Screeching Harpy MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Harpy Beast
Abilities Flying
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. It forces discards, disrupting opponents and enhancing your strategic control over the match.
  2. Its upkeep timing aligns with your turns, offering a predictable way to weaken opponents’ resources in advance.
  3. Demands specific mana types, potentially limiting deck compatibility to certain builds.

Text of card

Flying o1o B: Regenerate Screeching Harpy.

"They are called 'fowl' for a reason." —Mirri of the *Weatherlight*


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Screeching Harpy’s ability to make each opponent discard a card gives you an upper hand. This disruption can effectively disrupt your opponent’s strategy while boosting your positional advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While Screeching Harpy doesn’t directly generate additional resources, forcing discards can indirectly accelerate your game by slowing down opponents and limiting their potential plays.

Instant Speed: Screeching Harpy operates at a speed that’s aligned with your turns, providing strategic benefits. Although not an instant, its effect during your upkeep means you can plan your turn knowing you’ve already potentially weakened your opponents’ resources.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the case of the Screeching Harpy, players must discard a card to utilize certain abilities. This card mechanic might force you to give up crucial hand resources, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage during pivotal moments of gameplay.

Specific Mana Cost: Screeching Harpy demands a specific combo of mana types, requiring both black and generic mana. This narrows down deck compatibility, primarily favoring mono-black or limited multicolor decks that can reliably produce the necessary mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Considering its abilities and stats, the Screeching Harpy comes with a mana value that could be perceived as steep. There are cards at a similar or lower mana cost that may provide equal or greater impact in a match-up, offering you more bang for your mana buck.


Reasons to Include Screeching Harpy in Your Collection

Versatility: The Screeching Harpy card slips smoothly into a variety of deck types due to its flying trait, which makes it harder to block by non-flying creatures. This makes it a fitting choice for strategies keen on delivering consistent aerial damage or requiring flying creatures for synergistic purposes.

Combo Potential: With sacrifice mechanics prevalent within the MTG universe, Screeching Harpy shines by offering itself as an ideal candidate for sacrifice-based combos. It can be a cog in a larger machine that culminates in significant advantages or game-ending interactions.

Meta-Relevance: Facing a landscape where small utility creatures can play key roles, Screeching Harpy’s ability to control the skies can help to keep pesky ground-based strategies at bay. Whenever the meta shifts towards favoring these smaller threats, having aerial dominance could tilt matches in your favor.


How to beat

Screeching Harpy presents a challenge with its flying ability, making it a tricky card to contest in the air. Although not the mightiest of creatures, it demands an answer lest it chip away at your life total unimpeded. To effectively neutralize this winged threat, players should consider reaching for spells that can eliminate creatures without targeting them directly, such as board wipes or spells with “destroy all creatures” effects, to bypass any potential hexproofing.

Alternatively, employing creatures with reach or ones that can deal damage to any target can help keep the harpy at bay. Another strategy is to enhance your creatures’ abilities, making it unsafe for the harpy to engage in combat. Remember, preserving your life points and controlling the board is paramount, so time your removal and defenses well to ensure Screeching Harpy doesn’t dominate the skies. Utilizing the various tools in your arsenal will help maintain the upper hand against this persistent flyer.


Cards like Screeching Harpy

Screeching Harpy emerges as an intriguing creature within the vast expanse of flyer cards in Magic: The Gathering. It draws parallels with other cards such as Vampire Nighthawk, which shares the flying ability and occupies a similar mana cost bracket. Vampire Nighthawk also boasts additional lifelink and deathtouch, giving it a more robust presence in the combat phase. However, Screeching Harpy’s strength lies in its simplicity and ease of integration into various deck compositions.

Another card worthy of comparison is Mist Raven. Like the Harpy, Mist Raven is a flyer, but it also offers a tactical advantage by allowing the player to return a creature to its owner’s hand upon entering the battlefield. This presents a temporary yet potent form of disruption against opponents. Although slightly higher in mana cost, Mist Raven’s impact can swing the momentum of the game.

To sum up, Screeching Harpy maintains a respectable position among aerial threats in MTG. While it might not pack the additional abilities of its contemporaries, its straightforward approach and cost efficiency make it a versatile pick for both novice and seasoned players crafting their airborne strategies.

Vampire Nighthawk - MTG Card versions
Mist Raven - MTG Card versions
Vampire Nighthawk - DCI Promos (PDCI)
Mist Raven - Avacyn Restored (AVR)

Cards similar to Screeching Harpy by color, type and mana cost

Hell's Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Rag Man - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Debaser - MTG Card versions
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - MTG Card versions
Slinking Skirge - MTG Card versions
Gravedigger - MTG Card versions
Scandalmonger - MTG Card versions
Urborg Shambler - MTG Card versions
Whispering Shade - MTG Card versions
Filth - MTG Card versions
Demon of Catastrophes - MTG Card versions
Bold Plagiarist - MTG Card versions
Toxin Sliver - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Spirit - MTG Card versions
Nim Shambler - MTG Card versions
Scourge of Numai - MTG Card versions
Deathgazer - MTG Card versions
Dirty Wererat - MTG Card versions
Faceless Butcher - MTG Card versions
Crowd of Cinders - MTG Card versions
Hell's Caretaker - Chronicles (CHR)
Rag Man - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Phyrexian Debaser - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Slinking Skirge - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Gravedigger - The List (PLST)
Scandalmonger - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Urborg Shambler - Invasion (INV)
Whispering Shade - Odyssey (ODY)
Filth - Judgment (JUD)
Demon of Catastrophes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Bold Plagiarist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Toxin Sliver - Legions (LGN)
Vampiric Spirit - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nim Shambler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Scourge of Numai - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Deathgazer - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Dirty Wererat - Hachette UK (PHUK)
Faceless Butcher - Time Spiral Timeshifted (TSB)
Crowd of Cinders - Shadowmoor (SHM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Screeching Harpy MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and Tempest Remastered, 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 Screeching Harpy and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Screeching Harpy Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 2015-05-06. Illustrated by Una Fricker.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-10-14TempestTMP 1551997normalblackUna Fricker
22015-05-06Tempest RemasteredTPR 1162015normalblackUna Fricker

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Screeching Harpy has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

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