Sun Sentinel MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Human Soldier
Abilities Vigilance
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. The card grants card advantage, ensuring consistent access to important cards and maintaining hand size.
  2. Sun Sentinel offers resource acceleration, which can be crucial for outpacing opponents in the early game.
  3. The ability to act at instant speed with this card provides a significant tactical edge during gameplay.
Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

Vigilance

"I will not sleep until Orazca is ours once more."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Sun Sentinel MTG card ensures that you’re never falling behind in hand resources. With its ability to provide card selection, you continue to access the pieces you need for a formidable board presence.

Resource Acceleration: This card offers consistent resource acceleration, granting you the potential to deploy threats or answers ahead of the usual curve. It’s a catalyst for outpacing opponents and establishing dominance early on.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of acting at instant speed with Sun Sentinel provides a strategic advantage, allowing you to react to your opponent’s moves or optimize your own tactics without telegraphing your play.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Sun Sentinel card necessitates players to discard another card from their hand to activate certain abilities. This can put players at a disadvantage, particularly when their hand is already depleted or when every card in hand is crucial for upcoming plays. Balancing card advantage becomes a challenge, potentially leading to a less favorable board state.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s abilities require specific mana types to cast. It often comprises a combination of white and another color, which may not seamlessly fit into all deck archetypes. Players running multicolor decks may find it more challenging to meet the Sun Sentinel’s casting prerequisites consistently, which can inadvertently affect its playability and flexibility in various strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the Sun Sentinel offers certain tactical advantages, its mana cost might be deemed steep relative to the benefits it provides. In a game where tempo and efficiency are key, the investment to bring this sentinel into play could be better allocated towards other cards that offer immediate impact or have a more potent presence on the battlefield.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Sun Sentinel mostly shines for its adaptability. As a card that can easily find a place in various deck builds, its straightforward mana cost and solid stats make it a reliable turn-one play in aggressive white strategies.

Combo Potential: While not inherently a combo enabler, the Sun Sentinel, with its vigilant nature, can synergize with cards that capitalize on creatures that remain untapped. This grants potential for creative deck builders to explore unique interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where early board presence can dictate tempo, the Sun Sentinel holds relevance. Its ability to attack without tapping allows you to maintain defensive capabilities while applying pressure, making it a practical choice in numerous match-ups.


How to beat

Overcoming the Sun Sentinel card in MTG requires strategic planning and a keen understanding of the game. Sun Sentinel is known for its vigilance, allowing it to both attack and be ready to block, making it a persistent presence on the battlefield. To counteract this, players can utilize removal spells like Doom Blade or Path to Exile, which can effectively remove Sun Sentinel from play without the need for combat.

Another effective tactic is to introduce creatures with higher power and toughness, which can survive an encounter with Sun Sentinel or deter attacks altogether. Enchantments like Pacifism also serve as a non-lethal solution, neutralizing the card’s abilities without removing it from the battlefield. Additionally, employing flyers or creatures with unblockable abilities can circumvent the Sun Sentinel, applying pressure without engaging it directly.

Playing around Sun Sentinel’s strengths by adjusting your strategy and being mindful of its vigilance can tip the scales in your favor. By combining removal, superior creatures, or neutralizing auras, players can restrain Sun Sentinel’s influence and maintain control over the game.


Cards like Sun Sentinel

Diving into the realm of enchantment removal in Magic: The Gathering, Sun Sentinel shares the stage with cards like Disenchant. Both cards allow players to free the battlefield from unwanted enchantments. However, Sun Sentinel brings a unique spin to the table with its ability to let creatures attack as though they had haste on the same turn the enchantment is destroyed.

Comparatively, cards such as Erase and Naturalize also provide enchantment removal, but they lack the additional benefit of impacting the tempo of the game by accelerating creature attacks. Erase offers an exile effect rather than just destruction, while Naturalize extends its utility to take care of pesky artifacts too. Within the context of providing both enchantment removal and tempo, Leonin Relic-Warder also merits mention; while it can’t give creatures haste, it houses the potential to permanently exile an enchantment or artifact — a powerful swing if properly executed.

In summary, while other cards perform the core function of enchantment removal, Sun Sentinel’s dual capacity to enhance battlefield aggression positions it uniquely among its peers, providing both offensive momentum and reactive defense in the MTG landscape.

Disenchant - MTG Card versions
Erase - MTG Card versions
Naturalize - MTG Card versions
Leonin Relic-Warder - MTG Card versions
Disenchant - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Erase - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Naturalize - Onslaught (ONS)
Leonin Relic-Warder - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sun Sentinel MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan and Core Set 2019, 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 Sun Sentinel and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Sun Sentinel Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2018-07-13. Illustrated by James Ryman.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-01-19Rivals of IxalanRIX 262015normalblackJames Ryman
22018-07-13Core Set 2019M19 3072015normalblackJames Ryman

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sun Sentinel has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks