Emeria Shepherd MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Angel
Abilities Flying,Landfall
Power 4
Toughness 4

Key Takeaways

  1. Emeria Shepherd provides significant card and resource advantage, pivotal for late-game dominance in MTG.
  2. Mana commitment and high casting cost present a challenge, requiring deck-building finesse and strategic play.
  3. Despite constraints, its versatility and combo potential make it a formidable force in various MTG strategies.

Text of card

Flying Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may return target nonland permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. If that land is a Plains, you may return that nonland permanent card to the battlefield instead.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Emeria Shepherd features an ability that can bring back permanents from your graveyard to your hand or battlefield, securing a positive shift in card advantage over time.

Resource Acceleration: By allowing you to return a land card to the battlefield when you play a Plains, this powerful angel accelerates your resource development, essential for casting high-cost spells efficiently.

Instant Speed: While Emeria Shepherd itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its synergy with instant-speed land drops can surprise opponents by returning important permanents during their turn or after unexpected board wipes.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Emeria Shepherd harnesses the power to bring permanents back from the graveyard, players must note that it doesn’t provide an inherent method of discarding cards to fill that graveyard. This can necessitate incorporating additional discard outlets into your deck, which may not always align with your strategic framework.

Specific Mana Cost: The Shepherd’s activation is deeply tied to Plains rather than any lands. This necessitates a heavy commitment to white mana in your deck, which can restrict your deck-building options and make it less flexible when considering splashing other colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost of seven, including a hefty six white mana symbols, Emeria Shepherd’s cost is substantial. This makes it a high investment that doesn’t come into play until the later stages of the game. There are other creatures and spells that may provide a more immediate impact, potentially giving your opponents less time to prepare or counteract your strategy.


Reasons to Include Emeria Shepherd in Your Collection

Versatility: Emeria Shepherd is a diverse card suitable for numerous deck types. Its ability to return permanents from the graveyard to the battlefield makes it a staple in decks that revolve around landfall triggers or recursion strategies. Its power is only limited by the types of permanents in your graveyard, making it adaptable to various in-game situations.

Combo Potential: This card excels in combination with cards that allow you to play multiple lands per turn or have effects when lands enter the battlefield. With the right setup, Emeria Shepherd can facilitate impressive comebacks, turning the tide by recovering crucial pieces from your graveyard turn after turn.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where control and late-game presence are essential, Emeria Shepherd shines. The late-stage utility it offers by reviving high-value targets makes it a robust option against grindy control decks and can help outvalue your opponents in prolonged matches.


How to beat

Emeria Shepherd poses a formidable presence on the battlefield with its ability to return permanents from the graveyard to the battlefield whenever a land enters under your control. As a high value late-game card in Magic: The Gathering, it offers a unique resilience and recovery opportunity, making it essential to tackle it with strategy.

Combatting Emeria Shepherd effectively requires an understanding of graveyard and land interaction. One efficient method is to employ land destruction or graveyard hate strategies. Removing lands from play can stifle the shepherd’s ability to trigger its effect, while cards like Rest in Peace can neutralize graveyard strategies entirely. Additionally, countering Emeria Shepherd on the stack prevents it from ever taking effect, highlighting the importance of maintaining open mana for counter spells when playing against a deck with potential for such powerful late-game plays.

Swift removal of Emeria Shepherd is also key, with spells like Path to Exile or Doom Blade offering an immediate solution to the angel’s threat. By prioritizing the removal of this high-impact creature, you can maintain control and prevent your opponent from capitalizing on the powerful synergies that Emeria Shepherd brings to Magic: The Gathering gameplay.


BurnMana Recommendations

As we’ve explored, the Emeria Shepherd is a force to be reckoned with in MTG, defined by its potent landfall ability that can swing the momentum in your favor. Recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of this dynamic card can significantly influence your gameplay and deck-building strategies. From harnessing card advantage and resource acceleration to navigating its high mana costs and color specificity, the Shepherd presents both challenges and opportunities. Whether you’re cultivating a deck that maximizes graveyard utilization or you’re considering the Shepherd’s unique role in your collection, understanding such intricate cards is pivotal. Dive deeper with us into the intricate world of MTG, where every card, strategy, and play can lead to the next exhilarating victory.


Cards like Emeria Shepherd

Emeria Shepherd is a powerful entity in the realm of resurrection-style cards within Magic: The Gathering. As a majestic angel, it calls to mind the revered Sun Titan, which similarly allows players to retrieve permanents from the graveyard. Yet, Emeria Shepherd’s unique landfall ability potentially returns any nonland permanent directly to the battlefield as opposed to the hand, providing a strategic edge.

Another card in this vein is the graceful Karmic Guide, offering a reanimation effect with echo. While the Shepherd requires landfall to trigger its ability, Karmic Guide offers immediate impact and doesn’t demand a land drop, yet it has a limited presence due to echo unless additional costs are paid. Conversely, the Shepherd can repeatedly provide value with each land played.

In summation, while evaluating the efficiency and potential of recovery cards in Magic: The Gathering, Emeria Shepherd stands out. It harnesses the synergy of land plays to orchestrate powerful comebacks, creating opportunities for significant momentum swings in a game, making it a card of choice for many players who favor late-game dominance.

Sun Titan - MTG Card versions
Karmic Guide - MTG Card versions
Sun Titan - Magic 2011 Promos (PM11)
Karmic Guide - Urza's Legacy (ULG)

Cards similar to Emeria Shepherd by color, type and mana cost

Elder Land Wurm - MTG Card versions
Seraph - MTG Card versions
Archangel - MTG Card versions
Ancestor's Chosen - MTG Card versions
Serra Avatar - MTG Card versions
Drogskol Cavalry - MTG Card versions
Eternal Dragon - MTG Card versions
Soul of Eternity - MTG Card versions
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - MTG Card versions
Resolute Archangel - MTG Card versions
Crowd Favorites - MTG Card versions
Kami of the Honored Dead - MTG Card versions
Luminous Angel - MTG Card versions
Angel of Retribution - MTG Card versions
Ghosts of the Innocent - MTG Card versions
Angel of Glory's Rise - MTG Card versions
Windbrisk Raptor - MTG Card versions
Pale Wayfarer - MTG Card versions
Yoked Plowbeast - MTG Card versions
Vengeful Archon - MTG Card versions
Elder Land Wurm - Renaissance (REN)
Seraph - Masters Edition (ME1)
Archangel - Starter 1999 (S99)
Ancestor's Chosen - Ultimate Masters (UMA)
Serra Avatar - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Drogskol Cavalry - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
Eternal Dragon - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
Soul of Eternity - Commander Legends (CMR)
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - Multiverse Legends (MUL)
Resolute Archangel - Magic 2015 Promos (PM15)
Crowd Favorites - Onslaught (ONS)
Kami of the Honored Dead - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Luminous Angel - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Angel of Retribution - Battlebond (BBD)
Ghosts of the Innocent - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Angel of Glory's Rise - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Windbrisk Raptor - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Pale Wayfarer - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Yoked Plowbeast - Jumpstart: Historic Horizons (J21)
Vengeful Archon - Magic 2011 (M11)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Emeria Shepherd MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Zendikar and Battle for Zendikar Promos, 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 Emeria Shepherd and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Emeria Shepherd Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2015-10-02 and 2020-09-25. Illustrated by Cynthia Sheppard.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-10-02Battle for ZendikarBFZ 222015normalblackCynthia Sheppard
22015-10-02Battle for Zendikar PromosPBFZ 22s2015normalblackCynthia Sheppard
32020-09-25Zendikar Rising CommanderZNC 162015normalblackCynthia Sheppard
42020-09-26The ListPLST BFZ-222015normalblackCynthia Sheppard

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Emeria Shepherd has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-08-25 A landfall ability triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control for any reason. It triggers whenever you play a land, as well as whenever a spell or ability puts a land onto the battlefield under your control.
2015-08-25 A “nonland permanent card” is an artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker card.
2015-08-25 If the ability has an additional or replacement effect that depends on the land having a certain basic land type, the ability will check that land’s type as the ability resolves. If, at that time, the land that entered the battlefield is no longer on the battlefield, use its types when it left the battlefield to determine what happens.
2015-08-25 If you return an Aura to the battlefield this way, you choose what it will enchant as it enters the battlefield. This doesn’t target any player or permanent, so you could attach an Aura to a permanent with hexproof controlled by an opponent, for example. If there’s nothing the Aura can legally enchant, it stays in the graveyard.
2015-08-25 When a land enters the battlefield under your control, each landfall ability of the permanents you control will trigger. You can put them on the stack in any order. The last ability you put on the stack will be the first one to resolve.

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