Eyes of the Watcher MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment
Abilities	Scry
Released	2004-06-04
Set symbol
Set name	Fifth Dawn
Set code	5DN
Number	30
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ron Spears

Key Takeaways

Provides strategic draw control by scrying when you cast instants or sorceries, optimizing your future plays.
Best fits blue, spell-heavy decks where scrying every spell maximizes value and shapes strategic decisions.
Counters such as Disenchant effectively disrupt Eyes of the Watcher, ensuring it doesn’t affect the game.

Text of card

Whenever you play an instant or sorcery spell, you may pay . If you do, scry 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Eyes of the Watcher offers potential card quality improvement every time you cast an instant or sorcery spell. This can lead to an accumulation of card advantage as you systematically sift through your deck for the most impactful spells.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly accelerating resources like generating mana, Eyes of the Watcher accelerates your strategic resources by ensuring that the spells you draw into are the ones you need for maintaining board control or setting up game-winning combos.

Instant Speed: While Eyes of the Watcher itself isn’t an instant, its triggered ability can operate at instant speed. This means when you do cast an instant with its scry ability on the stack, you can make immediate and informed decisions based on what’s at the top of your deck, thus interacting with the game while also curating your upcoming turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Eyes of the Watcher necessitates that you have another spell to cast, essentially asking you to spend additional cards to trigger its ability. This can quickly drain your hand, putting you at a strategic disadvantage if you’re not carefully managing your resources.

Specific Mana Cost: This spell’s cost requires two blue mana, which restricts its potential across various deck types. Decks that are not focused on blue mana may find incorporating this card challenging and less effective.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Eyes of the Watcher might be seen as a steep price for its conditional scrying effect. In the current metagame, players could find other cards to optimize mana expenditure or provide more immediate and impactful benefits.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Eyes of the Watcher offers a unique ability to control your fate by scrying whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell. This fits seamlessly into spell-heavy decks that benefit from manipulating the top of the library.

Combo Potential: This card shines in decks designed around casting numerous spells. Pairing Eyes of the Watcher with cards that allow multiple casts per turn can create powerful synergy, maximizing the value of each scry.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where knowledge of the next draw is crucial, Eyes of the Watcher elevates strategy. It keeps decks running smoothly by ensuring a better quality of draws and enabling more consistent execution of your game plan.

How to beat

Overcoming the strategic advantage provided by Eyes of the Watcher in Magic: The Gathering requires a focused game plan. This enchantment thrives in decks built around instants and sorceries, enabling a potent scry effect whenever you play a spell with a ‘when you play’ clause.

Disruption is key — target Eyes of the Watcher with spells or abilities designed to remove enchantments. Consider incorporating cards like Disenchant or Naturalize, which are efficient, low-cost options for dismantling your opponent’s setup. Additionally, countering the spell before it hits the battlefield with counterspells like Counterspell or Negate prevents the enchantment from ever becoming an issue.

Maintaining a swift pace in gameplay also helps to eclipse the advantage that Eyes of the Watcher provides. Putting pressure on your opponent with creatures and direct damage can divert their resources and attention away from optimizing their scry strategy. In essence, a versatile approach combining enchantment removal, counterspells, and offensive tactics offers a robust strategy against Eyes of the Watcher.

Cards like Eyes of the Watcher

Eyes of the Watcher is a unique enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that gives players an edge when casting instants and sorcery spells. Comparable to Counterbalance, which offers control by revealing the top card of the deck and potentially countering spells, Eyes of the Watcher focuses on enhancing your own spells. Unlike Counterbalance, which passively disrupts the opponent, Eyes of the Watcher proactively shapes your future draws and strategies with its scry ability each time you cast a spell with the potential to be duplicated.

Another enchantment, Sigil of Sleep, also modifies spell casting but in an entirely different manner by returning creatures to their owner’s hand upon dealing damage, albeit not interacting directly with spell casting like Eyes of the Watcher. Crystal Ball is an artifact that offers a comparable scry effect, allowing you to filter your draws, but it requires active use of mana and doesn’t interact with the casting of spells.

Among these enchantments and artifacts, Eyes of the Watcher stands out by rewarding players with the gift of foresight, aligning their upcoming draws with their strategy each time they cast an instant or sorcery, thus making it a potent addition for decks that heavily rely on such spells.

Cards similar to Eyes of the Watcher by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Eyes of the Watcher MTG card by a specific set like Fifth Dawn, 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 Eyes of the Watcher and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Eyes of the Watcher has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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