Sea Gate Oracle MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 11 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Human Wizard
Power 1
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Sea Gate Oracle presents card advantage by refining your hand with battlefield entry card selection.
  2. Overcome its benefits by using removal spells or presenting multiple threats on the board.
  3. Its versatility makes it a strong fit for various decks, enhancing their card quality and consistency.

Text of card

When Sea Gate Oracle enters the battlefield, look at the top two cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the other on the bottom of your library.

"The secret entrance should be near."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Sea Gate Oracle enters the battlefield, you get to look at the top two cards of your library and tuck one into your hand while the other goes to the bottom of your library. This selective draw not only increases your hand size but also sifts through your deck to find more useful options.

Resource Acceleration: Although Sea Gate Oracle doesn’t directly produce mana or tokens, it effectively accelerates your resources by helping find the right cards at the right time. In essence, it streamlines your game plan, leading to more timely draws and plays.

Instant Speed: Sea Gate Oracle itself might not be an instant, but its effect is similar to one—allowing you a degree of flexibility. This creature can be summoned right before your turn, leaving your mana open during your opponent’s turn for counterspells or removal. Thus, it not only sets up your next draw but also adapts to the flow of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Sea Gate Oracle can help filter through your deck, it requires you to choose a card to put into your graveyard. This can force you to discard a potentially useful card, which is not ideal when your hand options are already running thin.

Specific Mana Cost: Sea Gate Oracle requires one blue and two colorless mana. Decks that are heavy on other colors may find it challenging to consistently meet this specific mana combination, particularly early in the game when mana resources are scarce.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana for a modest 1/3 creature, some players might consider Sea Gate Oracle’s mana investment steep compared to other two-mana creatures that offer similar or better card selection capabilities. While the card does provide some value with its ability, there are situations where a lower-cost alternative might be preferred for a more efficient deck play.


Reasons to Include Sea Gate Oracle in Your Collection

Versatility: Sea Gate Oracle offers flexibility in deck building due to its ability to filter through your deck. As a creature that provides card selection upon entering the battlefield, it fits well into control, combo, and midrange decks that prioritize draw quality over quantity.

Combo Potential: This creature’s ability to look at the top two cards of your library and put one into your hand allows for setup of graveyard synergies or combos with cards that perform well with knowledge of the top deck. In addition, its synergy with flicker effects or blink strategies can repeatedly exploit its card selection ability.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state that favors long, grindy matches, Sea Gate Oracle can be a consistent source of advantage. Its card selection helps to ensure that you draw into your answers and threats more consistently, making it a solid performer in various meta environments.


How to Beat Sea Gate Oracle

Sea Gate Oracle stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a valuable card for its ability to refine a player’s deck by providing card selection. With a seemingly innocuous action of choosing one card from the top two of your library when it enters the battlefield, the Sea Gate Oracle helps maintain card advantage. This action can be pivotal in setting up future plays or finding answers to your opponent’s threats.

Yet, for all its utility, overcoming the Sea Gate Oracle is straightforward. Targeted removal spells like Fatal Push or Shock effectively dispatch the Oracle before it has the chance to provide significant value. Since it has only 1 power, cards that prevent or negate small creatures from doing damage, such as Holy Light, blunt its impact. Playing around the Oracle’s enter-the-battlefield trigger is also an effective strategy. By keeping up the pressure and presenting multiple threats, you can force your opponent into unfavorable blocks or make the card selection less impactful.

Ultimately, by prioritizing threat management and maintaining an aggressive stance, you can mitigate the benefits Sea Gate Oracle offers your opponent and maintain the upper hand in your Magic: The Gathering matches.


BurnMana Recommendations

Every MTG player knows that card advantage often spells the difference between victory and defeat. Sea Gate Oracle offers just that, providing you with a crucial look into your future plays. Whether you’re constructing a deck that capitalizes on card selection or seeking to strengthen your current lineup, Sea Gate Oracle is a dependable ally. With its strategic benefits and nuanced drawbacks, this card prompts a careful evaluation of your deck’s mana curve and synergy. If you’re curious about optimizing Sea Gate Oracle’s potential or mitigating its cons, we encourage you to delve deeper with us and enhance your MTG tactics.


Cards like Sea Gate Oracle

In the realm of creature-based card selection in MTG, Sea Gate Oracle stands as a noteworthy example. This creature’s ability is akin to cards like Augury Owl, which lets you look at the top three cards of your deck, reshuffling any you don’t need. Sea Gate Oracle takes this a step further by allowing you to choose from among the top two cards and directly put one into your hand.

Omenspeaker is another creature with a related ability, offering the player a scry 2 upon entering the battlefield. Although not as direct as Sea Gate Oracle’s card draw, Omenspeaker provides valued deck filtering for upcoming draws. Moreover, Coiling Oracle shares a resemblance but leans more towards resource acceleration, revealing the top card and, if it’s a land, putting it onto the battlefield.

When reviewing these creatures and their effects, Sea Gate Oracle’s role is clear. It provides an immediate advantage by refining hand quality, an element that is crucial in MTG’s ever-evolving strategic battlefields. By directly improving card quality in hand, Sea Gate Oracle earns its place as a solid option for decks seeking that extra layer of card selection.

Augury Owl - MTG Card versions
Omenspeaker - MTG Card versions
Coiling Oracle - MTG Card versions
Augury Owl - Magic 2011 (M11)
Omenspeaker - Theros (THS)
Coiling Oracle - Arena League 2006 (PAL06)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sea Gate Oracle MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi and Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska, 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 Sea Gate Oracle and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Sea Gate Oracle Magic the Gathering card was released in 10 different sets between 2010-04-23 and 2022-10-14. Illustrated by Daniel Ljunggren.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-04-23Rise of the EldraziROE 852003normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
22014-03-14Duel Decks: Jace vs. VraskaDDM 102003normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
32014-11-07Commander 2014C14 1242015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
42017-03-17Modern Masters 2017MM3 482015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
52017-08-25Commander 2017C17 922015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
62019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 4802015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
72020-07-17JumpstartJMP 1732015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
82020-09-26The ListPLST KHC-432015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
92020-09-26The ListPLST C17-922015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
102021-02-05Kaldheim CommanderKHC 432015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren
112022-10-14Game Night: Free-for-AllGN3 382015normalblackDaniel Ljunggren

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sea Gate Oracle has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-03-14 If there’s only one card in your library as Sea Gate Oracle’s ability resolves, you’ll put it into your hand.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks