Strands of Night MTG Card
1997-06-09 - Number 82
1999-04-21 - Number 156
2001-04-11 - Number 165
2001-04-11 - Number 165★
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Enchantment |
Text of card
o Bo B, Pay 2 life, Sacrifice a swamp: Put target creature card from your graveyard into play.
"I have seen the night torn into thin darkling strips and woven into shapes too bleak for dreams." —Crovax
Cards like Strands of Night
Strands of Night is an intriguing enchantment in the vast universe of Magic: The Gathering. Alongside its unique resurrection capability, it calls to mind other reanimation spells like Animate Dead and Reanimate. Animate Dead, with its lower casting cost, similarly brings creatures back from the graveyard, yet it applies a -1/-0 penalty to the resurrected creature. Strands of Night avoids such a drawback, although it does require sacrificing a swamp and paying two life each time it’s activated.
Examining Necromancy, it allows for immediate reanimation at instant speed when played at an alternate cost, diversifying strategic options. Conversely, Strands of Night promises continuous use, albeit solely during your turn. Zombify, another resurrection spell, operates at sorcery speed like the erstwhile cards, compelling a single creature’s comeback without further life or land sacrifices.
Ultimately, Strands of Night carves out a distinctive position among its counterparts by offering recurring creature recovery. The ability to perpetually harness its power, given appropriate life and land resources, potentially tips the scales in late-game scenarios, setting it apart from its one-off spell brethren.
Cards similar to Strands of Night by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Strands of Night offers a unique card advantage by allowing you to return creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield. This can repeatedly turn the tide in your favor, ensuring a sustained presence of threats on the board.
Resource Acceleration: Although Strands of Night requires a land sacrifice, it effectively circumvents the normal casting cost and timing restrictions for creatures. This can accelerate your gameplay, allowing you to utilize your creatures’ abilities or to attack sooner than normally possible.
Instant Speed: The ability to operate at instant speed gives you the flexibility to react swiftly to your opponent’s moves. You can end your turn without action, then bring a creature back during your opponent’s turn in response to their strategies, disrupting their plans and maintaining the upper hand.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Strands of Night necessitates discarding a card along with paying life and mana to retrieve a creature from the graveyard, potentially depleting your hand and reducing your ability to respond to opponents’ moves.
Specific Mana Cost: This card calls for both black mana and a payment of life, making it a more rigid inclusion in a deck, as it cannot be easily accommodated in multi-color strategies without sufficient life-gain or mana-fixing support.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The activation cost, though repeatable, is hefty when considering you must sacrifice a Swamp and pay life each time. Many decks may find this too steep a price for creature recursion, preferring spells with a lower and more straightforward cost.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Strands of Night is a powerful enchantment that fits well into black decks built around graveyard manipulation or creature control. Its ability to repeatedly return creatures to the battlefield makes it a consistent threat in long games.
Combo Potential: This card has incredible synergies with creatures that have enter-the-battlefield effects or self-mill strategies. It’s perfect for orchestrating game-changing plays when paired with the right deck mechanics.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by creature-heavy decks, Strands of Night allows players to maintain board presence and apply constant pressure. It’s particularly potent in games where resilience and recovery from board wipes are crucial to success.
How to beat
Strands of Night presents a challenging dynamic on the battlefield for many MTG players. Known for its capability to return creature cards from the graveyard to the battlefield, it establishes resilience and a continuous presence for any player utilizing it. The enchantment’s strength lies in its repeatable use, but that same feature becomes its Achilles’ heel for opponents to exploit.
To dismantle the advantage Strands of Night provides, focusing on graveyard hate is key. Cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can prevent the recycling of creatures altogether by exiling them. Alternatively, direct enchantment removal—such as Disenchant or Naturalize—offers a quick and effective method to dispose of Strands of Night itself. Tactics like countering key creatures that your opponent aims to resurrect can also disrupt their strategy. Patience is essential since timing your removal when your opponent is low on resources can be particularly devastating.
Ultimately, understanding the mechanics behind Strands of Night and preparing your deck with a variety of answers puts you in a strong position to challenge any opponent relying on this powerful enchantment’s recursion capabilities.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Strands of Night MTG card by a specific set like Weatherlight and Classic Sixth Edition, 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 Strands of Night and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- 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
Printings
The Strands of Night Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1997-06-09 and 2001-04-11. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997-06-09 | Weatherlight | WTH | 82 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Patrick Kochakji | |
| 2 | 1999-04-21 | Classic Sixth Edition | 6ED | 156 | 1997 | Normal | White | Patrick Kochakji | |
| 3 | 2001-04-11 | Seventh Edition | 7ED | 165 | 1997 | Normal | White | Glen Angus | |
| 4 | 2001-04-11 | Seventh Edition | 7ED | 165★ | 1997 | Normal | Black | Glen Angus |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Strands of Night has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |