Captivating Crew MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Human Pirate
Power 4
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Instant speed lets Captivating Crew disrupt opponents and control combat dynamics effectively.
  2. Demands resource management and careful play to maximize its potential on the board.
  3. Particularly strong in creature-heavy metas, providing control and tactical advantages.

Text of card

: Gain control of target creature an opponent controls until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.

"We sail. We plunder. Then we dance."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Captivating Crew gives you the power to take control of your opponent’s creatures, offering a form of card advantage by utilizing their resources against them. This sway in battlefield presence can be a significant shift in any game.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing resource acceleration, using Captivating Crew optimally means leveraging the threat of activation to keep opponents from committing to the board fully. In a roundabout way, this can free up your mana and resources for other strategic moves.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Captivating Crew at instant speed is where this card shines. During the uncertainty of your opponent’s turn, holding mana for Crew’s ability can pose a tricky scenario for them, forcing suboptimal plays or overextended strategies, taking full advantage of the instant speed nature of the ability to disrupt and control the pace of the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the power to control opponents’ creatures might seem appealing, a card like Captivating Crew requires a sacrifice of resources. You may find yourself in a bind needing to discard another useful card from your hand to activate its abilities.

Specific Mana Cost: This card comes with a specific mana requirement that can be demanding—particularly a heavy reliance on red mana. This restricts the card primarily to decks that can consistently generate enough red mana, potentially hindering its inclusion in more diverse mana bases.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that might be considered steep by some players, Captivating Crew competes with other four mana cards that could offer immediate impact on the game. This cost analysis could sway some players towards alternatives offering a more favorable cost-to-benefit ratio.


Reasons to Include Captivating Crew in Your Collection

Versatility: Captivating Crew offers a dynamic ability to take control of opponent’s creatures, which can seamlessly integrate into a variety of deck strategies, from aggressive red decks to control-oriented play styles.

Combo Potential: This card’s power to commandeer creatures can set up advantageous combos, enabling plays where you temporarily seize key threats or utilize opponent’s creatures to fulfill sacrifice conditions for your own gain.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where creature-heavy strategies prevail, Captivating Crew stands out for its capacity to disrupt opponent’s boards and turn their assets into your benefits, making it a tactical choice against creature-centric decks.


How to Beat Captivating Crew

The Captivating Crew card stands out in the MTG universe with its ability to take control of enemy creatures, unsettling the balance of the board. This red card can shift the tides of gameplay by granting you temporary command of your opponent’s threats. When considering strategies to counteract this, focus on cards or abilities that offer protection from being targeted, such as hexproof or shroud, which ensure your creatures stay under your control.

Direct removal spells like Fatal Push or Path to Exile can be the quick answer to eliminating Captivating Crew before it wreaks havoc in your game. When playing against decks that feature this card, keeping instant-speed removal in hand is critical. Artifact-based strategies can also play around Captivating Crew by relying less on creature-based tactics. Furthermore, counter spells remain a solid defense, negating Captivating Crew’s casting outright.

Ultimately, staying one step ahead of this card by limiting its ability to upset your board or by being prepared to remove it upon arrival, can keep your deck running smoothly against adversaries using the Captivating Crew to their advantage.


BurnMana Recommendations

Dive deeper into the MTG realm and discover the strategic nuances of Captivating Crew. Whether you’re looking to dominate the red zone or seeking to add a clever control element to your deck, this card offers compelling gameplay twists. Learn how to maximize its strengths, understand its limitations, and integrate it smoothly into your arsenal. Join our community of experts and enthusiasts to explore innovative deck builds and strategies tailored to your playstyle. Elevate your game, disrupt the meta, and turn the battle in your favor with Captivating Crew. Let’s embark together on the quest to refine your MTG prowess.


Cards like Captivating Crew

Captivating Crew is a unique player in the control game within Magic: The Gathering, drawing comparisons to cards such as Act of Treason. Both provide a temporary gain of control over an opponent’s creature. Yet Captivating Crew is distinguished by its repeatability, allowing you to harness this effect each turn if you have the mana to spare. Act of Treason, however, is a one-time event with a lower mana cost.

Analogous to Captivating Crew is the spell Threaten, which similarly wrests control of a creature for a turn without the repeatability. Then there’s Zealous Conscripts, a card that not only takes over a creature for the turn but also untaps it and grants it haste, offering immediate use. While Zealous Conscripts is a creature itself with these abilities, Captivating Crew remains on the battlefield ready to be used every turn, providing ongoing strategic advantages.

In evaluating these options, Captivating Crew’s ability to create continuous pressure and demand answers from opponents puts it in a favorable position among creature control spells in Magic: The Gathering, particularly for decks that value long-term tactical plays.

Act of Treason - MTG Card versions
Threaten - MTG Card versions
Zealous Conscripts - MTG Card versions
Act of Treason - Magic 2010 (M10)
Threaten - Onslaught (ONS)
Zealous Conscripts - Avacyn Restored (AVR)

Cards similar to Captivating Crew by color, type and mana cost

Dragon Whelp - MTG Card versions
Keldon Warlord - MTG Card versions
Crimson Manticore - MTG Card versions
Márton Stromgald - MTG Card versions
Reckless Embermage - MTG Card versions
Wildfire Emissary - MTG Card versions
Flowstone Giant - MTG Card versions
Rathi Dragon - MTG Card versions
Mogg Bombers - MTG Card versions
Warmonger - MTG Card versions
Bloodfire Kavu - MTG Card versions
Whipkeeper - MTG Card versions
Anger - MTG Card versions
Nalathni Dragon - MTG Card versions
Everquill Phoenix - MTG Card versions
Goblin Goon - MTG Card versions
Lesser Gargadon - MTG Card versions
Krark-Clan Engineers - MTG Card versions
Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked - MTG Card versions
Ogre Taskmaster - MTG Card versions
Dragon Whelp - Limited Edition Beta (LEB)
Keldon Warlord - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Crimson Manticore - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Márton Stromgald - Ice Age (ICE)
Reckless Embermage - Mirage (MIR)
Wildfire Emissary - Mirage (MIR)
Flowstone Giant - Tempest (TMP)
Rathi Dragon - Tempest (TMP)
Mogg Bombers - Stronghold (STH)
Warmonger - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Bloodfire Kavu - Apocalypse (APC)
Whipkeeper - Odyssey (ODY)
Anger - Judgment (JUD)
Nalathni Dragon - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Everquill Phoenix - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)
Goblin Goon - Legions (LGN)
Lesser Gargadon - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Krark-Clan Engineers - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Ogre Taskmaster - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Captivating Crew MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan Promos and Ixalan Promos, 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 Captivating Crew and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Captivating Crew Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2017-09-29 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by Winona Nelson.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-09-29Ixalan PromosPXLN 137s2015normalblackWinona Nelson
22017-09-29Ixalan PromosPXLN 137p2015normalblackWinona Nelson
32017-09-29IxalanXLN 1372015normalblackWinona Nelson
42018-11-16Game NightGNT 382015normalblackWinona Nelson
52020-04-17Commander 2020C20 1442015normalblackWinona Nelson
62023-11-17The Lost Caverns of Ixalan CommanderLCC 2192015normalblackWinona Nelson

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Captivating Crew has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-09-29 You can target and gain control of an untapped creature this way.

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