Kathari Screecher MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Bird Soldier |
| Abilities | Flying,Unearth |
| Released | 2008-10-03 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Shards of Alara |
| Set code | ALA |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
| Number | 47 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Pete Venters |
Key Takeaways
- Gain card advantage by using Kathari Screecher’s unearth ability to threaten opponents multiple times.
- Activate unearth at instant speed to surprise opponents with a blocker or attacker at critical moments.
- Despite its utility, Kathari Screecher’s discard requirement may be costly, affecting hand size.
Text of card
Flying Unearth (: Return this card from your graveyard to play. It gains haste. Remove it from the game at end of turn or if it would leave play. Unearth only as a sorcery.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Kathari Screecher, integrated into your deck, creates an opportunity for card advantage through its unearth ability, allowing you to reuse the creature for a pivotal turn, effectively increasing the number of threats your opponents must deal with from a single card.
Resource Acceleration: While the screecher isn’t a direct source of acceleration, its low casting cost means it allows you to maintain tempo and keep up with potentially costlier creatures your opponents might be playing. It occupies the board quickly and efficiently, freeing your resources for other strategic plays.
Instant Speed: The unearth ability of Kathari Screecher can be activated at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to revive it during your opponent’s end step, creating a surprise blocker or an unexpected force in the air. This reactive capability can lead to advantageous board states and disrupt opponent strategies.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Kathari Screecher necessitates the discard of another card to unleash, restricting your hand size and potentially causing you to forego valuable resources just to summon this creature.
Specific Mana Cost: This card’s casting cost demands both black and generic mana, which could be tough for multicolored decks to manage consistently, particularly in the early game when mana flexibility is crucial.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: For three mana, Kathari Screecher’s stats and abilities might not align with the efficiency of other options available within its mana range, making it a less competitive choice for optimized deck building.
Reasons to Include Kathari Screecher in Your Collection
Versatility: Kathari Screecher, with its flying ability, can be a flexible addition across various deck builds, especially those looking to establish aerial control. Its ability to soar over ground defenses makes it a solid choice for attacking opponents directly.
Combo Potential: The Screecher synergizes well with decks that capitalize on the unearth mechanic, providing opportunities to reanimate it for a surprise assault or to benefit from death-triggered abilities.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where the skies are often contested, having a dependable flyer like Kathari Screecher can be a game-changer, adapting well against other decks that struggle with airborne threats.
How to beat
Kathari Screecher thrives in decks focusing on air supremacy and aggressive strategies in MTG. This flying creature can glide over ground-based defenses, enabling players to chip away at their opponent’s life total. However, it’s not invincible. Its key weakness is its modest toughness, making it vulnerable to removal spells such as Shock or Lightning Bolt. Targeted removal can dispatch Kathari Screecher before it has a chance to become a significant threat or benefit from any power-boosting auras or equipment.
Another effective strategy is to control the board with creatures that have reach or spells that can directly deal with flying threats. Cards like Giant Spider can deter attacks, as they are able to block and destroy Kathari Screecher. Enchantment-based removal is also wise, with cards like Pacifism keeping the Screecher grounded without the need for an exchange. Ultimately, the key is being prepared with the right answers in your deck. Board control, direct removal, and playing around its flying capability will help ensure this avian menace doesn’t dominate the skies.
Remaining vigilant and reactive to flying creatures in your deck construction will give you the upper hand against a Kathari Screecher on the battlefield. Addressing the threat early on means maintaining control of the aerial zone and potentially steering the game in your favor.
Cards like Kathari Screecher
Kathari Screecher is a versatile creature card in Magic: The Gathering, bringing some interesting dynamics to the flying creature archetype. Looking at cards with a similar thrust, we can examine Duskhunter Bat, which shares the same mana cost and flying ability. However, Kathari Screecher edges ahead with the potential to be more potent when the conditions for its “unearth” ability are met, giving it a fleeting but powerful late-game comeback.
Moving on to another comparison, we meet Welkin Tern, which also boasts the flying trait but with a different restriction that limits it to only attacking creatures with flying. Kathari Screecher offers more tactical flexibility here. We also can’t ignore Suntail Hawk, a straightforward low-cost flyer. The Hawk lacks the raw power that Kathari Screecher could muster up with its unearth ability but it does come in handy for a more stable early-game presence.
Evaluating Kathari Screecher against its fellow winged creatures, its ability to potentially re-enter the battlefield is a game-changer. This particular trait provides a unique angle not readily found in many other cards, bolstering its profile among flying combatants in the MTG universe.
Cards similar to Kathari Screecher by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Kathari Screecher MTG card by a specific set like Shards of Alara, 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 Kathari Screecher 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 Kathari Screecher has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Kathari Screecher card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2008-10-01 | Activating a creature card’s unearth ability isn’t the same as casting the creature card. The unearth ability is put on the stack, but the creature card is not. Spells and abilities that interact with activated abilities (such as Stifle) will interact with unearth, but spells and abilities that interact with spells (such as Remove Soul) will not. |
| 2008-10-01 | At the beginning of the end step, a creature returned to the battlefield with unearth is exiled. This is a delayed triggered ability, and it can be countered by effects such as Stifle or Voidslime that counter triggered abilities. If the ability is countered, the creature will stay on the battlefield and the delayed trigger won’t trigger again. However, the replacement effect will still exile the creature when it eventually leaves the battlefield. |
| 2008-10-01 | If a creature returned to the battlefield with unearth would leave the battlefield for any reason, it’s exiled instead — unless the spell or ability that’s causing the creature to leave the battlefield is actually trying to exile it! In that case, it succeeds at exiling it. If it later returns the creature card to the battlefield (as Oblivion Ring or Flickerwisp might, for example), the creature card will return to the battlefield as a new object with no relation to its previous existence. The unearth effect will no longer apply to it. |
| 2008-10-01 | If you activate a card’s unearth ability but that card is removed from your graveyard before the ability resolves, that unearth ability will resolve and do nothing. |
| 2008-10-01 | Unearth grants haste to the creature that’s returned to the battlefield. However, neither of the “exile” abilities is granted to that creature. If that creature loses all its abilities, it will still be exiled at the beginning of the end step, and if it would leave the battlefield, it is still exiled instead. |
