Cavalier of Night MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityMythic
TypeCreature — Elemental Knight
Abilities Lifelink
Power 4
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Combines card advantage, resource acceleration, and instant-speed utility, enhancing gameplay significantly.
  2. Demands careful deck building due to specific mana costs and the discard requirement upon entry.
  3. Offers versatility and combo potential, remaining meta-relevant in various MTG deck strategies.

Text of card

Lifelink When Cavalier of Night enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature. When you do, destroy target creature an opponent controls. When Cavalier of Night dies, return target creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Cavalier of Night is put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you can return another target creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. This essential ability keeps your army supplied by turning a potential loss into a significant on-field presence, ensuring that even in defeat, your strategy progresses.

Resource Acceleration: As part of its arrival on the battlefield, Cavalier of Night allows a player to sacrifice another creature. This trade-off can be beneficial if you have creatures with dying or leaving-the-battlefield effects, effectively accelerating your resources by triggering those abilities. This creature offers the player tactical versatility, making it a valuable piece for various game states.

Instant Speed: While Cavalier of Night itself doesn’t have instant speed, this lifelink creature can impact the board immediately through its ability to destroy another target creature your opponent controls. This removal ability can be timed to disrupt your opponent’s tactics during your turn, acting as a safety net against threatening creatures while simultaneously providing a lifelink blocker for subsequent turns.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing the Cavalier of Night can be taxing on your hand, as it prompts you to sacrifice another creature upon entry. This prerequisite might strain your resources, especially in decks not built to capitalize on this effect.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise blend of mana to play, including not one but two black mana. This requirement can hamper deck flexibility, particularly in multicolor decks that may struggle to consistently produce the necessary black mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost of five mana, including the stringent black mana requirement, the Cavalier of Night’s abilities come at a premium. When analyzing other options available, there may be others that provide similar effects or greater utility with a lower investment.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Cavalier of Night is a fantastic addition to a variety of black decks looking for a creature with multiple utilities. Its ability to destroy another creature upon entering the battlefield, coupled with lifelink, makes it highly adaptable in both offensive and defensive situations.

Combo Potential: This card’s death-trigger, allowing you to return target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, opens up numerous combo possibilities. It pairs well with creatures that have valuable enter or leave the battlefield effects.

Meta-Relevance: As the game shifts and evolves, having a creature like Cavalier of Night can provide an edge. Its removal and creature revival abilities can disrupt opponent strategies, ensuring its relevance in various meta scenarios.


How to beat Cavalier of Night

Cavalier of Night is a powerful creature that brings a blend of removal and resurrection abilities to the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. Its lifelink ability makes it a formidable opponent, especially in creature-heavy matchups. However, like any card, it has weaknesses that can be exploited. Utilizing cards that counter creature-based strategies is key. Cards like Essence Scatter or Negate can stop the Cavalier before it ever touches the field. Graveyard hate pieces like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can nullify its resurrection ability upon death. Additionally, exiling effects from cards like Path to Exile ensure the Cavalier doesn’t return from the graveyard, undercutting its long-term value. A strategy focused on these angles prevents the Cavalier from gaining a foothold and turns the tides in your favor.

Direct and efficient removal spells are another way to handle this threat. A rapidly resolved Murderous Rider or a well-timed Doom Blade can remove Cavalier of Night without triggering its powerful death ability. In control decks, board wipes like Shatter the Sky can clear the entire field, including the Cavalier, minimizing the impact of its recursion ability. By prioritizing the removal of Cavalier of Night and keeping graveyard interactions in check, players can maintain control of the game and negate its advantages.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the strategic depth of Cavalier of Night enhances your MTG gameplay and deck building creativity. Cavalier of Night shines in decks built to exploit its synergistic abilities. Whether in need of resilient creatures or looking to incorporate graveyard strategies, this card performs exceptionally. It pushes the boundaries of control with its disruptive entry and departure effects, making it a prime candidate for innovative combos and reanimation tactics. We invite you to explore the many facets and uses of Cavalier of Night in your MTG games. Learn more about optimizing your deck’s potential and elevating your playstyle with the versatile Cavalier of Night.


Cards like Cavalier of Night

The Cavalier of Night is a unique creature card that offers a blend of removal and reanimation abilities in MTG. Its closest counterparts in terms of creature control would be Ravenous Chupacabra, which also destroys a creature upon entering the battlefield. However, Cavalier of Night differs by featuring lifelink and it also returns a creature card with converted mana cost 3 or less to the battlefield when it dies.

Another card worth mentioning is Noxious Gearhulk, a creature with a similar enter-the-battlefield effect that destroys another creature and gives you life points equal to that creature’s toughness. The Gearhulk, however, doesn’t offer the reanimation upside when it leaves the battlefield. As for triggering an effect upon death, Woe Strider presents an intriguing comparison. While it doesn’t destroy a creature, it does serve as a reliable way to sacrifice other creatures for greater board control, and it can be returned to the battlefield from the graveyard, backing up your strategy with perseverance.

Each card indeed carries its own strategic value and situation-dependent superiority, but Cavalier of Night is specially prized for its dual utility in creature control and graveyard synergy within MTG decks that capitalize on such dynamics.

Ravenous Chupacabra - MTG Card versions
Noxious Gearhulk - MTG Card versions
Woe Strider - MTG Card versions
Ravenous Chupacabra - Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
Noxious Gearhulk - Kaladesh Inventions (MPS)
Woe Strider - Theros Beyond Death Promos (PTHB)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cavalier of Night MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2020 and The List, 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 Cavalier of Night and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Cavalier of Night Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-07-12 and 2019-07-12. Illustrated by Viktor Titov.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-07-12Core Set 2020M20 942015normalblackViktor Titov
22020-09-26The ListPLST M20-942015normalblackViktor Titov

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cavalier of Night has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-07-12 Cavalier of Night’s enters-the-battlefield ability goes on the stack without a target. While that ability is resolving, you may sacrifice another creature. When you do, the reflexive triggered ability triggers and you pick a target creature to be destroyed. This is different from effects that say “If you do . . .” in that players may take actions after you’ve sacrificed the creature but before the target creature is destroyed.
2019-07-12 If a card in a graveyard has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0.
2019-07-12 If a creature card with mana value 3 or less becomes a copy of Cavalier of Night, its last ability can target itself when it dies.
2019-07-12 While resolving Cavalier of Night’s enters-the-battlefield ability, you can’t sacrifice more than one creature.

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