Sanguine Spy MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Vampire Rogue
Abilities Lifelink,Menace,Surveil
Power 2
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Sanguine Spy’s ability to turn life gains into card advantage ensures a steady flow of options.
  2. Specific mana requirements may limit Sanguine Spy’s inclusivity to certain MTG deck types.
  3. Its versatility and combo potential make it a noteworthy addition to any MTG collection.

Text of card

Menace, lifelink , Sacrifice another creature: Look at the top card of your library. You may put that card into your graveyard. At the beginning of your end step, if there are five or more mana values among cards in your graveyard, you may pay 2 life. If you do, draw a card.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sanguine Spy gives you the ability to potentially draw multiple cards over the course of a game. By turning life gains into opportunities for card draw, it keeps your hand flush with options.

Resource Acceleration: With each successful activation, this card helps you sift through your deck more quickly than usual, indirectly speeding up your access to the resources you need.

Instant Speed: As with many powerful MTG tools, the ability to activate Sanguine Spy at instant speed offers the flexibility needed to respond to an opponent’s moves or end-step, thus maximizing your tactical advantages.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Sanguine Spy demands you to discard one card to trigger its ability. It’s a setback when you’re holding onto key pieces in your hand that you’d rather not lose.

Specific Mana Cost: Casting Sanguine Spy is conditioned by a specific mana cost, including both black and red mana. This requirement could restrict its playability to decks that can produce both colors consistently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When assessing its role and potential in a game, the Sanguine Spy comes at a relatively steep total mana value of three. In a fast-paced game, allocating three mana to a single card that also forces a discard could prove costly, especially considering alternative options at lower mana values that may fit more seamlessly into a deck’s strategy.


Reasons to Include Sanguine Spy in Your Collection

Versatility: Sanguine Spy can adapt to multiple playstyles, integrating well with decks that capitalize on +1/+1 counters or life gain themes. Its ability to surveil offers deck manipulation, bolstering consistency in gameplay.

Combo Potential: With the capacity to exploit various counter-related interactions, this card shines in engines that synergize with proliferate mechanics or with cards that benefit from counters being placed on creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In a metagame that appreciates incremental advantage, Sanguine Spy’s ability to monitor the top card of the library helps tailor upcoming draws, an edge that’s particularly crucial in formats that can pivot on a single top-decked card.


How to beat Sanguine Spy

Sanguine Spy, the new addition to the vampiric arsenal in Magic the Gathering, poses a unique challenge to opponents. At its core, Sanguine Spy is a tactical creature card that thrives on the lifeblood of the game – life points and card advantage. This creature becomes a priority target due to its ability to enable card draw under the right conditions, often when gaining life.

To outmaneuver Sanguine Spy, focus on limiting life gain opportunities. Instant speed removal like Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push can dispatch the Spy before its ability triggers, ensuring your adversary doesn’t reap the benefits of additional cards. Another strategy involves adjusting your gameplay to apply relentless pressure, forcing your opponent to utilize resources defensively rather than exploiting the Spy’s potential. In a broader sense, maintaining control of the board state through sweepers or spot removal, and inhibiting life gain through cards like Tainted Remedy, will severely hamper the utility of Sanguine Spy in any match.

In essence, by understanding the mechanics that make Sanguine Spy potent and preparing to counteract them, you can neutralize the threat it presents and maintain an upper hand in your MTG duels.


BurnMana Recommendations

Diving into MTG’s thrilling gameplay often means finding the right cards to elevate your deck, and Sanguine Spy might just be that secret weapon. Its ability to provide card advantage and resource acceleration can be pivotal in commanding the battlefield. However, strategic play is essential to mitigate its potential cons, such as required discards. If you’re seeking to refine your strategy or expand your collection with versatile, combo-driven cards, Sanguine Spy is worth considering. Tempted to discover how this enigmatic vampire can transform your game plan? Explore further with us to unlock Sanguine Spy’s full potential and secure your next victory.


Cards like Sanguine Spy

Exploring the depths of black mana spells, Sanguine Spy brings a unique dynamic to the table in the world of Magic: The Gathering. It echoes whispers of resemblance with Vampire Cutthroat, both nourishing on the skulk mechanic, allowing them to potentially go unblocked by creatures with greater power. Yet, Sanguine Spy marries this with a potent ability to create blood tokens, fostering additional card advantage and strategic depth.

Vying for comparison, Vampire Nighthawk also shares the vampire heritage but offers an alternative by focusing on lifelink and deathtouch. Although this creature can sway the tide of combat significantly, it doesn’t provide the same card-manipulation boons that the Sanguine Spy can. Moving forward, one could look at Blood Artist, a staple in decks that capitalize on creature demise. While it doesn’t directly compare in combat abilities, the artist’s effect on the game’s economy through life loss and gain is a considerable advantage that can be synergized with Sanguine Spy’s blood token production.

Weighing their abilities and impact on gameplay, Sanguine Spy finds its place among these sinister ranks, adding a layer of complexity and resourcefulness that complements the strategic nuances of Magic: The Gathering.

Vampire Cutthroat - MTG Card versions
Vampire Nighthawk - MTG Card versions
Blood Artist - MTG Card versions
Vampire Cutthroat - MTG Card versions
Vampire Nighthawk - MTG Card versions
Blood Artist - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sanguine Spy MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Streets of New Capenna, 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 Sanguine Spy and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Sanguine Spy Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2022-04-29 and 2022-04-29. Illustrated by David Palumbo.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 997552015NormalBlackDavid Palumbo
22022-04-29Streets of New CapennaSNC 932015NormalBlackDavid Palumbo
32022-04-29Streets of New Capenna PromosPSNC 93s2015NormalBlackDavid Palumbo
42022-04-29Streets of New Capenna PromosPSNC 93p2015NormalBlackDavid Palumbo
52022-04-29Streets of New CapennaSNC 4202015NormalBlackDavid Palumbo

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sanguine Spy has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2022-04-29 Sanguine Spy's triggered ability checks the number of mana values among cards you control both when the ability triggers and when it resolves. If you no longer have five or more mana values among those cards when the ability resolves, you may not pay 2 life.
2022-04-29 The mana value of a double-faced card in your graveyard is always the mana value of the front face.
2022-04-29 The mana value of a land card is 0.
2022-04-29 The mana value of a split card in the graveyard is the total mana value of both halves of that card. It does not have two mana values.
2022-04-29 X is 0 when determining the mana value of a card in your graveyard.
2022-04-29 “Five or more mana values among cards in your graveyard” means there are at least five different mana values among those cards.