The Great Aerie MTG Card
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Plane — Tarkir |
| Abilities | Bolster |
| Released | 2023-04-21 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | March of the Machine Commander |
| Set code | MOC |
| Number | 53 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Planar |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Julian Kok Joon Wen |
Text of card
When you planeswalk to The Great Aerie and at the beginning of your upkeep, bolster 3. (Choose a creature with the least toughness among creatures you control and put three +1/+1 counters on it.) Whenever chaos ensues, choose up to one target creature you control and up to one target creature an opponent controls. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its toughness to the other.
Cards like The Great Aerie
The Great Aerie finds its niche in the realm of creature spells in Magic: The Gathering, asserting its presence in the sky with its flying ability. When looking at aerial supremacy, Serra Angel stands as a classic comparison. Both command the battlefield from above, yet Serra Angel additionally boasts vigilance, allowing it to attack without tapping. However, The Great Aerie compensates with a potentially higher toughness, making it a formidable blocker.
Emeria Angel shares a similar theme of bird and flight with The Great Aerie. While it has a lesser base strength, Emeria Angel excels by creating bird tokens whenever you play a land, amplifying your aerial forces. Aerie Worshippers also runs parallel, in generating bird tokens under certain conditions, yet it lacks the immediate impact of The Great Aerie’s larger form.
Evaluating The Great Aerie within the ecosystem of comparable MTG cards reveals its unique blend of flying defense combined with a potentially significant presence. It holds its honor amongst other bird-themed cards, marked by its individual strongholds and strategic advantage it can bring when it soars into the battlefield.
Cards similar to The Great Aerie by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Great Aerie shines in card advantage, offering players the potential to amass a fleet of flying creatures that can dominate the aerial battlefield. By continuously bolstering your presence in the skies, it ensures you stay ahead in resources, making it difficult for opponents to regain control.
Resource Acceleration: This enchantment aids in resource acceleration by providing a steady flow of bird tokens that can be leveraged for various advantages on the field. The tokens can be utilized for defensive maneuvers or can be sacrificed if needed to fuel other spell requirements, effectively acting as an engine for your game plan.
Instant Speed: Even though The Great Aerie operates at sorcery speed, its ability to consistently generate tokens can synergize well with other instant speed spells in your deck. This creates opportunities for surprise attacks or unexpected defensive plays that can disrupt your opponent’s strategy during their turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Great Aerie card mandates the discarding of another card as part of its casting cost, which could deplete your hand and leave you at a strategic disadvantage, especially during the late game when each card in hand is vital.
Specific Mana Cost: Its casting cost includes a stringent combination of mana colors, which may not seamlessly fit into all deck archetypes thereby limiting its versatility across different strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an elevated mana requirement to bring The Great Aerie into play, it stands at a competitive spot where other cards may provide similar or better effects with a lower mana investment, thus affecting its overall efficiency in gameplay.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: The Great Aerie offers flexibility as it can seamlessly integrate into a variety of deck types. Its ability to boost flying creatures makes it particularly valuable in aerial-based strategies or any deck that aims to dominate the skies.
Combo Potential: This card synergizes exceptionally well with decks that capitalize on flying creatures. Pairing it with cards that produce bird tokens, for example, can result in a substantial uptick in your airborne offense.
Meta-Relevance: Considering the current gameplay dynamics, The Great Aerie can play a significant role. It can strengthen your board presence against commonly played creature decks and help you maintain an edge in the battlefields of the skies.
How to beat
The Great Aerie introduces a challenging dynamic to the battlefield with its ability to summon a consistent flock of Bird tokens. These tokens can quickly overwhelm an opponent if left unchecked. To counter this aerial threat effectively, it’s crucial to employ strategies that neutralize the advantage The Great Aerie provides. Including creature removal spells that can dispatch multiple targets, like Doomskar or Blasphemous Act, can clear the path by dealing with numerous Birds at once. Alternatively, using enchantments that restrict token generation, such as Illness in the Ranks, will immediately diminish the impact of The Great Aerie on the game.
Board wipes aren’t the only solution; efficient counterspells like Dovin’s Veto can preemptively deal with The Great Aerie before it even hits the field. This preemptive control can prove invaluable in matches where tempo dictates the victor. One must not forget the potency of continuous effect cards, such as Culling Sun, which can prevent the tokens from ever reaching a critical mass, keeping the skies clear of feathery assailants.
Understanding the strengths and potential remedies against The Great Aerie is vital in constructing a deck with a solid defense against this high-flying threat, ensuring your strategy takes flight while grounding your opponent’s ambitions.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase The Great Aerie MTG card by a specific set like March of the Machine Commander, 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 The Great Aerie and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
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- MTG Mint Card
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- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering The Great Aerie card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-04-14 | Bolster itself doesn’t target any creature, though some spells and abilities that bolster may have other effects that target creatures. |
| 2023-04-14 | If you choose two target creatures for the chaos ability and either target is an illegal target as the ability tries to resolve, the ability won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. Neither creature will deal or be dealt damage. |
| 2023-04-14 | You determine which creature to put counter(s) on as the spell or ability that instructs you to bolster resolves. That could be the creature with the bolster ability, if it’s still under your control and has the least toughness. If there’s a tie, you choose which creature gets the counter(s). |