Shadowed Caravel MTG Card
2017-09-29 - Number 246s
2017-09-29 - Number 246
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Artifact — Vehicle |
| Abilities | Crew,Explore |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Text of card
Whenever a creature you control explores, put a +1/+1 counter on Shadowed Caravel. Crew 2 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
Cards like Shadowed Caravel
Shadowed Caravel stands out among artifact vehicles in Magic: The Gathering with its distinct flavor of exploration. It shares similarities with other vehicle cards like Conqueror’s Galleon, which transforms into a land offering versatile utility. However, Shadowed Caravel’s potential lies in its ability to grow through explore mechanics, unlike the static power and toughness of Conqueror’s Galleon.
When examining Sleek Schooner, we notice it has a sturdy base power and toughness without the need for growth. Shadowed Caravel, in contrast, starts smaller but can surpass it with repeated triggering of its ability. Both require a crew to become operational, but Shadowed Caravel demands a more synergistic deck built around explore to unlock its full potential.
Cultivator’s Caravan is another vehicle that offers immediate mana acceleration, which Shadowed Caravel lacks. Yet, once Shadowed Caravel gains momentum with +1/+1 counters, it can become a larger and more imposing threat. The evaluation between them shifts based on desired strategy – immediate utility or long-term strength.
Ultimately, Shadowed Caravel’s unique mechanic rewards thoughtful deck building and strategic play, making it an intriguing choice for players hoping to capitalize on the explore mechanic’s synergy within Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Shadowed Caravel by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Shadowed Caravel is adept at growing its presence on the battlefield without requiring additional card investment. As you continue to explore, this card becomes larger, turning it into a more formidable blocker or attacker without the need to play more cards from your hand.
Resource Acceleration: As a two-mana artifact, Shadowed Caravel can be an early play that becomes increasingly more powerful, enabling you to maintain your resources while still developing a threat. Each time you trigger its ability by exploring, you’re getting incremental value without spending additional mana.
Instant Speed: While the card itself isn’t cast at instant speed, its ability synergizes well with instant-speed Explore cards. This allows you to unexpectedly swell its size during combat or at the end of your opponent’s turn, making it a tricky card for opponents to deal with.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Engaging with Shadowed Caravel might pose a challenge for some players as there isn’t an inherent need to discard cards with this vehicle. Building the necessary board state to explore and thus grow the Caravel can sometimes be less direct compared to more straightforward card enhancement strategies.
Specific Mana Cost: While Shadowed Caravel’s mana cost may seem moderate, it requires a well-structured deck around the explore mechanic. Without a proper setup and a steady stream of creatures that can explore, the mana invested in the Caravel might not yield immediate or adequate returns.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its initial two mana investment, Shadowed Caravel depends on additional actions to become potent. In the fast-paced matches where tempo is key, allocating resources to gradually improve the Caravel can be less appealing when compared to other vehicles or creatures that offer instant benefits upon hitting the field.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Shadowed Caravel’s unique mechanics allow it to be a valuable asset in various deck builds. Being a vehicle, it affords protection from sorcery speed removal when not crewed, and its ability to grow with the explore mechanic rewards players for using creatures or spells with explore.
Combo Potential: With its power and toughness increasing every time a creature you control explores, Shadowed Caravel has significant synergy in a deck focused on this ability. This allows for interesting combos, especially in a deck that can consistently utilize the explore mechanic to swiftly scale up the Caravel’s size.
Meta-Relevance: Despite fluctuations in the MTG meta, a deck that exploits the explore mechanic can gain traction, with Shadowed Caravel at its helm transforming into a formidable threat. Its potential to become a high-powered creature makes it a card to consider depending on the shifts and trends in competitive play.
How to beat
Shadowed Caravel is a unique artifact vehicle card in Magic: The Gathering that has the potential to grow into a formidable threat. Its key ability is to gain a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature you control explores. With the right deck, this can feed into a rapid growth strategy, turning Caravel into a substantial threat on board. To effectively counter this strategy, removal of the card before it accumulates too many counters is crucial.
One effective way to accomplish this is by using instant-speed artifact removal spells, which dispels it directly from the battlefield. Alternatively, since it requires creatures to explore to gain counters, controlling the creatures themselves can be a proactive measure. Negating exploration abilities through counterspells or disablers can stall the Caravel from gaining any substantial size. Aim to maintain card advantage by considering the relative cost of your removal spells to their creature and artifact threats.
Overall, quick reaction to Shadowed Caravel’s presence and targeting the enablers of its power growth is key. By keeping it off the board or preventing its growth, Shadowed Caravel’s impact on the game can be diminished, safeguarding your position and increasing your chance of victory.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Shadowed Caravel MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan Promos and 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 Shadowed Caravel and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
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Printings
The Shadowed Caravel Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-09-29 and 2017-09-29. Illustrated by Jason Felix.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2017-09-29 | Ixalan Promos | PXLN | 246s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jason Felix | |
| 2 | 2017-09-29 | Ixalan | XLN | 246 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Jason Felix |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Shadowed Caravel has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Shadowed Caravel card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-09-29 | Any untapped creature you control can be tapped to pay a crew cost, even one that just came under your control. |
| 2017-09-29 | Creatures that crew a Vehicle aren’t attached to it or related in any other way. Effects that affect the Vehicle, such as by destroying it or giving it a +1/+1 counter, don’t affect the creatures that crewed it. |
| 2017-09-29 | Each Vehicle is printed with a power and toughness, but it’s not a creature. If it becomes a creature (most likely through its crew ability), it will have that power and toughness. |
| 2017-09-29 | For a Vehicle to be able to attack, it must be a creature as the declare attackers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to attack with it is during the beginning of combat step. For a Vehicle to be able to block, it must be a creature as the declare blockers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to block with it is during the declare attackers step. In either case, players may take actions after the crew ability resolves but before the Vehicle has been declared as an attacking or blocking creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | If a permanent becomes a copy of a Vehicle, the copy won’t be a creature, even if the Vehicle it’s copying has become an artifact creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | If a resolving spell or ability instructs a specific creature to explore but that creature has left the battlefield, the creature still explores. Effects that trigger when a creature you control explores, such as that of Shadowed Caravel, trigger if appropriate. |
| 2017-09-29 | If an effect causes a Vehicle to become an artifact creature with a specified power and toughness, that effect overwrites the Vehicle’s printed power and toughness. |
| 2017-09-29 | Noncreature permanents such as Shadowed Caravel can have +1/+1 counters put on them. Those counters remain on it while it’s not a creature, and will apply if it becomes a creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | Once a Vehicle becomes a creature, it behaves exactly like any other artifact creature. It can’t attack unless you’ve controlled it continuously since your turn began, it can block if it’s untapped, it can be tapped to pay a Vehicle’s crew cost, and so on. |
| 2017-09-29 | Once a player announces that they are activating a crew ability, no player may take other actions until the ability has been paid for. Notably, players can’t try to stop the ability by changing a creature’s power or by removing or tapping a creature. |
| 2017-09-29 | Vehicle is an artifact type, not a creature type. A Vehicle that’s crewed won’t normally have any creature type. |
| 2017-09-29 | When a Vehicle becomes a creature, that doesn’t count as having a creature enter the battlefield. The permanent was already on the battlefield; it only changed its types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won’t trigger. |
| 2017-09-29 | You may activate a crew ability of a Vehicle even if it’s already an artifact creature. Doing so has no effect on the Vehicle. It doesn’t change its power and toughness. |
| 2017-09-29 | You may tap more creatures than necessary to activate a crew ability. |