain MTG strategies.

Cards similar to Nakaya Shade by color, type and mana cost

Order of the Ebon Hand - MTG Card versions

Nezumi Graverobber // Nighteyes the Desecrator - MTG Card versions

Erg Raiders - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)

Order of the Ebon Hand - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)

Piper of the Swarm - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Undead Augur - Magic Online Promos (PRM)

Nezumi Graverobber // Nighteyes the Desecrator - Commander Anthology Volume II (CM2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nakaya Shade MTG card by a specific set like Prophecy, 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 Nakaya Shade and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nakaya Shade has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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