Vivid Flying Fish MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Fish Lizard
Power 1
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Vivid Flying Fish excels in card advantage and resource acceleration, enhancing player strategies.
  2. The creature’s instant speed playability grants a tactical advantage by disrupting opponent plans.
  3. However, its discard requirement and specific mana cost can pose challenges for deck integration.

Text of card

Vivid Flying Fish has flying as long as it's attacking. (It can't be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)

The rainbow seen above the Great Lake of Cloud Dream just after the rain is nothing but the vivid-colored flying fishes' ritual dance.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Vivid Flying Fish helps players keep their hand well-stocked, providing a draw mechanism that can be a game-changer. When it flies over the battlefield, it might offer the opportunity to gain card advantage, ensuring that your resources are never too low to keep up with the opponent’s strategy.

Resource Acceleration: This swift creature can be more than just a threat in the skies. For decks focused on resource acceleration, it can be a key to unlocking greater mana capabilities. While not directly creating resources, its effect on the game can lead to faster deployment of your bigger threats.

Instant Speed: The ability to play creatures like Vivid Flying Fish at instant speed gives players a tactical edge. By flashing it in, you can surprise your opponent, potentially throwing off their plans and gaining advantageous board presence out of turn sequence.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Vivid Flying Fish comes with the downside of needing to discard a card in order to unleash some of its potential. This trade-off can be especially challenging if your hand is already depleted, putting you at a further disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Its casting cost requires a particular blend of mana, which might not seamlessly fit into every deck strategy. Players utilizing multicolor decks may find the mana cost restrictive and potentially disruptive to their mana curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Vivid Flying Fish offers unique abilities, its mana value might not align with the card’s overall impact on the game. Players should consider if the costs outweigh the benefits when other cards could provide a greater advantage or be more cost-effective for similar or lower mana investment.


Reasons to Include Vivid Flying Fish Mtg Card in Your Collection

Versatility: The Vivid Flying Fish is a flexible addition, capable of slipping into a variety of blue-based decks. Its evasive flying ability makes it well-suited for aggressive strategies or protecting your life total.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with enchantments and effects that capitalize on creatures with flying, allowing you to craft potent combinations and dynamic plays.

Meta-Relevance: Given its adaptable nature, the Vivid Flying Fish aligns with the agile demands of fluctuating metas. It can be a strategic play against decks that struggle to handle flying creatures.


How to beat

Vivid Flying Fish may seem like an unassuming card in Magic: The Gathering, but its blend of aquatic agility and flight can turn the tides of a match. With the ability to grant itself flying until the end of turn, it can bypass ground-based defenses with ease. Yet, players can counteract this nimble creature through strategic removal spells or by overwhelming it with superior aerial forces.

Considering its moderate toughness, direct damage spells such as Shock or Lightning Bolt are effective ways to dispatch it before it can soar to safety. Ensnaring it with enchantments that prevent it from attacking or blocking can also diminish its influence on the game. Additionally, employing creatures with reach or flying can ensure your defenses remain impermeable to the likes of Vivid Flying Fish and other evasive creatures.

Ultimately, while Vivid Flying Fish brings a certain level of evasiveness and versatility to the battlefield, understanding its weaknesses allows for it to be effectively addressed. Timely removal, defensive adjustments, and board control are key to ensure that this creature does not disrupt your path to victory.


Cards like Vivid Flying Fish

The Vivid Flying Fish card is a unique creature within the Magic: The Gathering ecosystem. It’s akin to other flying creatures like Stormwing Entity, which also takes advantage of casting spells to become more potent. Yet the Vivid Flying Fish distinguishes itself with its ability to gain hexproof until end of turn whenever you cast a spell that targets it. While the Stormwing Entity is a powerhouse due to its prowess and scry ability, it lacks the self-protection the Vivid Flying Fish offers.

Another creature that echoes the spell-reactive gameplay is the Mist-Cloaked Herald. This one-mana wonder can’t be blocked, providing consistent damage to the opponent. But unlike the Vivid Flying Fish, it doesn’t have any built-in mechanism to protect itself from targeted spells or abilities. Meanwhile, Spectral Sailor stands out with its flash ability and card draw, though it doesn’t directly benefit from targeting it with spells as the Vivid Flying Fish does.

Examining the various features of similar flying creatures, the Vivid Flying Fish occupies its own niche with its blend of evasiveness and hexproof capabilities, offering a distinctive edge for Magic: The Gathering players looking for a protected aerial presence.

Stormwing Entity - MTG Card versions
Mist-Cloaked Herald - MTG Card versions
Spectral Sailor - MTG Card versions
Stormwing Entity - MTG Card versions
Mist-Cloaked Herald - MTG Card versions
Spectral Sailor - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vivid Flying Fish MTG card by a specific set like Treasure Chest and Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu Yanling, 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 Vivid Flying Fish and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Vivid Flying Fish Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2018-06-22. Illustrated by Tingting Yeh.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-11-16Treasure ChestPZ2 708172015NormalBlackTingting Yeh
22018-06-22Global Series Jiang Yanggu & Mu YanlingGS1 42015NormalBlackTingting Yeh

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vivid Flying Fish has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

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