Scholar of Athreos MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Human Cleric
Released	2013-09-27
Set symbol
Set name	Theros
Set code	THS
Power	1
Toughness	4
Number	28
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Cynthia Sheppard

Key Takeaways

Graveyard interaction with Scholar of Athreos recycles creature cards, leveraging death for strategic gains.
Life for resources exchange with Scholar of Athreos offers a sustainable edge in prolonged matches.
Instant speed activation of Scholar of Athreos’s abilities empowers player adaptability and strategy secrecy.

Text of card

: Each opponent loses 1 life. You gain life equal to the life lost this way.

She asks pointed questions of the dead who wait for Athreos, learning of life from those who are about to leave it.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Scholar of Athreos, players can repeatedly extract value from their graveyard, turning any creature card there into a potential asset. This is especially powerful in longer games where maximizing each card’s impact becomes crucial.

Resource Acceleration: Scholar of Athreos offers a steady form of converting life into resources, which can be pivotal in sustaining your board presence and outpacing your opponent. This incremental gain over time can lead to a significant advantage.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Scholar of Athreos’s effect at instant speed gives players the flexibility to manage their resources effectively. This can happen on an opponent’s turn, keeping options open and making it harder for opponents to predict and react to your strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To fully utilize the Scholar of Athreos’ abilities, players may find themselves forced into uncomfortable decisions about what to discard, negatively impacting their hand.

Specific Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes white mana, Scholar of Athreos might be less flexible for multicolor decks or those that operate on a strict mana base. This could hinder deck building strategies or make it less impactful in diverse play environments.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When assessing its abilities against its mana cost, the Scholar of Athreos demands a significant mana investment which can be quite taxing in the early to mid-game phases, potentially slowing down your overall game plan.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Scholar of Athreos lends itself to a wide array of deck types, particularly those that thrive on life-draining mechanics and consistent late-game pressure against opponents. Its ability to provide a steady life swing makes it a useful inclusion in any deck looking to utilize life as a resource.

Combo Potential: Given its ability to repeatedly drain life with its activated ability, Scholar of Athreos can be the linchpin in combos that revolve around life totals and conditional triggers, enhancing decks that capitalize on incremental advantage and long-term control.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where games may extend into longer grinds, the incremental life gain and drain provided by Scholar of Athreos may be crucial for outlasting opponents. Its relevance rises as it counters strategies that can’t quickly mitigate or recover from consistent life loss.

How to beat

The Scholar of Athreos serves as a persistent threat on the battlefield, known for its ability to steadily drain life from opponents in MTG. Players might feel pressured by its potential for long-term advantage. However, it’s important to recognize that, similar to other creatures that rely on activated abilities, it can be dealt with effectively.

To mitigate the impact of Scholar of Athreos, consider using removal spells that can neutralize creatures without targeting them directly, which sidesteps any potential protection from colors. Cards that force the opponent to sacrifice creatures can be especially potent, as they leave little room for counterplay. Moreover, utilizing instant-speed interaction can disrupt the timing of the Scholar’s activated ability, reducing its efficiency.

It’s also crucial to assess the opponent’s mana availability since the Scholar’s ability is mana-intensive. Disrupting the opponent’s mana base can greatly limit the effectiveness of the Scholar. As a last piece of advice, always keep an eye on the clock. A quick and decisive strategy could overwhelm an opponent before the Scholar of Athreos becomes a significant threat.

Cards like Scholar of Athreos

Scholar of Athreos is an intriguing inclusion to the roster of life manipulation cards in Magic: The Gathering. Players might notice its resemblance to cards like Syndic of Tithes, which also allows players to leverage their creatures to shave off an opponent’s life total. However, Scholar of Athreos provides a more direct life-drain ability requiring mana investment for each activation, allowing for more control over the effect’s timing.

Examining cards with a similar theme, we find Absolver Thrull as another comparison point. While it offers a removal utility upon entering the battlefield, its life-drain feature is attached to a repeatable activated ability like Scholar of Athreos. Absolver Thrull does not, however, allow for the same consistency of life gain or loss to the opponent, distinguishing them in gameplay strategy and outcomes.

In comparison of both card efficiency and strategic flexibility, Scholar of Athreos offers an interesting value, especially in decks that thrive on consistent life-drain mechanics and leveraging incremental advantages over the course of a game.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scholar of Athreos MTG card by a specific set like Theros, 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 Scholar of Athreos and other MTG cards: