Symmetry Sage MTG Card

Symmetry Sage - Strixhaven: School of Mages

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Human Wizard
Abilities	Flying,Magecraft
Released	2021-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Strixhaven: School of Mages
Set code	STX
Power	0
Toughness	2
Number	56
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Jehan Choo

Key Takeaways

Offers card advantage and synergies for spell-heavy decks with its magecraft ability and draw interactions.
Demands specific deck conditions, including discard and blue mana, which can limit its integration.
Its ability to grant flying aligns with aggressive and spell-slinging decks, increasing strategic versatility.

Text of card

Flying Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, target creature you control has base power 2 until end of turn.

"By my calculations, I should be able to achieve true enlightenment before graduation."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Symmetry Sage shines in decks focused on drawing cards and building hand presence. This card has the potential to trigger draw synergies that can lead to a cascade of actions within the turn, setting you up for significant plays later in the game.

Resource Acceleration: As a low-cost creature, Symmetry Sage accelerates your resource development effectively. It can be played early, freeing up your mana to cast more impactful spells or hold up counterspells and giving you a jump on board presence and momentum.

Instant Speed: While Symmetry Sage itself is not an instant, it enhances spells with Magecraft. This means any instant you cast while it’s in play can unexpectedly boost your creatures, potentially swinging combat in your favor or setting up for lethal damage.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Symmetry Sage demands you to discard a card to deploy its full potential. While this can synergize with certain strategies, it’s a setback when you’re struggling to maintain card advantage or when every card in hand is vital to your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: Symmetry Sage’s mana cost includes blue, making it an exclusive choice for decks running this color. This requirement could be restrictive and doesn’t align with all types of decks, particularly in formats that value a diverse mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Symmetry Sage’s abilities can be useful, its mana cost is a sticking point. More aggressive decks may find the cost too steep for the stats and effect provided. This makes Symmetry Sage a card that might not always justify its position in a deck, especially when considering other spells and creatures that could be played for the same or lower mana investment with a more immediate impact on the game.

Reasons to Include Symmetry Sage in Your Collection

Versatility: Symmetry Sage is an adaptable card that can be easily slotted into multiple deck types, particularly those that emphasize prowess abilities or spell-slinging strategies. Its ability to modify power and toughness stats makes it a flexible companion for various playstyles.

Combo Potential: With Symmetry Sage, deck builders can capitalize on its synergy with cards that benefit from casting multiple spells in a turn. It can amplify damage outputs or rapidly enhance creatures, making it a keystone for intricate combo setups.

Meta-Relevance: Symmetry Sage holds its ground in a meta that values quick boosts in creature capabilities. It enables dynamic responses to an evolving battlefield and provides a strategic edge in tempo-based games.

How to Beat Symmetry Sage

Symmetry Sage presents a unique challenge on the battlefield. This creature, from the Strixhaven set, possesses the Magecraft ability, granting other creatures you control flying until end of turn whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell. To mitigate its impact, efficient removal is key. Spells with low casting costs like Fatal Push or Shock can dispose of Symmetry Sage before its ability becomes a recurring problem, especially considering its modest toughness.

Another strategy against Symmetry Sage involves preventing its ability from triggering. This can be accomplished by using counterspells such as Counterspell or Dovin’s Veto when your opponent casts an instant or sorcery spell. By keeping the stack clear of these spells, Symmetry Sage’s Magecraft ability remains dormant.

Control decks that focus on maintaining a clear board can also excel against a Sage-centric strategy. Sweepers like Wrath of God or Blasphemous Act erase multiple threats at once, including the pesky Symmetry Sage. Prioritizing the removal or suppression of this creature can be the difference between securing victory or falling victim to a Magecraft-triggered assault.

Cards like Symmetry Sage

Symmetry Sage stands out in MTG as a versatile spellcaster with its magecraft ability, allowing it to grant flying to another target creature until end of turn whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery. This makes it akin to cards like Stormwing Entity, which also emphasizes the spellcasting synergy but focuses on buffing itself rather than another creature. Stormwing Entity has the added benefit of scrying upon entering the battlefield, supporting deck filtering alongside its prowess buff.

Spells like Slip Through Space also share some common ground, offering a creature unblockable status for the turn along with card draw, though it doesn’t impact the board in the same way Symmetry Sage can with repeatable interactions. And while Spire Owl shares a similar aesthetic as a bird that can fly, it lacks the continuous interplay with spells, instead arriving with a one-time scry ability.

Comparatively, Symmetry Sage brings a unique tactical edge to the table by potentially transforming any creature you control into an aerial threat. This flexibility allows for significant strategic plays, particularly in decks that cast numerous instants and sorceries throughout a game.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Symmetry Sage MTG card by a specific set like 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 Symmetry Sage and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Symmetry Sage has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2021-04-16	Any effects that modify a creature’s power without setting it to a specific value (i.e. ones that don’t affect base power) will apply after its base power is set, regardless of the order those effects were created. The same is true for counters that modify its power.
2021-04-16	Each magecraft ability has a different effect, although they all have the same trigger condition, whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell.
2021-04-16	For example, if you control Archmage Emeritus and cast an instant or sorcery spell, Archmage Emeritus’s magecraft ability will trigger and you will draw a card.
2021-04-16	If an effect creates a copy of an instant or sorcery spell, this will also cause the magecraft ability to trigger.
2021-04-16	If an effect creates multiple copies of an instant or sorcery spell, magecraft abilities trigger once for each copy created by the effect.
2021-04-16	Some effects instruct you to copy an instant or sorcery card in a zone other than the stack. These copies do not cause magecraft abilities to trigger. However, most effects that do this also allow you to cast the copy, and casting the copy will cause magecraft abilities to trigger.
2021-04-16	Symmetry Sage’s triggered ability overwrites all previous effects that set the target creature’s power to a specific value. Other effects that set its power to specific values that start to apply after this ability resolves will overwrite this effect.