Captured Sunlight MTG Card


Captured Sunlight - Alara Reborn
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Cascade
Released2009-04-30
Set symbol
Set nameAlara Reborn
Set codeARB
Number66
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byNils Hamm

Key Takeaways

  1. Grants dual benefits of life gain and potentially casting a free spell, increasing your playing options.
  2. Introduces an element of surprise in games, potentially disrupting opponents with a random instant.
  3. Limited to multicolor decks due to specific mana requirements, but impacts gameplay positively when played.

Text of card

Cascade (When you play this spell, remove cards from the top of your library from the game until you remove a nonland card that costs less. You may play it without paying its mana cost. Put the removed cards on the bottom in a random order.) You gain 4 life.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Captured Sunlight offers a cascade ability, which potentially allows you to cast an additional spell for free. This provides an incremental advantage as you’re effectively getting two spells from a single card, bolstering your hand’s value.

Resource Acceleration: The gain of 4 life upon casting can be a subtle form of resource acceleration. While not directly impacting mana, it does extend your survivability, potentially enabling longer-term strategic planning and maintaining board presence without requiring immediate defensive measures.

Instant Speed: While Captured Sunlight does not have instant speed itself, the cascade effect could result in an instant-speed spell being cast at no additional cost. This serendipitous outcome could disrupt an opponent’s strategy at a crucial moment, adding a layer of surprise and flexibility to your gameplay.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Captured Sunlight offers a cascade benefit, it doesn’t specifically impose a discard requirement, which is a slight misuse of terms in this context. However, players should be aware of hand depletion, as playing with cascade can inadvertently reduce resources if not managed carefully.

Specific Mana Cost: Captured Sunlight’s mana cost is split across multiple colors, which can be challenging to meet in a deck that isn’t specifically designed to accommodate a four-color mana base. This can restrict its inclusion to certain multicolored decks only.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing four mana, Captured Sunlight may seem steep for the gain of four life followed by the cascade mechanic. When considering alternative cards, players might find other spells that provide life gain or card advantage with lower or more efficient mana costs.


Reasons to Include Captured Sunlight in Your Collection

Versatility: Captured Sunlight offers flexibility by providing lifegain and cascading into lower-cost spells. This card smoothly fits into various deck archetypes, from life-gain focused builds to those geared towards casting multiple spells in a single turn.

Combo Potential: The cascade ability of Captured Sunlight can unexpectedly propel combo decks, hitting key components when resolving. Its interaction with spells that manipulate or benefit from additional castings can create powerful synergies in the right setup.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where games often stretch into longer, drawn-out battles, the health buffer and card advantage gained from Captured Sunlight can be a turning point, especially in decks designed to outlast opponents.


How to beat

Captured Sunlight presents a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering duels. This card delivers both a life boost and the potential to cast another spell without payment, akin to a lottery ticket for your deck. A deck utilizing Captured Sunlight is often rich in impactful spells, relying on this cascade effect to churn out advantages cheaply. To outmaneuver this strategy, control decks wielding counterspells like Cancel or absorb are highly effective at mitigating the impact of the cascaded spells. Targeted removals or discard mechanics to strip this card from an opponent’s hand before it’s cast can also be instrumental in keeping the reins tight.

Moreover, instant-speed interaction can be crucial. You need to keep mana open to respond to whatever Captured Sunlight might bring into play. Lastly, pressure from aggressive creatures forces an opponent to have an answer immediately or risk being overwhelmed before they get the chance to leverage the value Captured Sunlight provides. Adapt these strategies to your game plan, and you will be well-prepared to plunge Captured Sunlight’s hopes into darkness.


Cards like Captured Sunlight

Captured Sunlight is a unique card in the vibrant world of Magic: The Gathering, standing tall in the cascade mechanic lineup. It shares the stage with the likes of Etherium-Horn Sorcerer, which also grants players a free casting of a spell upon entering the battlefield. The advantage of Captured Sunlight lies in its life gain aspect, providing a healthy boost of four life points in addition to its cascade effect.

Another comparable card is Bloodbraid Elf. While both facilitate a cascade, the Elf brings an aggressive element with a 3/2 body, making it a more offensive choice. Captured Sunlight, conversely, plays a more supportive role with its health gain, catering to players focusing on longevity over immediate pressure. Violent Outburst is also part of this family, with a wider cascade reach due to its inclusion in a deck’s arsenal as an instant. Outburst does not offer life gain but it can be a game-changer by being cast at the most opportune time.

Evaluating the options, Captured Sunlight uniquely balances the surprise element of cascade with a substantial life cushion, crafting a spot for itself in decks that value sustainability alongside strategic spell casting in Magic: The Gathering.

Etherium-Horn Sorcerer - MTG Card versions
Bloodbraid Elf - MTG Card versions
Violent Outburst - MTG Card versions
Etherium-Horn Sorcerer - Planechase 2012 (PC2)
Bloodbraid Elf - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Violent Outburst - Alara Reborn (ARB)

Cards similar to Captured Sunlight by color, type and mana cost

Oakhame Ranger // Bring Back - MTG Card versions
Wrath of Sod - MTG Card versions
Oakhame Ranger // Bring Back - Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
Wrath of Sod - Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021 (CMB2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Captured Sunlight MTG card by a specific set like Alara Reborn, 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 Captured Sunlight and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Captured Sunlight has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-06-18 A spell's mana value is determined only by its mana cost. Ignore any alternative costs, additional costs, cost increases, or cost reductions.
2021-06-18 Cascade triggers when you cast the spell, meaning that it resolves before that spell. If you end up casting the exiled card, it will go on the stack above the spell with cascade.
2021-06-18 Due to a recent rules change to cascade, not only do you stop exiling cards if you exile a nonland card with lesser mana value than the spell with cascade, but the resulting spell you cast must also have lesser mana value. Previously, in cases where a card's mana value differed from the resulting spell, such as with some modal double-faced cards or cards with an Adventure, you could cast a spell with a higher mana value than the exiled card.
2021-06-18 If a spell with cascade is countered, the cascade ability will still resolve normally.
2021-06-18 If the card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.
2021-06-18 If you cast a card “without paying its mana cost,” you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those to cast the card.
2021-06-18 The mana value of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. If cascade allows you to cast a split card, you may cast either half but not both halves.
2021-06-18 When the cascade ability resolves, you must exile cards. The only optional part of the ability is whether or not you cast the last card exiled.
2021-06-18 You exile the cards face up. All players will be able to see them.

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