Loyal Drake MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Drake
Abilities Flying,Lieutenant
Power 2
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Loyal Drake provides steady card draw with a commander, crucial for maintaining a strategic advantage.
  2. It demands a blue mana-specific deck, which may limit deck-building options and consistency.
  3. Competes with other three mana drops, potentially less desirable in faster-paced games.

Text of card

Flying Lieutenant — At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you control your commander, draw a card.

"Doves and pigeons are too subtle. When I send a message, I want it to have some teeth." —Aeschel, royal diplomat


Card Pros

Card Advantage: One of the key strengths of Loyal Drake is its ability to grant consistent card draw each turn. As a card that rewards you for having your commander in play, it ensures you maintain a healthy hand size, crucial in outmaneuvering your opponents.

Resource Acceleration: While Loyal Drake itself doesn’t directly provide mana or accelerate resources, the cards you draw can lead to resource acceleration by giving you access to more lands or mana-producing spells.

Instant Speed: Although Loyal Drake does not have an instant speed ability itself, the cards drawn could include instant speed interactions, providing strategic flexibility and the option to react to threats swiftly during any phase of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Loyal Drake demands you have a commander to activate its ability. This requisite can be a hindrance, especially when your commander is not on the battlefield or in a scenario where casting them proves challenging due to additional costs or opposing control strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: The need for strictly blue mana to cast Loyal Drake may restrict deck building flexibility. Incorporating it into a multicolor deck requires careful mana base consideration to ensure the blue sources are sufficient and consistently accessible.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Loyal Drake competes with other impactful three-drop creatures or spells. While its ability to draw a card each turn is valuable, faster-paced or more aggressive formats might deem its cost too steep when swifter options are available.


Reasons to Include Loyal Drake in Your Collection

Versatility: Loyal Drake’s flying ability makes it a suitable choice for decks that need evasive creatures. Additionally, its synergy with commanders ensures it’s a fit for any deck that features a robust lineup of legendary creatures.

Combo Potential: As a creature that offers consistent card draw each combat, Loyal Drake works well with strategies that capitalize on drawing cards or having a certain number of cards in hand.

Meta-Relevance: In a commander-focused meta, Loyal Drake shines by providing recurring value every turn as long as your commander is on the field, aligning perfectly with the format’s dynamics.


How to beat

Loyal Drake brings a unique dynamic to the skies in Magic: The Gathering. This flyer with its lieutenant ability rewards players who manage to keep their commander in play, offering a consistent card-drawing engine at the beginning of combat on your turn. But every card has its Achilles’ heel, and understanding the right tactics is key to overcoming this persistent drake.

Dealing with Loyal Drake effectively means interrupting the synergy it relies on. Removing the commander it looks to for the trigger should be your priority. Versatile removal spells that can target any type of permanent, board wipes that clear all creatures, or even temporary measures like bounce spells to return the commander to its owner’s hand can disrupt the Drake’s advantage. Another angle is to prevent the lieutenant trigger from ever happening by using cards that prevent creatures from attacking or ones like Blind Obedience to keep the commander tapped down.

Remember, creature control isn’t your only route to victory. Counterspells can prevent Loyal Drake from entering the battlefield entirely. If it’s already in play, consider utilizing enchantments that nullify abilities or pacify creatures to render the Drake a mere blocker without its beneficial draw. Strategy in MTG demands flexibility; targeting a card like Loyal Drake requires tactical awareness and timely responses.


BurnMana Recommendations

When it comes to optimizing your MTG deck, cards like Loyal Drake can be indispensable for their ability to provide ongoing card advantage. This trusty flyer, valuable in commander-centric strategies, ensures that each turn potentially brings you closer to the tools you need to outplay the competition. Understanding both its strengths and weaknesses can significantly impact your gameplay. We encourage you to further explore Loyal Drake’s potential and consider how it could integrate into your current builds. Dive deep into the nuances of MTG strategy with us and discover ways to incorporate this card into a winning formula.


Cards like Loyal Drake

Loyal Drake is a card that brings a unique dynamic to the Commander format of Magic: The Gathering. This feathery friend carves a niche among creatures that trigger effects during your upkeep. In particular, Loyal Drake is often compared with Skywinder Drake, which also boasts flying but without the conditional card draw. While Skywinder offers a consistent attack power, Loyal Drake provides a repeatable card-drawing effect provided you’ve claimed the throne.

Another card that echoes the abilities of Loyal Drake is Pilgrim’s Eye. Although Pilgrim’s Eye doesn’t have the card draw attached, it allows players to search their library for a basic land card when it enters the battlefield, ensuring a land drop to keep the game’s momentum. War Falcon also shares similarities, demanding specific conditions to unlock its attacking capability but lacking Loyal Drake’s card advantage mechanic.

To wrap it up, Loyal Drake may not stand out for raw power but aligns well with decks that aim to become the monarch, offering a continuous card advantage. In MTG, drawing cards often equates to drawing closer to victory, making Loyal Drake a card that, under the right circumstances, can command attention in a Commander deck’s strategy.

Skywinder Drake - MTG Card versions
Pilgrim's Eye - MTG Card versions
War Falcon - MTG Card versions
Skywinder Drake - Magic 2012 (M12)
Pilgrim's Eye - Worldwake (WWK)
War Falcon - Magic 2013 (M13)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Loyal Drake MTG card by a specific set like Treasure Chest and Commander 2018, 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 Loyal Drake and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Loyal Drake Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by Bayard Wu.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 707572015normalblackBayard Wu
22018-08-09Commander 2018C18 102015normalblackBayard Wu
32023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 1042015normalblackBayard Wu

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Loyal Drake has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2018-07-13 If you don’t control your commander as the lieutenant ability resolves, you won’t get its effect.
2018-07-13 If you have multiple commanders, you need to control only one for the lieutenant effect to happen.
2018-07-13 The lieutenant effect happens only once each combat, even if you somehow control multiple commanders (perhaps because you have two commanders with a partner ability from the Battlebond™ set).

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