Saiba Trespassers MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Artifact Creature — Moonfolk Rogue |
| Abilities | Channel |
| Released | 2022-02-18 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty |
| Set code | NEO |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 5 |
| Number | 77 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Evyn Fong |
Key Takeaways
- Exiling top cards grants card advantage and disrupts opponent’s plans, allowing casting of their resources.
- Instant speed play offers strategic flexibility, poised to exile pivotal opponent library cards at critical moments.
- Demands a discard upon activation, which can backfire if playing with a depleted hand.
Text of card
Channel — , Discard Saiba Trespassers: Tap up to two target creatures you don't control. Those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
One to clear the way, another to erase their trail.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Saiba Trespassers have the potential to disrupt your opponent’s strategy by exiling their top cards, granting you the ability to cast them and thus gain access to additional resources.
Resource Acceleration: The ability of Saiba Trespassers to potentially cast exiled cards taps into alternate resource streams. This can catapult your in-game position ahead by using the opponent’s resources against them.
Instant Speed: Saiba Trespassers can be played at instant speed, allowing for strategic flexibility during your opponent’s turn. It also means you can wait for the opportune moment to potentially exile a key card from the top of their library, keeping your foes on their toes.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One notable aspect of Saiba Trespassers is the discard requirement upon activation. This mandatory action can be quite taxing when your hand is already depleted, potentially causing you to lose valuable cards that you might need for later strategies.
Specific Mana Cost: Saiba Trespassers demands a rigorous mana setup due to its specific cost that includes not just one but two blue mana symbols. This necessity can limit deck building flexibility, locking you into a mana base that skews heavily towards blue.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: When examining the mana curve of similar creatures, Saiba Trespassers sits on the higher end with its four mana requirement. Considering the rapidly evolving pace of the game, committing such a substantial amount of mana to a single card can be quite the gamble, especially if the immediate impact on the game state is minimal.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Saiba Trespassers serves as a multifaceted tool in decks that aim to disrupt opponent strategies. Its ability to exile cards from graveyards can be vital in countering strategies reliant on graveyard interaction.
Combo Potential: With its exile mechanic, Saiba Trespassers can synergize in decks that capitalize on opponents losing cards, potentially powering up effects that are contingent on card disadvantage or graveyard depletion.
Meta-Relevance: In game formats where resource denial is a key tactic, Saiba Trespassers can become a cornerstone card. It helps maintain pressure on decks that have a reliance on large graveyards, making it a relevant inclusion in the current metagame.
How to beat Saiba Trespassers
Saiba Trespassers can be a tricky card to handle in Magic: The Gathering, often altering the course of the game with its shadow and other abilities. The key to overcoming this card lies in prevention and board control. Efficient removal spells that can target shadow creatures are essential in your deck’s arsenal. Consider cards like Doom Blade or Go for the Throat, which can dispatch creatures at a low cost.
Another strategy focuses on limiting your opponent’s ability to utilize Saiba Trespassers’ abilities to their fullest. Counterspells such as Mana Leak or Negate are perfect for stopping your opponent’s spells before they can impact the board. Additionally, if Saiba Trespassers is already on the board, cards that strip abilities, such as Turn to Frog, can effectively neutralize it. Alternatively, employing creatures with reach or those that can block creatures with shadow provides a more direct defense against these elusive assailants.
Ultimately, your approach to dealing with Saiba Trespassers should be proactive and reactive. Make sure your deck has the right mix of control and removal spells that allow you to dictate the pace of the game and keep your opponent’s board clear of these stealthy threats.
Cards like Saiba Trespassers
Saiba Trespassers brings an intriguing dynamic to creature cards in the Magic: The Gathering realm. Like Rogue Refiner from the Aether Revolt set, which presents a card draw alongside energy counter gains upon entering the battlefield, Saiba Trespassers also offers card advantage. However, this card’s power is contingent on night becoming day or day becoming night, reflecting the thematic nuances of the Innistrad sets with its day-night mechanic.
Comparably, we have Dusk Legion Zealot from the Rivals of Ixalan set, sharing the trait of card draw with a creature’s entry. Yet, Saiba Trespassers’ condition to swap from day to night brings the additional element of transforming itself, hence pushing the boundaries between card draw and board presence versatility. Additionally, Nightpack Ambusher from Core Set 2020 can be a parallel; it rewards you for not casting spells by creating Wolf creatures, akin to the way Saiba Trespassers can become more potent with the shifting day-night cycle.
Ultimately, while each card serves a unique advantage in the deck, Saiba Trespassers holds its own with the complexity and potential of altering the game state, providing strategic depth beyond mere card draw in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Saiba Trespassers by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Saiba Trespassers MTG card by a specific set like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, 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 Saiba Trespassers and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Saiba Trespassers has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Saiba Trespassers card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2022-02-18 | Discarding the card is part of the cost to activate a channel ability. |
| 2022-02-18 | If a channel ability requires a target, you may not activate it without a target just to discard the card. |