Skyclave Shade MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Shade
Abilities Kicker,Landfall
Power 3
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Skyclave Shade ensures relentless threats with its graveyard to battlefield return, maintaining player advantage.
  2. Its ability to re-cast reinforces mana allocation for diverse spell play, offering strategic deck versatility.
  3. Surprise landfall re-entry provides strategic flexibility within turns, expanding in-game tactical options.

Text of card

Kicker Skyclave Shade can't block. If Skyclave Shade was kicked, it enters the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it. Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, if Skyclave Shade is in your graveyard and it's your turn, you may cast it from your graveyard this turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Skyclave Shade provides a notable advantage by returning to the battlefield from your graveyard, ensuring you never run out of threats and maintain pressure on your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: While Skyclave Shade itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, its ability to keep coming back from the graveyard means you’ll have more freedom to use your mana on other spells, knowing your creature base is secure.

Instant Speed: Although Skyclave Shade is cast at sorcery speed, its landfall trigger allows it to make a surprise re-entry during any of your turns, offering strategic flexibility especially after playing a land dropped for the turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Skyclave Shade requires that you have a land card you can play from your hand to trigger its landfall ability. If your hand is devoid of lands, capitalizing on its potential return from the graveyard becomes challenging.

Specific Mana Cost: Skyclave Shade demands two black mana, which ties it closely to black-focused or dual-color decks, potentially limiting its inclusion in more diverse multicolor builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an initial casting cost of two mana and the necessity to play a land to return it from the graveyard, Skyclave Shade might compete with other two-drop creatures that provide immediate impact on the board without additional conditions.


Reasons to Include Skyclave Shade in Your Collection

Versatility: Skyclave Shade offers a persistent threat in games, easily returning from the graveyard to the battlefield, making it a resilient addition to various aggressive and midrange decks.

Combo Potential: With its ability to be cast from the graveyard, it synergizes well with landfall mechanics or strategies that care about casting spells from unusual zones.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where the battlefield can be wiped clean frequently, Skyclave Shade stands out as a card that maintains pressure and presence, adapting well to a variety of meta shifts and deck archetypes.


How to beat

Skyclave Shade presents a unique challenge for Magic: The Gathering players with its ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield. This tenacious creature card ensures resilience and continuous pressure, particularly valuable in black-focused landfall decks. It refuses to stay buried, as it can be kicked from the graveyard whenever a land enters under your control, swiftly turning the tides of the game to your favor.

To effectively counter the persistent Skyclave Shade, players should aim for exile-based removal methods. Rather than merely destroying the creature, exiling ensures that it does not have the chance to trigger its landfall ability and make a comeback. On top of that, utilizing cards that limit the number of lands an opponent can play each turn could severely hamper the Skyclave Shade’s potential to reanimate and maintain board presence.

Successfully navigating the game against Skyclave Shade entails a strategic approach that acknowledges its strengths and mitigates its capacity for rebirth. Considering this, Skyclave Shade undoubtedly exemplifies the relentless spirit of black plays within Magic: The Gathering, offering both a formidable opponent and a potent ally on the battlefield.


BurnMana Recommendations

Diving deeper into MTG’s strategic complexities, Skyclave Shade emerges as a card that embodies resilience and adaptability, qualities that are emblematic of black’s daunting presence on the battlefield. This self-reanimating creature ensures that your arsenal remains relentless, enabling you to maintain pressure and influence the game’s rhythm. The game of MTG is as much about the pieces you play as it is about the way you play them. We invite you to explore the potential of Skyclave Shade within your decks and to consider the strategic dimensions it adds to your playstyle. For more insights on optimizing your deck and mastering the landscape of MTG, join us and enrich your gameplay experience.


Cards like Skyclave Shade

Skyclave Shade boasts a unique presence on the battlefield, sitting alongside other resilient creatures in the world of Magic: The Gathering. Cards like Bloodghast spring to mind when examining parallels; both can return from the graveyard to the battlefield, although Bloodghast hinges on landfall triggers. Skyclave Shade gains an edge with its kicker ability, allowing it to enter with +1/+1 counters and be a bigger threat.

Dread Wanderer is another creature card with a recursive nature. But unlike Skyclave Shade, which can be cast from the graveyard if a player lands a land, Dread Wanderer’s return is conditional on the player having one or fewer cards in hand. Nether Spirit also shares the self-reanimating feature but is limited to one copy in the graveyard to make its comeback.

Upon comparison, Skyclave Shade provides versatility and aggressive potential, especially in decks designed around landing those crucial land drops. It aligns with modern gameplay dynamics where resilience and adaptability can be key to maintaining board presence. Thus, within its niche of recursive creatures, Skyclave Shade stands out as a favorable choice for players who value tenacity on the battlefield.

Bloodghast - MTG Card versions
Dread Wanderer - MTG Card versions
Nether Spirit - MTG Card versions
Bloodghast - Zendikar (ZEN)
Dread Wanderer - Amonkhet Promos (PAKH)
Nether Spirit - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)

Cards similar to Skyclave Shade by color, type and mana cost

Drudge Skeletons - MTG Card versions
Nether Shadow - MTG Card versions
Erg Raiders - MTG Card versions
Cyclopean Mummy - MTG Card versions
Cuombajj Witches - MTG Card versions
Order of the Ebon Hand - MTG Card versions
Bog Imp - MTG Card versions
Wall of Corpses - MTG Card versions
Blighted Shaman - MTG Card versions
Rabid Rats - MTG Card versions
Dakmor Bat - MTG Card versions
Ravenous Rats - MTG Card versions
Flesh Reaver - MTG Card versions
Bloodcurdler - MTG Card versions
Nantuko Shade - MTG Card versions
Piper of the Swarm - MTG Card versions
Undead Augur - MTG Card versions
Black Knight - MTG Card versions
Shepherd of Rot - MTG Card versions
Swarm of Rats - MTG Card versions
Drudge Skeletons - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nether Shadow - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Erg Raiders - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Cyclopean Mummy - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Cuombajj Witches - Rinascimento (RIN)
Order of the Ebon Hand - Pro Tour Collector Set (PTC)
Bog Imp - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Wall of Corpses - Mirage (MIR)
Blighted Shaman - Mirage (MIR)
Rabid Rats - Stronghold (STH)
Dakmor Bat - Portal Second Age (P02)
Ravenous Rats - Invasion (INV)
Flesh Reaver - Urza's Saga (USG)
Bloodcurdler - Odyssey (ODY)
Nantuko Shade - Commander 2014 (C14)
Piper of the Swarm - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Undead Augur - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
Black Knight - The List (PLST)
Shepherd of Rot - Onslaught (ONS)
Swarm of Rats - Eighth Edition (8ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Skyclave Shade MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Zendikar Rising 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 Skyclave Shade and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Skyclave Shade Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2020-09-25 and 2022-04-29. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 837122015normalblackDominik Mayer
22020-09-25Zendikar Rising PromosPZNR 125p2015normalblackDaarken
32020-09-25Zendikar RisingZNR 2982015normalblackDominik Mayer
42020-09-25Zendikar RisingZNR 1252015normalblackDaarken
52020-09-25Zendikar Rising PromosPZNR 125s2015normalblackDaarken
62020-09-26The ListPLST ZNR-2982015normalblackDominik Mayer
72022-04-29New Capenna CommanderNCC 2602015normalblackDaarken

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Skyclave Shade has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-09-25 A landfall ability doesn't trigger if a permanent already on the battlefield becomes a land.
2020-09-25 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.
2020-09-25 After you cast Skyclave Shade from your graveyard, it's considered a new object, and the permission from its landfall ability won't apply to it again even if it returns to your graveyard later in the turn. You'll need to have another land enter the battlefield under your control after it has returned to your graveyard to cast it again.
2020-09-25 An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25 If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that's already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn't kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25 If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can't kick it.
2020-09-25 Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25 Skyclave Shade's landfall ability triggers only if it's in your graveyard immediately after the land enters the battlefield.
2020-09-25 Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they're kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren't kicked, and you can't kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won't be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25 To determine a spell's total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card's effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25 Whenever 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.
2020-09-25 You can't pay a kicker cost more than once.
2020-09-25 You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions for Skyclave Shade when casting it with the permission of its landfall ability. You must pay its mana cost (or, if another effect allows, an alternative cost). You may pay its kicker cost when casting it this way.

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