Thieving Skydiver MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Merfolk Rogue
Abilities Flying,Kicker
Power 2
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Thieving Skydiver offers the dual benefit of artifact control and strategic disruption in MTG.
  2. Scales with the game via its kicker ability, presenting a flexible resource acceleration.
  3. Demands keen mana and gameplay management to maximize its battlefield impact.

Text of card

Kicker . X can't be 0. (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) Flying When Thieving Skydiver enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, gain control of target artifact with mana value X or less. If that artifact is an Equipment, attach it to Thieving Skydiver.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Thieving Skydiver offers a unique twist on card advantage. When played wisely, it has the potential to snatch an important artifact from your opponent’s board. This not only increases your assets but also disrupts the opponent’s plan, effectively serving as a two-for-one in many situations.

Resource Acceleration: A key feature of Thieving Skydiver is its scalability with mana. It can accelerate your resources when kicking it for higher mana costs, effectively turning it into a tool for commandeering more expensive and impactful artifacts from your opponent’s side of the field.

Instant Speed: Although Thieving Skydiver is not an instant itself, the Kicker ability it possesses is relevant in any phase of the game. This allows for tactical flexibility, such as responding to opponents’ artifacts entering the battlefield without giving away your game plan prematurely.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Thieving Skydiver demands a keen strategic eye to maximize its kicker ability. Without an artifact target, its potential diminishes, leaving you with a vanilla creature on the battlefield that may not impact the game significantly.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring one blue mana, Thieving Skydiver is primarily suited for blue-based or blue-supporting decks. This can be restrictive, as it can’t be seamlessly integrated into decks that don’t run blue mana or lack mana fixing capabilities.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Considering the requirement to have sufficient mana to cover both its casting cost and kicker, Thieving Skydiver can have a high overall cost. While the ability to swipe an opponent’s key artifact is enticing, players must assess whether the mana investment is worth the potential gain, especially in fast-paced games where mana efficiency is crucial.


Reasons to Include Thieving Skydiver in Your Collection

Versatility: Thieving Skydiver offers significant flexibility, able to adapt to various game situations. This card is not just another creature to put on the board; it provides a direct way to intervene on the game state, especially effective in decks that strive to manipulate opponents’ resources.

Combo Potential: With its ability to snatch artifacts, Thieving Skydiver can seamlessly integrate with strategies that revolve around artifact manipulation or theft. This card enables unexpected combos, turning the artifacts you steal into tools for your victory or disruption for your opponent.

Meta-Relevance: Given the prevalence of artifacts in many game formats, Thieving Skydiver remains a relevant choice for most MTG players. It serves as a cost-effective way to disrupt opponents’ strategies that rely heavily on artifacts, effectively turning their strengths into your assets.


How to beat

Thieving Skydiver is an intriguing creature in Magic: The Gathering that has the potential to disrupt your opponent’s strategy by commandeering their artifacts. Its kicker ability is where the magic happens, allowing the skydiver to snatch an artifact with a mana cost of X or less, where X is the amount of mana paid for the kicker. This ability makes it particularly good at dealing with low to mid-cost artifacts.

Confronting Thieving Skydiver can be a challenge, but there are ways to mitigate its impact. Prioritize maintaining a low count of critical artifacts when a skydiver might be in play, or use artifacts that have little value to your opponent if taken. Beware of deploying expensive artifacts if you suspect this nimble rogue could be lurking in your opponent’s hand, as a higher kicker cost can lead to bigger targets being compromised. Consider instant-speed removal cards to take down the Skydiver before the theft can occur or utilize counterspells to prevent its casting altogether.

In essence, a careful strategy and preparedness can neutralize the threat posed by Thieving Skydiver, ensuring that your precious artifacts remain firmly under your control throughout the ebb and flow of the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Taking your game to new heights isn’t just about the cards in your hand; it’s about understanding and mastering the mechanics that propel you to victory. Thieving Skydiver not only elevates your tactical play but also breathes growth into your collection with its artifact commandeering prowess. Embrace the myriad possibilities it unfolds within your deck and the meta-game it influences. Whether you’re charting new competitive terrains or enhancing your strategic depth, let this card’s versatility uplift your MTG journey. Visit us to further your knowledge and sharpen your competitive edge with deep dives into dynamic gameplay and advanced deck-building strategies.


Cards like Thieving Skydiver

Thieving Skydiver offers an intriguing dynamic to the suite of creature spells in Magic: The Gathering. It shares a common theme with cards like Man-o’-War, which also emphasizes interaction by returning nonland permanents to their owner’s hand. Thieving Skydiver, however, weaves its own narrative by specifically targeting artifacts and incorporating a theft ability based on its kicker cost. Man-o’-War, lacking the theft capability, provides a simpler form of control.

Comparably, Hostage Taker enters the scene as another creature that disrupts opponents by exiling their artifacts or creatures. While Hostage Taker does provide an opportunity to cast the exiled card, it doesn’t provide the immediate control change that Thieving Skydiver does. Conversely, Agent of Treachery can outright steal any permanent without conditional cost but comes with a heftier seven mana price tag.

Considering the nuances and potential for immediate board impact, Thieving Skydiver stands out for artifact-centric strategies in Magic: The Gathering, boasting both a flexible kicker cost and the potential to tilt the equilibrium of power swiftly in your favor.

Man-o'-War - MTG Card versions
Hostage Taker - MTG Card versions
Agent of Treachery - MTG Card versions
Man-o'-War - MTG Card versions
Hostage Taker - MTG Card versions
Agent of Treachery - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Thieving Skydiver 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 Thieving Skydiver and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Thieving Skydiver Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2020-09-25 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by Kieran Yanner.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 837582015NormalBlackKieran Yanner
22020-09-25Zendikar Rising PromosPZNR 85s2015NormalBlackKieran Yanner
32020-09-25Zendikar RisingZNR 852015NormalBlackKieran Yanner
42020-09-25Zendikar RisingZNR 3352015NormalBlackKieran Yanner
52020-09-25Zendikar Rising PromosPZNR 85p2015NormalBlackKieran Yanner
62023-11-17The Lost Caverns of Ixalan CommanderLCC 1772015NormalBlackKieran Yanner

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Thieving Skydiver 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 Thieving Skydiver card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
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 the Equipment can't be attached to Thieving Skydiver, most likely because Thieving Skydiver has left the battlefield before its triggered ability resolves, the Equipment remains attached to whatever it's currently attached to or remains unattached if attached to nothing.
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 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 The control-change effect of Thieving Skydiver lasts indefinitely. It doesn't wear off during the cleanup step, and it doesn't expire if Thieving Skydiver leaves the battlefield. In a multiplayer game, it does expire if you leave the game.
2020-09-25 Thieving Skydiver's ability can target an artifact you already control. You'll attach it to Thieving Skydiver if it's an Equipment.
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 You can't pay a kicker cost more than once.

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