Dragon Shadow MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	2003-05-26
Set symbol
Set name	Scourge
Set code	SCG
Number	65
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Kev Walker

Key Takeaways

Dragon Shadow provides card advantage, enabling on-hit effects and overcoming opponent’s blockers efficiently.
Instant attachment at instant speed offers surprise combat benefits, disrupting opponent strategies.
Despite its power, drawback includes a discard condition and a very specific mana cost for casting.

Text of card

Enchanted creature gets +1/+0 and has fear. (It can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures.) When a creature with converted mana cost 6 or more comes into play, you may return Dragon Shadow from your graveyard to play enchanting that creature.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The enchantment can be key in outmaneuvering your opponent by allowing for efficient trades. This can lead to a better position in terms of card economy, especially when combined with creatures that benefit from the shadows it provides.

Resource Acceleration: By potentially eliminating blockers, Dragon Shadow can pave the way for creature attacks that trigger on-hit effects, effectively accelerating your resource gain. This may range from additional card draws to amassing other in-game advantages.

Instant Speed: Dragon Shadow can be attached at instant speed, which is a tactical advantage. This can disrupt your opponent’s strategy during their turn, especially if they were not anticipating combat buffs or were relying on a creature that gets neutralized by the newly shadowed creature.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To harness the power of Dragon Shadow, a player must first pay the necessary tribute by discarding another card. This can handcuff strategists at critical junctures, especially when the arsenal of options in their hand is already dwindling.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting of Dragon Shadow demands a precise combination of mana which includes black. Such specificity shackles the card’s universal appeal and its inclusion in a diverse array of deck builds, potentially leaving it benched in many players’ collections.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Pouring four mana into Dragon Shadow can weigh heavily on your resources, giving pause to even the most ardent of dragon enthusiasts. Alternative spells in the MTG universe could potentially yield greater firepower or strategic advantage without such a hefty investment, raising questions about the card’s efficiency in high-stakes play.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Dragon Shadow offers flexibility in deck building to players who enjoy aggressive strategies. It easily slips into creature-based decks, giving a significant power boost to fast-paced games where combat tricks can determine the winner.

Combo Potential: This enchantment thrives in environments that manipulate the graveyard. It can repeatedly return to the battlefield for free, granting combat advantages and synergizing with strategies that revolve around creatures entering and leaving the fray.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where quick kills from powerful creatures are pivotal, Dragon Shadow can tip scales in your favor, providing the crucial evasion and attack bonus that allow for decisive strikes against opponents, keeping your deck relevant and competitive.

How to beat

Dragon Shadow is an enchantment that can turn a simple creature into a significant threat in Magic: The Gathering. This card, which grants fear and a power boost upon a creature entering the battlefield, can be quite troublesome. Fear makes a creature unblockable except by black and artifact creatures, posing a big challenge to opponents without these in their deck.

Overcoming Dragon Shadow involves a strategy focused around creature removal tools or enchantment destruction. A card like Naturalize serves as a direct answer to enchantments, quickly removing the advantage provided by Dragon Shadow. Likewise, if the creature it’s attached to becomes the main issue, a card such as Doom Blade can dispatch it provided it’s not a black creature, thus nullifying the threat entirely.

Playing around with board wipes like Day of Judgment is also an effective option, as it doesn’t target individual creatures and gets around the fear ability. These strategies emphasize the importance of versatile answers in your deck to deal with various types of threats. With the right removal or board control cards, Dragon Shadow can be handled effectively, keeping the flow of the game in your favor.

Cards like Dragon Shadow

Dragon Shadow is an intriguing enchantment spell in the enchantment rich world of MTG. It’s akin to cards like Dragon Breath, which grants a creature haste and an additional ability when targeting a creature with power 6 or greater. Dragon Shadow provides a creature with both fear and a power boost, enabling it to evade blockers except for artifact creatures and those sharing a color. This layered approach to evasion sets it apart from Dragon Breath’s singular focus on haste.

In the same category of enchantments that reactivate upon conditions, we find Dragon Fangs. The similarity lies in their shared resurrection upon attaching to a creature of power 4 or greater, yet Dragon Fangs differs by conferring trample instead of fear. This grants a creature the potential to overshoot blocking creatures rather than sidestepping them entirely. Lastly, there’s Dragon Wings, offering flying, another form of evasion, and cycling for added card draw flexibility, differing from Dragon Shadow’s fear-centric ability.

Evaluating the nuances of each enchantment, Dragon Shadow holds its unique ground in MTG, especially in decks that favor stealthy, unblockable attacks over outright aggression, proving its worth among its draconic counterparts.

Cards similar to Dragon Shadow by color, type and mana cost

Chains of Mephistopheles - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dragon Shadow MTG card by a specific set like Scourge, 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 Dragon Shadow and other MTG cards: