Screaming Phantom MTG Card

Screaming Phantom offers card advantage and can be cast at instant speed, increasing hand size and adaptability. It necessitates discarding a card upon play, which may limit strategic options during critical gameplay moments. Despite its mana intensiveness, its potential for board presence makes it a viable option for specific deck types.

Screaming Phantom - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Spirit
Abilities	Flying,Mill
Released	2023-11-17
Set symbol
Set name	The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Set code	LCI
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	118
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Halil Ural

Text of card

Flying Whenever Screaming Phantom attacks, mill a card. (Put the top card of your library into your graveyard.)

After a slow death in darkness, she flies into a rage at the slightest glimpse of light.

Cards like Screaming Phantom

The Screaming Phantom is an intriguing creature card that finds its counterparts in the vast world of Magic: The Gathering. Reminiscent of the classic Shade creatures, the Screaming Phantom, gratefully, offers flexibility with its ability to grow in power, similar to cards like Nantuko Shade. However, the Phantom requires a stable mana pool to exploit its benefits, diverging from Nantuko Shade’s single mana activation cost.

Likewise, the Phantom’s haunting echoes with the likes of Drifting Shade, where both utilize mana to swell in might. Yet, Screaming Phantom’s spectral presence is bolstered by its ability to return from the graveyard to your hand, ensuring a persistent threat on the board. Comparatively, Drifting Shade doesn’t share this tenacious feature. Then there’s the Mortivore, feeding off the number of creature cards in all graveyards to obtain size, a different approach to leveraging the state of the game for advancement.

Deciphering the multifaceted nature of these cards, Screaming Phantom adeptly balances mana investment with resilience, making it a potent force in player decks that favor longevity and resourceful strategies.

Cards similar to Screaming Phantom by color, type and mana cost

Mischievous Poltergeist - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Screaming Phantom offers an efficient mechanism to replenish hand size, granting a significant edge by keeping your options plentiful and ensuring ongoing threats against opponents.

Resource Acceleration: This card may provide a swift boost in resources, allowing a faster deployment of your strategy and a quicker path to outmaneuvering the competition.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Screaming Phantom at instant speed ensures that you can adapt to the evolving board state, making it a versatile tool for reacting to your opponent’s moves.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Screaming Phantom requires players to discard another card upon entry. This can pose a major drawback when hand size is critical for maintaining strategic flexibility and card advantage over the opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: To cast Screaming Phantom, a precise combination of mana is needed. This specificity can be a constricting factor, especially in multicolored decks that may struggle with color fixing or in formats where mana efficiency is key to success.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost considerable for its power and toughness, the Screaming Phantom can be slightly less cost-effective compared to other creatures in its mana range. This might shift player preferences towards alternatives that provide a stronger board presence or additional abilities for a similar investment.

Reasons to Include Screaming Phantom in Your Collection

Versatility: Screaming Phantom offers a flexible role in various deck archetypes. As a flying creature, it could provide both offensive and defensive value, making it a suitable inclusion for decks that aim to maintain board presence while applying pressure in the air.

Combo Potential: With its ability to potentially return to hand after being in the graveyard, Screaming Phantom works well with strategies revolving around death triggers or graveyard synergies. This card can be a recurring element in intricate combo chains, enhancing the dynamics of your gameplay.

Meta-Relevance: As the metagame evolves, cards that interact with the graveyard become increasingly valuable. Screaming Phantom’s resilience against removal and capacity to return make it a card worth considering, especially in a meta that heavily features graveyard-based strategies.

How to beat

Screaming Phantom may give opponents an eerie sense of dismay with its haunt ability in MTG, but overcoming this ghastly card is possible with the right tactics. Firstly, recognize that Screaming Phantom’s strength lies in its ability to return to a player’s hand after death, haunting the battlefield even from beyond the grave. To negate this, consider using exile effects to prevent the Phantom from recurring. Cards that can exile from the graveyard like Scavenging Ooze or Relic of Progenitus can effectively remove Screaming Phantom permanently from the game.

Additionally, Screaming Phantom requires the player to pay mana to return it from the graveyard to their hand. Capitalizing on this, deny your opposition the necessary resources by disrupting their mana base or pressuring them with aggressive plays, leaving them with tough decisions on resource allocation. Should they use their limited mana to bring back the Phantom, or to cast other crucial spells in the game? Cards such as Damping Sphere can work wonders in such a scenario.

To summarize, while Screaming Phantom can potentially haunt the game with its lingering presence, it is by no means invincible. With strategic use of exile effects or by applying pressure on resources, this specter can be laid to rest, ensuring it doesn’t scream victory for your opponent in MTG.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Screaming Phantom MTG card by a specific set like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, 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 Screaming Phantom and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Screaming Phantom has restrictions

Format	Legality
Standard	Legal
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal