Slippery Scoundrel MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Slippery Scoundrel has the potential to give you an edge by protecting your hand and strategy from opponents’ targeted efforts, thanks to the Ascend mechanic. Upon achieving the city’s blessing, which provides a continuous upper hand, the card itself becomes harder to deal with, solidifying your grip on the game’s flow.

Resource Acceleration: While the Slippery Scoundrel doesn’t directly provide mana or treasure, its low cost offers strategic advantages. It can be played early, allowing players to maintain tempo and potentially hold onto more powerful, resource-accelerating spells for later turns. This planning can lead to swift and decisive board control.

Instant Speed: The key asset here is the versatility in Slippery Scoundrel’s secondary ability when the city’s blessing is acquired. As it turns into an elusive threat, unblockable by creatures, it allows you to apply pressure consistently. This effect, akin to having instant speed interaction, forces the opponent to address it on their turn or suffer the consequences, effectively adding a layer of strategic depth to your game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: A drawback of the Slippery Scoundrel is that it requires you to have the city’s blessing to unlock its full potential. Without this condition met, you may not be utilizing the card to its fullest extent, making it less valuable during the early game or in a tight match when the city’s blessing is tough to achieve.

Specific Mana Cost: This card has a precise mana cost that necessitates both blue mana and generic mana. This requirement can restrict its inclusion in decks, making it less versatile for players not running a blue-based or blue-compatible deck.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the initial cost of three mana might seem reasonable, it can be deemed high when considering that the key abilities of Slippery Scoundrel are contingent on having the city’s blessing. Without it, you might find other creatures or spells that provide immediate benefits for the same or lower mana investment.

Reasons to Include Slippery Scoundrel in Your Collection

Versatility: Slippery Scoundrel provides a flexible approach to deck building. Its initial low cost makes it an easy fit in aggressive decks, yet its ascend ability scales well into the late game, suitable for control decks seeking resilient threats.

Combo Potential: With the ascend ability, Slippery Scoundrel becomes unblockable and gains hexproof, creating synergies with equipment, auras, and buffs that capitalize on safe, recurring combat damage to opponents.

Meta-Relevance: As the gameplay often progresses towards attaining the city’s blessing, Slippery Scoundrel increases in relevance, particularly adept at sneaking past defenses in a meta that’s heavy with ground stalls or reliant on targeted removal.

How to beat

Slippery Scoundrel is a unique card often seen in the pirate-themed decks of Magic: The Gathering. Players savor the moment it gains both hexproof and unblockable, making it a formidable obstacle. Yet, despite its strengths, this clever pirate is not unbeatable. To counteract the key abilities of Slippery Scoundrel, effective strategies involve removing it before it achieves ascendancy or dealing with it outside of combat. Board wipes effectively bypass its protective qualities since they don’t target a single creature. Similarly, cards that change the rules of combat, such as those forcing a creature to be blocked or enabling you to block an otherwise unblockable creature, are solid tactics as well.

Spot removal spells may not always work after ascendancy is achieved, so countering it on cast, exploiting its vulnerability during the early game, or sweeping the board clean before it beefs up are essential tactics. Always keep an eye out for game-changing plays that upset the balance and demand immediate attention, just like dealing with Slippery Scoundrel before it slides its way to victory.

BurnMana Recommendations

Delving into the strategic play of MTG means appreciating cards like Slippery Scoundrel for their nuanced abilities and game-altering potential. Whether it’s about gaining the elusive city’s blessing, crafting a tempo play, or deploying a resilient threat, this card’s virtues cater to varied styles within the blue archetype. As you ponder your next big play or consider fresh deck techs, keep this versatile asset in mind. It could very well become the cornerstone of your next conquest. Hungry for more insights and tips that will sharpen your strategies and upgrade your deck-building skills? Dive into our expansive content designed to enhance your MTG expertise and guide you to victory.