Roost of Drakes MTG Card

Creating drake tokens with flying adds substantial board presence and incremental advantage. Roost of Drakes demands specific blue mana, limiting its deck compatibility and function. Its ability to shape games in long formats makes it a viable and resilient asset.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment
Abilities	Kicker
Released	2020-09-25
Set symbol
Set name	Zendikar Rising
Set code	ZNR
Number	74
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Bayard Wu

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) When Roost of Drakes enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, create a 2/2 blue Drake creature token with flying. Whenever you cast a kicked spell, create a 2/2 blue Drake creature token with flying.

Cards like Roost of Drakes

Roost of Drakes is a unique card in MTG that rewards players for kicking spells with creature tokens. Its closest relative might be Talrand, Sky Summoner, which generates a 2/2 Drake with flying every time an instant or sorcery spell is cast. While Talrand doesn’t require the spells to be kicked, it doesn’t offer the incremental value that Roost of Drakes provides over multiple turns with repeated kickers.

Another card with a similar theme is Murmuring Mystic. Like Roost of Drakes, it also produces flying tokens in response to casting instants and sorceries. However, these tokens are 1/1 Birds instead of Drakes and lack the stat boost that kicking spells affords. Moreover, Roost of Drakes has the benefit of being an enchantment, which often makes it less vulnerable than creature-based token generators.

Considering utility and preferences for gameplay, Roost of Drakes shines in decks focused on kicker mechanics. It allows for a steady flow of flying threats, making it a formidable piece in decks built around kicker synergy in MTG.

Talrand, Sky Summoner - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Roost of Drakes by color, type and mana cost

Cloak of Invisibility - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Roost of Drakes excels at incrementally building card advantage. Each time you kick a spell, it creates a 2/2 blue Drake creature token with flying. This seamlessly turns all your kicked spells into an army, maintaining a strong board presence while you continue to add to your hand and field.

Resource Acceleration: The Drake tokens provided by this enchantment are not only threats but they can effectively serve as defensive resources. With each successive token, your mana stays open for other plays, which can lead to powerful turns where you chain multiple kicked spells, bolster your battlefield, and still manage counterplay.

Instant Speed: While Roost of Drakes itself is not an instant, it empowers your instant-speed interactions. The ability to create tokens at instant speed whenever you cast kicked spells gives you flexibility during your opponent’s turn, enabling strategic plays without sacrificing tempo.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Roost of Drakes does not have a discard requirement itself, it’s worth noting that effectively utilizing this card may sometimes require setting up your hand to have kickers present, which could lead to discarding other beneficial cards to maintain a kicker strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Roost of Drakes demands a specific mana alignment with its blue color requirement, potentially limiting its integration in decks that don’t heavily feature blue mana or multicolored mana bases that can accommodate blue spells.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the initial casting cost of Roost of Drakes may seem reasonable, to truly capitalize on its potential, you’ll likely need to dedicate additional mana resources to cast kicked spells, which increases the overall mana investment and can slow down your gameplay tempo.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Roost of Drakes offers the ability to create a flying threat each turn, making it a powerful addition to decks that capitalize on casting spells, particularly those with the Kicker mechanic.

Combo Potential: With each Kicker spell cast, Roost of Drakes churns out additional Drake tokens, synergizing with strategies that profit from creatures entering the battlefield or sacrificing creatures for greater effects.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where long game battles are common, its incremental value generation can be a serious advantage, consistently pressuring opponents with aerial tokens that accumulate without further investment.

How to beat

Roost of Drakes creates a challenging environment for players on the opposite side of the board in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to generate a Drake creature token with every kicked spell casts a shadow on the battlefield, slowly amassing an airborne army that’s tough to contend with. Nevertheless, like any strategy, it has its vulnerabilities. To effectively neutralize the enchantment, it’s essential to deploy swift and decisive removal spells or abilities that can dispose of both the enchantment and the tokens it produces.

Spot removal spells such as Disenchant or Naturalize can be game-changers, as they directly target enchantments like Roost of Drakes. Counterspells also serve as a preemptive measure, ensuring that the enchantment never hits the field in the first place. Board wipes that clear all creatures, like Wrath of God or Damnation, can be just as effective, sweeping away the tokens that have already been generated.

Adapting to the pace of Roost of Drakes is also key. Maintaining pressure and minimizing the number of kicked spells your opponent can play reduces the Roost’s impact. Ultimately, staying ahead of your opponent’s game plan, readying your answers, and controlling the pace of the game are your best tactics to overcome Roost of Drakes.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Roost of Drakes MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising, 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 Roost of Drakes and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Roost of Drakes has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Commander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-09-25	An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25	If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that’s already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn’t kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25	If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can’t kick it.
2020-09-25	Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25	Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they’re kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren’t kicked, and you can’t kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won’t be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25	To determine a spell’s total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card’s effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The converted mana cost of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25	You can’t pay a kicker cost more than once.