Shifting Shadow MTG Card

Shifting Shadow grants continuous card advantage and resource acceleration by putting creatures into play automatically. The card offers fast-paced gameplay, providing new creatures to respond to opponents at each upkeep. Despite constraints, Shifting Shadow is versatile, making it a potent addition for various MTG deck strategies.

Treasure Chest (PZ2)
2016-11-16 - Number 65703

Commander 2017 (C17)
2017-08-25 - Number 28

Shifting Shadow - Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)

Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)
2022-02-18 - Number 109

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant

Text of card

Enchant creature Enchanted creature has haste and "At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy this creature. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card. Put that card onto the battlefield and attach Shifting Shadow to it, then put all other cards revealed this way on the bottom of your library in a random order."

Cards like Shifting Shadow

Shifting Shadow is a unique enchantment in the vast catalog of Magic: The Gathering cards. Its mechanics echo those of Conjurer’s Closet, allowing for the cheating of creatures onto the battlefield. Shifting Shadow offers a cheaper casting cost but comes with the risk of sacrificing the creature unless it engages in combat. It’s a gamble, similar to the risk-reward nature of the card Sneak Attack, which also brings creatures into play unpredictably but requires them to be sacrificed at the beginning of the next end step.

There’s also the card Proteus Staff, which shares similarities with Shifting Shadow in that it shuffles a creature into a player’s library, then reveals cards from the top until a creature card is revealed and put onto the battlefield. Device of the same vein, Shifting Shadow requires patience and some degree of strategy to use effectively, differing from the Proteus Staff which provides more immediate and controlled results.

Empower your strategy with the crafty use of Shifting Shadow, and witness its potential to pivot games in your favor, as it encourages a dynamic play style much like its counterparts but at a more aggressive and potentially game-changing pace. Embrace the mystery and pure thrill that comes from manipulating the very fabric of the battlefield with a touch of chaos.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Shifting Shadow’s ability to tutor a creature onto the battlefield each turn creates a consistent and strategic card advantage. It not only puts a creature directly into play but essentially cycles through your deck, getting valuable creatures into your hand faster.

Resource Acceleration: With Shifting Shadow, your command of the field can rapidly grow. The automatic creature fetching at your upkeep means you’re steadily accelerating your resources, as you’re not merely drawing but putting creatures into action without spending additional mana from your hand.

Instant Speed: While Shifting Shadow itself isn’t an instant, the triggered ability works at the speed of your upkeep, giving you a new creature ready and waiting before you even play your first card of the turn. This allows you to respond to your opponent’s moves with a fresh creature each round, perfectly poised to either defend or turn the tides in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Shifting Shadow forces a sacrifice of creatures that can put you at a disadvantage in maintaining board presence, especially if you’re already behind.

Specific Mana Cost: The activation cost of this enchantment requires a commitment to red mana, which could be restrictive for multicolored decks wanting to maintain mana flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its three generic and one red mana cost to cast, Shifting Shadow may be seen as steep for its effect, given that direct creature tutors or more powerful enchantments could be played at a similar cost.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Shifting Shadow is a unique enchantment capable of fitting into various Commander and Cube draft decks. It provides an ever-changing threat that can adapt to numerous board states, making it difficult for opponents to predict your next move.

Combo Potential: This card is a combo enabler, allowing you to cheat high-mana-cost creatures onto the battlefield. Pair it with effects that trigger on creature death or ETB (Enter the Battlefield), and you can engineer some game-ending synergies.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta that prioritizes versatile and resilient strategies, Shifting Shadow can help your creatures sneak past traditional removal. Its ability to frequently refresh your creature presence on the board keeps your opponents on their toes and requires them to have an answer at every turn.

How to beat Shifting Shadow

Shifting Shadow is a unique aura in the world of MTG that plays with the element of surprise, bringing a new creature to the battlefield at each of your upkeeps. The unpredictability can be daunting, but defeating a strategy that leverages Shifting Shadow involves preparedness and control. Interaction with this card requires a tactic focused on removals or enchantment disruption available in your deck.

An efficient method is to employ instant-speed removal spells that can target either the enchantment itself or its creature host before the trigger resolves. A solid understanding of timing and the stack is crucial, as reacting to the Shifting Shadow’s trigger will negate the potential threat a new creature might pose. Additionally, maintaining board control with counterspells to prevent the aura from landing on the battlefield or leveraging sacrifice effects that force opponents to choose their enchanted creature can dismantle a Shifting Shadow-based strategy.

Ultimately, consistent board presence and the ability to respond to MTG’s inherent unpredictability will give players the upper hand against Shifting Shadow, a card that relies on the element of surprise and continuous creature advantage.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shifting Shadow MTG card by a specific set like Treasure Chest and Commander 2017, 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 Shifting Shadow and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Shifting Shadow Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2022-02-18. Illustrated by Christopher Burdett.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2016-11-16	Treasure Chest	PZ2	65703	2015	Normal	Black	Christopher Burdett
2	2017-08-25	Commander 2017	C17	28	2015	Normal	Black	Christopher Burdett
3	2022-02-18	Neon Dynasty Commander	NEC	109	2015	Normal	Black	Christopher Burdett

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Shifting Shadow has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2017-08-25	If Shifting Shadow can't become attached to the creature you put onto the battlefield, most likely because that creature has protection from red, it becomes attached to nothing. It will be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action.
2017-08-25	If the Shifting Shadow leaves the battlefield after the triggered ability it grants has triggered but before it resolves, you'll destroy the creature it enchanted before it left the battlefield, then reveal cards and put a creature card onto the battlefield. Shifting Shadow won't become attached to it. The same is true if the enchanted creature leaves the battlefield rather than just Shifting Shadow, except that you won't destroy the creature it enchanted in that case.
2017-08-25	If the enchanted creature can't be destroyed, most likely because that creature has indestructible, you'll still get a new creature and attach Shifting Shadow to the new creature.
2017-08-25	If you don't reveal a creature card this way, you'll just reveal and randomize your library and Shifting Shadow becomes attached to nothing. It will be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action.