Serra's Embrace MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 9 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant

Key Takeaways

  1. Serra’s Embrace grants significant power and vigilance for a sustained tactical advantage.
  2. Its mana cost and aura nature require careful deck-building considerations.
  3. Serra’s Embrace enhances creature-focused strategies, bolstering both offense and defense.
Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and gains flying. Attacking does not cause enchanted creature to tap.

"Lifted beyond herself, for that battle Brindri was an angel of light and fury." —*Song of All*, canto 524


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Serra’s Embrace enables a creature to become a more substantial threat by enhancing its abilities, effectively providing an advantage on the battlefield. Those enhancements persist, potentially impacting multiple turns and outstripping the one-for-one nature of many removal spells.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating resources in terms of mana, Serra’s Embrace’s ability to bestow flying and vigilance to a creature can speed up your victory. A creature with flying is more likely to connect with your opponent, potentially accelerating the end of the match.

Instant Speed: Although Serra’s Embrace is an aura that is played at sorcery speed, the vigilance it grants allows for better management of resources. Your creature can attack without tapping, maintaining a defensive stance and deterring opponents from attacking, which can prove as critical as instant-speed interaction in many scenarios.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Serra’s Embrace requires a dedicated commitment of both white mana and generic mana to cast. Slotting it into a multi-color deck can be challenging, as it necessitates having two white mana sources available, potentially restricting the card’s versatility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of four, Serra’s Embrace stands on the higher end for an aura. This cost can make it less appealing when compared to other lower-cost enchantments that provide similar benefits. Players may find that saving the mana for creature spells or more impactful enchantments could be strategically more beneficial.

Discard Requirement: Despite not having a direct discard requirement, Serra’s Embrace can indirectly contribute to card disadvantage. When the enchanted creature is removed from the battlefield, you effectively lose two cards – the creature and the aura itself. This two-for-one potential loss can set a player back, especially if the opponent uses low-cost removal spells to deal with the enchanted creature.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Serra’s Embrace offers dual benefits of increased power and vigilance, making it a solid addition to creature-focused decks that aim to press an attack without leaving themselves open on defense.

Combo Potential: By granting an aura boost, it can be a pivotal piece in decks that synergize with enchantments, potentially unlocking powerful interactions with cards that react to enchanted creatures or auras entering the battlefield.

Meta-Relevance: In a gameplay environment where creatures often dictate the pace, the ability to swing in with an enhanced creature and still have it available for defense can shift the tides in your favor, making Serra’s Embrace a meaningful choice in current metagames.


How to beat

Serra’s Embrace is a versatile aura in Magic: The Gathering that can turn any creature into a significant aerial threat. With the ability to grant both flying and vigilance, the card is formidable on the battlefield. A well-placed Serra’s Embrace can easily sway the game in your opponent’s favor if left unchecked. To counteract its power, removal spells that can target either the aura or the enchanted creature are essential. Enchantment-specific spells like Disenchant are effective, as they remove the threat without needing to deal with the creature it’s attached to.

Board wipes can also be a clean answer to a creature beefed up by Serra’s Embrace, eliminating the creature and the enchantment in one fell swoop. Control decks pack various ways to handle such enhancements, including counterspells, to prevent auras like Serra’s Embrace from being played in the first place. In essence, preparedness and retaining removal spells for key targets is critical. The key to overcoming a card like Serra’s Embrace is reactive play and the strategic use of your deck’s control elements to ensure the enchanted creature doesn’t dominate the game.


Cards like Serra's Embrace

Serra’s Embrace is a noteworthy enchantment in the world of Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to grant a creature +2/+2 and flying and vigilance is akin to the effects of cards like Armored Ascension. Yet, Serra’s Embrace stands out with its consistent boosting power, unlinked to the number of Plains you control, unlike Armored Ascension.

When we explore other enchantments that offer flying, Holy Strength is worth mentioning. It increases a creature’s power at a lower cost, but doesn’t provide the significant tactical advantages of flying and vigilance. Angelic Gift parallels more closely by also giving the flying ability, plus the added benefit of drawing a card. Nonetheless, Angelic Gift lacks the permanent stat enhancement and vigilance component. Flight is another enchantment that imparts flying, but it’s a purebred enhancement, as it comes without the power and vigilance benefits.

Therefore, evaluating similar enchantments in the game, Serra’s Embrace has a unique combination of abilities that can bolster your creature’s offensive and defensive capabilities, making it a solid inclusion in many decks that seek to gain an aerial advantage while maintaining a robust defense.

Armored Ascension - MTG Card versions
Holy Strength - MTG Card versions
Angelic Gift - MTG Card versions
Flight - MTG Card versions
Armored Ascension - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Holy Strength - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Angelic Gift - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Flight - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Cards similar to Serra's Embrace by color, type and mana cost

Castle - MTG Card versions
Karma - MTG Card versions
Conversion - MTG Card versions
Angelic Voices - MTG Card versions
Seeker - MTG Card versions
Drought - MTG Card versions
Justice - MTG Card versions
Divine Transformation - MTG Card versions
Null Chamber - MTG Card versions
Field of Souls - MTG Card versions
Light of Day - MTG Card versions
Opal Titan - MTG Card versions
Ivory Mask - MTG Card versions
Parallax Wave - MTG Card versions
Worship - MTG Card versions
Diversionary Tactics - MTG Card versions
Moat - MTG Card versions
Teleportation Circle - MTG Card versions
Hallowed Haunting - MTG Card versions
Drawn Together - MTG Card versions
Castle - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Karma - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Conversion - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Angelic Voices - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Seeker - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Drought - Ice Age (ICE)
Justice - Ice Age (ICE)
Divine Transformation - Renaissance (REN)
Null Chamber - Mirage (MIR)
Field of Souls - Eternal Masters (EMA)
Light of Day - The List (PLST)
Opal Titan - Urza's Saga (USG)
Ivory Mask - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Parallax Wave - The List (PLST)
Worship - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Diversionary Tactics - Apocalypse (APC)
Moat - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Teleportation Circle - Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Promos (PAFR)
Hallowed Haunting - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Drawn Together - Unhinged (UNH)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Serra's Embrace MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga and Seventh 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 Serra's Embrace and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Serra's Embrace Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 1998-10-12 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by 9 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-10-12Urza's SagaUSG 471997normalblackTerese Nielsen
22001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 43★1997normalblackCiruelo
32001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 431997normalwhiteCiruelo
42007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 402003normalblackZoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
52007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 40★2003normalblackZoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
62009-04-10Duel Decks: Divine vs. DemonicDDC 212003normalblackZoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
72014-12-05Duel Decks Anthology: Divine vs. DemonicDVD 212015normalblackZoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
82019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 2252003normalblackZoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai
92020-09-26The ListPLST DDC-212003normalblackZoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Serra's Embrace has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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