Scale the Heights MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Scale the Heights offers card draw, extra land play, and life gain, enriching green decks.
  2. Limited to green decks, its three-mana cost competes with other impactful spells.
  3. Beyond comparison, it shines in ramp and landfall focused strategies in varied metas.

Text of card

Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature. You gain 2 life. You may play an additional land this turn. Draw a card.

"Ever onward, ever skyward."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Scale the Heights grants the player the opportunity to draw a card upon casting. This card can be a pivotal addition to a deck focused on maintaining a steady flow of resources, enabling players to stay ahead in the game by having more options available each turn.

Resource Acceleration: When you play Scale the Heights, you not only get to place an additional land card on the battlefield but also gain two life points. This can significantly accelerate your resource development, allowing you to cast more impactful spells sooner than your opponent and potentially change the tide of the match in your favor.

Instant Speed: While Scale the Heights itself is not an instant, its ability to let you put an extra land card into play can effectively increase your mana availability for instant-speed responses during your opponent’s turn. This ensures that you’re advancing your board state while still being ready to react at a moment’s notice with other instant-speed tricks in your arsenal.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While not a direct discard effect, Scale the Heights sets you up for potential card disadvantage. You draw a card upon casting, but if you can’t play an additional land or benefit fully from the life gain, it could feel like a missed opportunity compared to cards that provide more immediate or scalable value.

Specific Mana Cost: Scale the Heights has a green color commitment. This requirement causes it to align firmly with green-centered or green-supported decks, potentially limiting its flexibility in multi-colored deck construction where mana bases are tightly constrained.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Sitting at three mana, Scale the Heights competes with numerous efficient spells in the three-slot. Considering its effect is somewhat modest—giving +1/+1, a bit of life, and potential land play—players might scrutinize its inclusion over more impactful spells at this crucial point on the mana curve.


Reasons to Include Scale the Heights in Your Collection

Versatility: Scale the Heights offers players a multifaceted tool, granting the ability to gain life, play an additional land, and draw a card—all from a single spell. This can seamlessly integrate into a range of green decks that capitalize on landfall mechanics or simply look to maintain card advantage and ramp up quickly.

Combo Potential: Aside from its inherent benefits, Scale the Heights can serve as a crucial piece in combinations, triggering landfall abilities multiple times in a turn. Its utility shines in decks that thrive on casting numerous spells per turn or enjoy exploiting the prowess of creatures that grow stronger with each spell cast.

Meta-Relevance: Given its resource acceleration and card draw capabilities, Scale the Heights is useful in a variety of meta environments. For decks aiming to outpace opponents by ramping up and creating overwhelming board states, this card can be a game-changer, particularly in a meta that favors longer, more drawn-out games where incremental value reigns supreme.


How to beat

Scale the Heights is a versatile green spell in the Magic: The Gathering arsenal, known for granting a +1/+1 counter, life gain, and enabling land drops, all in one package. This multi-faceted card can pivot a game in your opponent’s favor, making its effective counterplay a key strategy for seasoned players.

To outmaneuver Scale the Heights, consider leveraging instant-speed removal spells to dispatch the creature targeted by the counter before the life gain and additional land can substantially benefit your adversary. Cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can proactively disrupt your opponent’s momentum. Alternative strategies include utilizing counter spells or discard mechanics to prevent Scale the Heights from ever touching the battlefield. Thoughtseize or Negate can serve as preemptive measures, targeting the spell directly from your opponent’s hand or stack.

In essence, mastering the timing of your responses and anticipating your opponent’s moves are the cornerstone strategies to triumph against the growth and opportunities provided by Scale the Heights. Keep your removals and counters ready, and you’ll maintain the upper hand against this green spell.


BurnMana Recommendations

Wrapping up our analysis, the essence of MTG lies in not just the power of individual cards, but how they synergize within your deck. Scale the Heights offers a blend of acceleration and utility that can be a cornerstone in green decks, especially those that capitalize on landfall or look for sustained growth. Fine-tune your collection and adapt to the ever-shifting meta by including versatile spells like this. Dive deeper into strategic play and enhance your MTG experience. Gain life, draw cards, and turn the terrain of battle in your favor. Ready to advance your strategies? Discover more with us and scale new heights in your MTG journey.


Cards like Scale the Heights

Scale the Heights is an intriguing spell that offers MTG players a multifaceted approach to gameplay. When exploring similar cards, we find that Nissa’s Pilgrimage also provides a ramp effect by searching for basic Forest cards. However, unlike Scale the Heights, it solely focuses on land acceleration without the extra benefits of gaining life or putting a +1/+1 counter on a creature as Scale the Heights does.

Another comparable card, Broken Bond, allows players to destroy an opponent’s artifact or enchantment and then play an additional land, offering some interaction with the board but missing the direct life gain and creature buffing. Explore presents a resemblance too, granting the ability to play an additional land and draw a card, but it lacks the direct health boost that can be crucial in tight games.

To sum up, while there are several cards with similarities in terms of land ramp and card advantages, Scale the Heights stands out by combining these with immediate life gain and the ability to empower a creature, rendering it a versatile option in MTG decks focused on growth and resilience.

Nissa's Pilgrimage - MTG Card versions
Broken Bond - MTG Card versions
Explore - MTG Card versions
Nissa's Pilgrimage - MTG Card versions
Broken Bond - MTG Card versions
Explore - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Scale the Heights by color, type and mana cost

Ice Storm - MTG Card versions
Tranquility - MTG Card versions
Essence Filter - MTG Card versions
Renewal - MTG Card versions
Seeds of Innocence - MTG Card versions
Fallow Earth - MTG Card versions
Untamed Wilds - MTG Card versions
Wing Snare - MTG Card versions
Squall - MTG Card versions
Deep Reconnaissance - MTG Card versions
Far Wanderings - MTG Card versions
Long Rest - MTG Card versions
Rosethorn Acolyte // Seasonal Ritual - MTG Card versions
Cultivate - MTG Card versions
Lovestruck Beast // Heart's Desire - MTG Card versions
Nissa's Pilgrimage - MTG Card versions
Recollect - MTG Card versions
Deconstruct - MTG Card versions
Kodama's Reach - MTG Card versions
Stomp and Howl - MTG Card versions
Ice Storm - MTG Card versions
Tranquility - MTG Card versions
Essence Filter - MTG Card versions
Renewal - MTG Card versions
Seeds of Innocence - MTG Card versions
Fallow Earth - MTG Card versions
Untamed Wilds - MTG Card versions
Wing Snare - MTG Card versions
Squall - MTG Card versions
Deep Reconnaissance - MTG Card versions
Far Wanderings - MTG Card versions
Long Rest - MTG Card versions
Rosethorn Acolyte // Seasonal Ritual - MTG Card versions
Cultivate - MTG Card versions
Lovestruck Beast // Heart's Desire - MTG Card versions
Nissa's Pilgrimage - MTG Card versions
Recollect - MTG Card versions
Deconstruct - MTG Card versions
Kodama's Reach - MTG Card versions
Stomp and Howl - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scale the Heights MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising and Jumpstart 2022, 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 Scale the Heights and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Scale the Heights Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2020-09-25 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Cristi Balanescu.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12020-09-25Zendikar RisingZNR 2022015NormalBlackCristi Balanescu
22022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 7242015NormalBlackCristi Balanescu

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scale the Heights has restrictions

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

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Scale the Heights 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 If you choose a target creature and it’s an illegal target by the time Scale the Heights tries to resolve, the spell doesn’t resolve. You don’t gain life, draw a card, or get to play an additional land.
2020-09-25 The permission to play lands is cumulative with other effects that allow you to play additional lands, such as that of Nahiri’s Lithoforming.
2020-09-25 You don’t play a land as Scale the Heights resolves; Scale the Heights fully resolves first and you draw a card, perhaps including a land you’ll play later. If it’s not your turn, you won’t be able to play a land this turn at all.

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