Darkwatch Elves MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Elf
Abilities	Cycling,Protection
Released	1999-02-15
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Legacy
Set code	ULG
Power	2
Toughness	2
Number	99
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Don Hazeltine

Key Takeaways

Darkwatch Elves enhance hand size by providing added card draw options during play.
They offer swift mana generation, speeding up gameplay with powerful spells.
Instant speed abilities give players strategic flexibility and surprise elements.

Text of card

Protection from black Cycling (You may pay and discard this card from your hand to draw a card. Play this ability as an instant.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Darkwatch Elves offer an excellent opportunity for players to grow their hand. By providing the ability to draw additional cards under certain conditions, they can help sustain a robust position during the later stages of the game.

Resource Acceleration: These elves are not just your run-of-the-mill forest dwellers; they have the potential to significantly speed up your gameplay. Efficiently tapping for additional mana, Darkwatch Elves can bring those game-changing spells and creatures to the battlefield much quicker than standard land drops would allow.

Instant Speed: With abilities that operate at instant speed, Darkwatch Elves give you the flexibility to react to your opponent’s moves. This can lead to strategic advantages by enabling unexpected plays and maintaining the element of surprise, leading to potentially game-altering scenarios.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Darkwatch Elves may require you to discard a card, which could be a strategic setback if your hand is already depleted.

Specific Mana Cost: As a card that needs a precise combination of mana, including green, it can potentially strain mana resources in multicolored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a demanding mana cost for its abilities, there are alternatives in the world of MTG that might provide similar effects with less of a mana investment.

Reasons to Include Darkwatch Elves in Your Collection

Versatility: Darkwatch Elves is a card that seamlessly integrates into a variety of green or elf-themed decks. Its potential to tap for mana gives it a role in ramping up for big plays or streamlining elf synergies.

Combo Potential: Whether you’re looking to amplify elf-based combos or generate large amounts of mana, Darkwatch Elves provides the utility to enable intricate plays that could turn the tide of the game in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: With a shifting MTG meta that often values speed and efficiency, having Darkwatch Elves in your collection could provide the edge needed to outpace opponents, especially in decks that capitalize on creature-based strategies.

How to beat

Amidst the array of aggressive creatures in Magic: The Gathering, Darkwatch Elves poses a unique challenge. Its blend of elf synergy and evasion capabilities makes it a nimble adversary on the battlefield. However, there are strategies to undermine its prowess. Direct removal spells, such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile, can efficiently dispatch the creature before it asserts its dominance. Board wipes like Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict also serve as a clean reset when the board gets overrun with these nimble elves.

Alternatively, utilizing removal with exile effects, like Swords to Plowshares, ensures that Darkwatch Elves doesn’t simply return from the graveyard to haunt you again. It’s also worth considering strategies that outpace it, employing ramp spells to accelerate your mana base and deploy formidable threats earlier. In a match where Darkwatch Elves is pivotal, prioritize managing your opponent’s threats while steadily building your board presence.

Careful planning and timely execution of these strategies can shift the balance, transforming Darkwatch Elves from a formidable force to a manageable obstacle, allowing you to take control of the game and emerge victorious.

Cards like Darkwatch Elves

Darkwatch Elves offer MTG enthusiasts a powerful tool in the realm of mana flexibility and creature strategies. When considering counterparts, Elvish Mystic stands out with its straightforward approach, tapping to add one green mana with no other conditions. Darkwatch Elves takes it a step further, granting either green or black mana, at the cost of one life, adding strategic depth to mana generation.

Another akin card is Elves of Deep Shadow, also dual-aligned in mana, it provides black mana at the same life expense, yet lacks the ability to provide green. This nuances the decision-making process for deck builders prioritizing color versatility. Deathrite Shaman, frequently dubbed as the “one-mana planeswalker,” joins the fray, not only producing both mana colors without the life penalty but also offering graveyard manipulation abilities, positioning it at a higher utility echelon compared to Darkwatch Elves.

Analyzing each card’s place in MTG, Darkwatch Elves is valuable for players seeking a balance between Elvish Mystic’s simplicity and Deathrite Shaman’s utility, while accepting a minor life trade-off for dual mana access—making it a formidable choice in specific strategic constructs.

Elves of Deep Shadow - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Darkwatch Elves by color, type and mana cost

Hungry Hungry Heifer - MTG Card versions

Territorial Scythecat - MTG Card versions

Reki, the History of Kamigawa - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Darkwatch Elves MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Legacy, 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 Darkwatch Elves and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Darkwatch Elves has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2008-10-01	Cycling is an activated ability. Effects that interact with activated abilities (such as Stifle or Rings of Brighthearth) will interact with cycling. Effects that interact with spells (such as Remove Soul or Faerie Tauntings) will not.