Aven Mindcensor MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 9 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Bird Wizard
Abilities Flying, Flash
Power 2
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Aven Mindcensor restricts opponents’ library searches, giving players a strategic upper hand.
  2. Its low mana cost and flying ability enhance versatility and defense in gameplay.
  3. The card is pivotal in metas dominated by search-reliant decks and strategies.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash (You may play this spell any time you could play an instant.) Flying If an opponent would search a library, that player searches the top four cards of that library instead.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Aven Mindcensor card gives you an edge in the game by limiting your opponent’s access to cards in their deck. This tactical benefit can severely handicap your opponent’s strategies and plans, giving you a distinct advantage.

Resource Acceleration: Although the card demands only a small mana cost for its potency, it does not generate resources directly. Instead, it restricts the untapped potential of your opponent’s resources which can cause an indirect acceleration of your game.

Instant Speed: Aven Mindcensor presents a valuable asset in that it can be cast swiftly at instant speed. With the element of surprise, you can deploy it without warning, disrupting and disorienting your opponent’s turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Aven Mindcensor doesn’t require discarding, it can still provoke such circumstances. If a player doesn’t have sufficient cards in their library because of Mindcensor’s ability, they could potentially need to discard a card, leading to an unfavorable position if resources are scant.

Specific Mana Cost: The Aven Mindcensor calls for a specific mana type (white), which may impede its inclusion in some decks. Its properties can limit the range of possible decks, creating a potential disadvantage for diverse deck-building strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing at three mana for its effects, there are alternatives that could provide more efficiency. Relative to its benefits, other options might yield better resource generation or deck manipulation for the same or lower mana investment. Remember, MTG is not just a game of power but also of economics. One must evaluate cost versus effect for maximum game-play optimization.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Aven Mindcensor provides numerous benefits to a variety of decks. Its flying attribute adds a reliable aerial defender or attacker, while its potent ability can frustrate opponents who heavily rely on fetching specific cards from their library.

Combo Potential: This card builds quite an impactful combo with cards that compel your opponents to search their libraries, restricting their choices gravely. It also synergizes well with other white control elements or blink strategies that might accommodate repeated utilization of its ability.

Meta-Relevance: Aven Mindcensor, a must-have if your meta-game includes decks with crucial tutor effects that dig deep into the library. Its ability to limit library search to the top 4 cards is a strategic tool against rampant land search or combo deck strategies, making it highly relevant in many metas.


How to beat

Aven Mindcensor is a riveting creature card in MTG famed for its unique ability – an opponent searching their library only checks the top four cards. This attribute makes it a formidable adversary, similar to Stranglehold nullifying an opponent’s extra turn or search strategies. By the same token, Ashiok, Dream Render performs a slightly different role, a planeswalker that erases an opponent’s graveyard and imposes restrictions on searching libraries. Comparable to Aven Mindcensor, Ashiok trades its flying ability for the capacity to exile opponent’s graveyard.

We also find Shadow of Doubt, an instant card that momentarily prevents players from searching their libraries. This card goes well with Aven Mindcensor, making it an even more potent opponent. Furthermore, Leonin Arbiter, a cat cleric card that demands more mana to search libraries, bolsters the growing library of cards built to inhibit search strategies.

Essentially, sizing up the underlying traits and evaluating the usefulness of various counters to Aven Mindcensor, it holds up strongly within the MTG universe, thanks to its disruptive search strategy and the capacity to pose as a flying threat.


BurnMana Recommendations

The subtleties of MTG can often be compared to a complex tapestry, where each thread represents a distinct card choice and strategic play. With Aven Mindcensor, you introduce an element of surprise and constraint to your opponent’s game, creating opportunities for you to capitalize on their hindered strategies. Harness the full potential of this card by considering its inclusion in decks focused on controlling or disrupting opponent search tactics. As you aim to refine your collection and tactics, we encourage you to delve further into strategies that elevate your gameplay. Discover advanced plays and essential insights by continuing your journey with us to transform your next game into a triumphant victory.


Cards like Aven Mindcensor

Aven Mindcensor is a unique card in the world of Magic: The Gathering. It brings to mind other cards such as Leonin Arbiter with its ability to restrict searches, but Aven Mindcensor steps it up a notch. While Leonin Arbiter demands extra mana for search actions, Aven Mindcensor sharply reduces the search scope to the top four cards of the player’s library.

Moving forward, we have Shadow of Doubt. Like Aven Mindcensor, it also handles search tactics, but by outright blocking them for a turn, as an instant. But it doesn’t bring the continuous pressure that Aven Mindcensor does, once on the field. Lastly, there’s Stranglehold, which likewise stops opponents from searching libraries and puts a halt on extra turns in its tracks. Though it lacks the flying feature that Aven Mindcensor brings, an essential tool for evasion and blocking flying creatures.

In a nutshell, when we pit these cards against each other, Aven Mindcensor does hold its own in terms of keeping opponents’ searches limited, enforcing a level of control that could turn matches in your favor in Magic: The Gathering.

Leonin Arbiter - MTG Card versions
Shadow of Doubt - MTG Card versions
Stranglehold - MTG Card versions
Leonin Arbiter - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)
Shadow of Doubt - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Stranglehold - Commander 2011 (CMD)

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Argivian Blacksmith - Antiquities (ATQ)
Jamuraan Lion - Media Inserts (PMEI)
Femeref Knight - Mirage (MIR)
Border Guard - Portal (POR)
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Wild Griffin - Starter 2000 (S00)
Pianna, Nomad Captain - Odyssey (ODY)
Dogged Hunter - Odyssey (ODY)
Diving Griffin - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Faithful Squire // Kaiso, Memory of Loyalty - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Freewind Equenaut - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Sanctum Guardian - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Field Marshal - Coldsnap (CSP)
Kithkin Healer - Lorwyn (LRW)
Kor Hookmaster - Zendikar (ZEN)
Zhalfirin Commander - Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons (DDG)
Silverblade Paladin - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Emancipation Angel - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Steelform Sliver - Magic 2014 (M14)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Aven Mindcensor MTG card by a specific set like Future Sight and Amonkhet Invocations, 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 Aven Mindcensor and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Aven Mindcensor Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2007-05-04 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12007-05-04Future SightFUT 18futurenormalblackRebecca Guay
22017-04-28Amonkhet InvocationsMP2 22015normalborderlessJose Cabrera
32017-04-28AmonkhetAKH 52015normalblackEric Deschamps
42017-04-29Amonkhet PromosPAKH 5p2015normalblackEric Deschamps
52017-04-29Amonkhet PromosPAKH 5s2015normalblackEric Deschamps
62020-08-13Amonkhet RemasteredAKR 52015normalblackEric Deschamps
72021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 52015normalblackRebecca Guay
82021-06-22Love Your LGS 2021PLG21 11997normalblackRebecca Guay
92022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 6882015normalblackRebecca Guay

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Aven Mindcensor has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PredhLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-03-19 After the search is complete, the entire library is shuffled.
2021-03-19 Each search works exactly the same as normal except that the opponent doing the searching sees only the top four cards of that library. They can't look at the other cards in that library at all. Cards not in the top four cards of the library can't be found in the search, even if they're identifiable in some manner.
2021-03-19 For effects that check whether a player searched a library or may search a library, searching the top four cards of that library counts as searching that library.
2021-03-19 If an effect uses the word “search” once but allows an opponent to search for multiple cards, the top four cards remain the same throughout the entire search. Finding one card won't cause the fifth card to become included in the search.

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