Syndicate Infiltrator MTG Card


Syndicate Infiltrator offers both card draw and resource acceleration, crucial for maintaining a strong hand and tempo. Requires specific mana and careful deck integration due to its discard requirement and high mana cost. Deck versatility and meta relevance make Syndicate Infiltrator a strategic choice for nimble and tactical players.
Syndicate Infiltrator - Streets of New Capenna
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Vampire Wizard
Abilities Flying
Released2022-04-29
Set symbol
Set nameStreets of New Capenna
Set codeSNC
Power 3
Toughness 3
Number226
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byMila Pesic

Text of card

Flying As long as there are five or more mana values among cards in your graveyard, Syndicate Infiltrator gets +2/+2.

The mansion's vaulted ceilings provided the perfect cover for an ambush.


Cards like Syndicate Infiltrator

Syndicate Infiltrator, with its arrival to the MTG realm, has piqued interest among players who enjoy leveraging creatures for multiple benefits. Its resemblance to the elusive mold of Thieves’ Guild Enforcer cannot be overlooked. Thieves’ Guild Enforcer shines by getting more powerful with more cards in an opponent’s graveyard and can also mill those cards to enhance its strength. Syndicate Infiltrator lacks the self-enhancing mill ability but compensates with its potentially consistent card advantage mechanic.

Porcelain Legionnaire is another card that springs to mind when dissecting alternatives. While it also boasts a low-cost profile, the Legionnaire doesn’t provide card draw but instead offers first strike, cementing itself as a defensive choice. Syndicate Infiltrator, contrarily, might not provide an immediate combat edge, but its card draw can offer a strategic depth over the course of a game.

Deciphering its place, Syndicate Infiltrator might just balance the scales between offering a creature that can impact the board state while ensuring your hand stays replenished. In the grand landscape of MTG creatures, it carves a niche by adding a subtle layer of strategy for tactical players.

Thieves' Guild Enforcer - MTG Card versions
Porcelain Legionnaire - MTG Card versions
Thieves' Guild Enforcer - MTG Card versions
Porcelain Legionnaire - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Syndicate Infiltrator provides potential card advantage when it deals combat damage to a player by allowing you to draw a card. This synergizes well with strategies aiming to consistently hit opponents and keep your hand filled with options.

Resource Acceleration: Upon connecting with an opponent, besides the card draw, Syndicate Infiltrator also grants you a Treasure token. This token can be sacrificed for mana, giving you a slight acceleration in resources which can be critical for maintaining tempo or deploying threats earlier than usual.

Instant Speed: While Syndicate Infiltrator itself is not an instant, it can benefit from instant speed spells that increase its power or provide evasion, ensuring successful combat damage. This ensures that you can react to battlefield changes and potentially reap the benefits of the infiltrator’s abilities unexpectedly from your opponent’s perspective.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Syndicate Infiltrator comes with the downside of needing you to pitch another card, which can sometimes mean giving up a valuable piece of your strategy just to get its abilities on the board.

Specific Mana Cost: It isn’t just any mana that will get this creature in play; you need to have black mana available, making it less flexible for multicolored decks that might run tighter on this specific resource.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that leans towards the steeper side, you might find this operative enters play too late when faster threats or defenses are needed, which could put you at a disadvantage during crucial turns.


Reasons to Include Syndicate Infiltrator in Your Collection

Versatility: Syndicate Infiltrator offers a flexible role in various deck builds, adept at slipping through an opponent’s defenses. Its ability to become unblockable when conditions are met makes it a consistent source of damage and an enabler for on-hit effects.

Combo Potential: This card’s rogue type synergizes well with other rogue-themed cards or strategies that reward you for dealing combat damage to a player. Moreover, its synergistic abilities can be the linchpin for intricate combos that disrupt opponent strategies while advancing your board state.

Meta-Relevance: As the game evolves, having cards that can adapt to diverse threats is crucial. Syndicate Infiltrator’s low cost and the potential impact on the game make it a compelling pick, especially in a meta where board control and chip damage can dictate the victor.


How to beat

Syndicate Infiltrator brings a new dynamic to creature control in the world of MTG. As a rogue element with the potential to repeatedly untap, it can create repeated opportunities for card advantage and damage. To counteract the influence of Syndicate Infiltrator, consider strategies that neutralize creatures before they can leverage their abilities. Removal spells that don’t target, like board wipes or those that can bypass potential hexproof or indestructible, are particularly effective.

Direct damage spells provide an alternative solution, being able to reach Syndicate Infiltrator at instant speed and ensuring it never gets a chance to untap and cause havoc. Ensnaring the infiltrator in a web of counter plays doesn’t only mean elimination; it can also mean containment. Utilizing enchantments that restrict actions or freezing tactics that keep the infiltrator tapped are useful approaches. Pay close attention to the balance of the game; be ready to adapt your strategy to maintain control over Syndicate Infiltrator and turn it from an imposing threat to a non-issue on the battlefield.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Syndicate Infiltrator MTG card by a specific set like Streets of New Capenna, 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 Syndicate Infiltrator and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Syndicate Infiltrator has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2022-04-29 If you have five or more mana values among cards in your graveyard and then some of them are removed such that you have fewer than five mana values among those cards, Syndicate Infiltrator loses its bonus to power and toughness. Notably, this may cause it to die if it now has damage marked on it greater than its toughness.
2022-04-29 The mana value of a double-faced card in your graveyard is always the mana value of the front face.
2022-04-29 The mana value of a land card is 0.
2022-04-29 The mana value of a split card in the graveyard is the total mana value of both halves of that card. It does not have two mana values.
2022-04-29 X is 0 when determining the mana value of a card in your graveyard.
2022-04-29 “Five or more mana values among cards in your graveyard” means there are at least five different mana values among those cards.