Mavinda, Students' Advocate MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Creature — Bird Advisor
Abilities Flying
Power 2
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Mavinda ensures card advantage by allowing you to cast spells from your graveyard multiple times.
  2. Instant speed activation grants strategic flexibility and gameplay adaptability with this card.
  3. Despite its benefits, the card demands precise mana and comes with a notable casting cost.

Text of card

Flying : You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that spell doesn't target a creature you control, it costs more to cast this way. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Activate only once each turn. (You still pay the spell's costs. Timing rules for the spell still apply.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mavinda, Students’ Advocate enables you to get more out of your spells by allowing you to cast instant or sorcery cards directly from your graveyard. This reuse of cards from the graveyard translates to significant card advantage over the course of a game.

Resource Acceleration: While Mavinda doesn’t provide traditional mana acceleration, the card can effectively reduce the cost of using spells from the graveyard, giving you the ability to stretch your mana resources further. With a smart play strategy, this can lead to swifter execution of your game plan.

Instant Speed: Mavinda’s ability can be activated at instant speed, providing tremendous flexibility in response to an opponent’s actions. This lets you adapt to changing game states on the fly and capitalize on the perfect timing to turn the tides in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To take advantage of Mavinda, Students’ Advocate’s ability to cast an instant or sorcery from your graveyard, players must discard a card. This cost can be particularly cumbersome when your hand is already depleted, potentially placing you at a strategic disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: The activation of Mavinda’s ability requires specifically white mana. This commitment to white mana can restrict the card’s utility in multi-colored decks or those that are not heavily invested in white mana resources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of three, including two white mana, Mavinda comes with a relatively high cost for its body and effect. When considering deck efficiency and tempo, some players might find other creatures or spells that provide more impact upon entering the battlefield or offer abilities with lower activation costs.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Mavinda, Students’ Advocate offers a unique ability to cast spells from your graveyard, making it a versatile addition to decks that hinge on spell-slinging or tactical graveyard use. Its low casting cost also contributes to a wider range of strategic deployments throughout the game.

Combo Potential: Mavinda’s potential to recur instants or sorceries opens up numerous combo possibilities, pairing exceptionally well with cards that benefit from casting multiple spells in a turn or that have powerful effects but end up in the graveyard.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where control decks and spell-based strategies are prevalent, Mavinda’s ability to provide repeated value from the graveyard makes it a timely inclusion. Its potential to offer card advantage over opponents can swing games in your favor in the right meta.


How to beat Mavinda, Students’ Advocate

Understanding the nuances of Mavinda, Students’ Advocate is crucial for strategizing effectively in your MTG matches. Mavinda provides players the unique ability to cast instant or sorcery spells from the graveyard, a potent skill that can turn the tides of the game if not addressed promptly. To nullify Mavinda’s influence, consider employing removal spells that can bypass its once per turn protection clause or disrupt strategies that aim to make the most out of Mavinda’s abilities.

Targeted removal spells like Doom Blade or Path to Exile can efficiently remove Mavinda given it has already been used for its ability that turn, while sorcery-speed removal should be timed carefully to avoid Mavinda’s protective restriction. Additionally, graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus can severely limit Mavinda’s effectiveness by controlling the access to instant or sorcery spells it seeks to reuse. Crafty deck builders may also incorporate counterspells or hand disruption tactics to preemptively deal with threats before they can be recycled by Mavinda, ensuring a smoother path to victory.

In essence, to beat Mavinda, focus on removing it at the right time or disrupting its graveyard-based strategies. This approach will diminish its impact and keep your opponent from gaining the upper hand through Mavinda’s ability to cast spells from the graveyard more than once.


BurnMana Recommendations

A solid understanding of a card like Mavinda, Students’ Advocate can significantly enhance your MTG gameplay. While seeking to optimize your deck, consider how Mavinda’s ability to cast spells from the graveyard can give you a clear strategic upper hand. Whether creating combos, playing within a spell-slinging strategy, or exploiting the current meta, the flexibility offered by cards like Mavinda could be the key to your next remarkable victory. Master the art of utilizing and countering such distinctive abilities, and witness your win rate soar. Uncover the depth of Mavinda’s potential and other strategic ins and outs by joining our MTG community.


Cards like Mavinda, Students' Advocate

Mavinda, Students’ Advocate offers a unique proposition as a legendary creature in MTG. It shares some similarities with spell-recursion creatures such as Eternal Witness, which also allows players to return a card from their graveyard to their hand. Where Mavinda shines, however, is in its ability to do this directly from the battlefield each turn for spells targeting a single creature you own. Eternal Witness does not have this restriction but is a one-time use without further combos or tricks.

Analogous to Mavinda in the enchantment category is Hall of Heliod’s Generosity. This card allows you to put an enchantment from your graveyard on top of your library. Again, while it provides recursion, Mavinda’s specificity to instant and sorcery spells gives it a distinctly different strategic advantage in decks geared towards spell-slinging and protection mechanics.

Comparatively, it’s worth noting that Mavinda’s abilities work specifically well with low-cost spells, amplifying its efficacy in decks designed around cheap, targeted spells. Considering the potential for reuse and the tactical applications, Mavinda, Students’ Advocate holds its own as a specialized recursion tool in the MTG universe.

Eternal Witness - MTG Card versions
Hall of Heliod's Generosity - MTG Card versions
Eternal Witness - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Hall of Heliod's Generosity - Modern Horizons (MH1)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mavinda, Students' Advocate MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Strixhaven: School of Mages, 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 Mavinda, Students' Advocate and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Mavinda, Students' Advocate Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-04-23 and 2021-04-24. Illustrated by Wesley Burt.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 900122015normalblackWesley Burt
22021-04-23Strixhaven: School of MagesSTX 212015normalblackWesley Burt
32021-04-23Strixhaven: School of MagesSTX 2912015normalblackWesley Burt
42021-04-24Strixhaven: School of Mages PromosPSTX 21p2015normalblackWesley Burt
52021-04-24Strixhaven: School of Mages PromosPSTX 21s2015normalblackWesley Burt

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mavinda, Students' Advocate has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

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