Yorion, Sky Nomad MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 9 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Bird Serpent
Abilities Companion,Flying
Power 4
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Yorion can blink multiple cards, handing you a significant card advantage and board manipulation potential.
  2. The card requires careful board presence management due to its exile effect, creating vulnerability.
  3. Yorion’s versatility as a companion or main deck card merits its inclusion in diverse deck strategies.

Text of card

Companion — Your starting deck contains at least twenty cards more than the minimum deck size. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for as a sorcery.) Flying When Yorion enters the battlefield, exile any number of other nonland permanents you own and control. Return those cards to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Yorion, Sky Nomad enters the battlefield, it can exile any number of other nonland permanents you own and control, and return those cards to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step. This interaction provides a significant card advantage by allowing you to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects or escape from adverse conditions such as enchantments or counters.

Resource Acceleration: Yorion’s ability to blink (exile and return) cards that have resource-generating effects can be seen as a form of resource acceleration. Reusing permanents like mana rocks or creatures that tap for mana can lead to a considerable expansion of your available resources in a single turn cycle.

Instant Speed: While Yorion itself is not an instant, it can interact favorably with cards cast at instant speed. Flickering (exiling and returning) cards that have flash or other instants can reset their abilities for reuse, thus maximizing your flexibility and response capabilities during the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: As a key piece in flicker strategies, Yorion, Sky Nomad demands that you exile any number of other nonland permanents you own and control. While this reset ability can be advantageous, it also means you are temporarily giving up board presence, potentially leaving you vulnerable to aggressive strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: Yorion’s mana cost is hybrid, requiring at least three white or blue mana. This pigeonholes the card into decks that can produce these colors consistently, sometimes constraining deckbuilding choices and limiting Yorion’s adaptability across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana, Yorion is not a quick play. Other cards in this mana range can offer immediate board impact or card advantages. For Yorion to be effective, it demands a game state that benefits from its unique flicker effect, which is not always guaranteed.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Yorion, Sky Nomad is a unique addition to any collection due to its ability to act as both a companion and a powerful main deck card. Its ability to flicker multiple nonland permanents ensures it can be used across various decks that aim to leverage enter-the-battlefield effects or reset permanent statuses.

Combo Potential: With Yorion, players can create impressive combos, such as with cards that generate advantageous effects when they enter or leave the battlefield. This can lead to significant value generation over the course of a game, giving players a recurring avenue for advantage.

Meta-Relevance: Given the versatility and combo potential, Yorion, Sky Nomad continues to be a relevant choice in diverse metagames. It can disrupt opponent strategies and provide sustained value, making it a worthwhile asset in control and midrange decks that thrive in constantly shifting metagames.


How to beat

Yorion, Sky Nomad is a powerhouse in Magic: The Gathering due to its ability to reset the board and offer significant card advantage. When facing this formidable card, it’s important to disrupt its blink strategy which revolves around exiling and returning other permanents to play. Targeted removal or counterspells that can be cast during your opponent’s turn are key as they can prevent Yorion from resolving or re-entering the battlefield. Additionally, employing graveyard hate cards like Rest in Peace can severely limit Yorion’s effectiveness by exiling cards instead of letting them return.

Aggressive strategies can also be effective against Yorion. Overwhelming the board with creatures before Yorion can come into play may pressure your opponent into using their gameplay resources defensively. Moreover, hand disruption techniques can remove Yorion or other critical pieces from your opponent’s hand before they have the opportunity to play them. Understanding the pace and rhythm of your opponent’s strategy allows you to stay one step ahead and deploy your countermeasures at the most opportune moments.

Ultimately, keeping a close eye on the board state, being judicious with your removal, and applying steady pressure can help you navigate the challenge Yorion, Sky Nomad presents, protecting your strategy and paving the way to victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering Yorion, Sky Nomad’s potential can elevate your MTG gameplay, offering unique advantages through its blink effect. Whether you’re enhancing your deck’s synergy with enter-the-battlefield triggers or seeking to overcome its strategic vulnerabilities, understanding Yorion is key. With meta shifts and new sets, integrating Yorion into your arsenal or developing tactics to counter it remains an evolving challenge. Ready to harness Yorion’s capabilities or craft the perfect counter-strategy? Continue your journey with us for in-depth insights, tips, and strategies to optimize your gameplay around this versatile card. Your path towards MTG mastery awaits!


Cards like Yorion, Sky Nomad

In the vast universe of MTG, Yorion, Sky Nomad stands out with its unique ability to exile any number of nonland permanents players own and control, then return those cards to the battlefield at the next end step. This versatile mechanic is akin to the workings of cards such as Flickerwisp, which also exiles another target permanent. Yorion, however, casts a wider net, potentially resetting an entire board’s worth of permanents.

When considering other cards with similar functionalities, we often look at Thassa, Deep-Dwelling. Thassa may only flicker one creature per turn but does so consistently at every end step, providing a repetitive advantage. Nevertheless, Yorion’s one-time mass exile can be a game changer by re-triggering a multitude of enter-the-battlefield effects in a single sweep. Another card worthy of mention is Brago, King Eternal, which shares the same flickering effect post-combat that can alter the state of the game dramatically, yet it’s limited only to creatures and artifacts.

A thorough comparison reveals that while there are cards with similar flickering abilities, Yorion’s broad impact and synergy with enter-the-battlefield effects make it an unparalleled force in both commander and standard formats of Magic: The Gathering.

Flickerwisp - MTG Card versions
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling - MTG Card versions
Brago, King Eternal - MTG Card versions
Flickerwisp - Eventide (EVE)
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling - Theros Beyond Death (THB)
Brago, King Eternal - Conspiracy (CNS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Yorion, Sky Nomad MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, 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 Yorion, Sky Nomad and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Yorion, Sky Nomad Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2020-04-24 and 2023-04-21. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 808652015normalblackSteven Belledin
22020-04-24Ikoria: Lair of BehemothsIKO 2322015normalblackSteven Belledin
32020-04-24Ikoria: Lair of BehemothsIKO 3592015normalblackSteven Belledin
42020-04-24Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths PromosPIKO 232s2015normalblackSteven Belledin
52020-04-24Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths PromosPIKO 232p2015normalblackSteven Belledin
62023-04-21Multiverse LegendsMUL 642015normalborderlessJustine Mara Andersen
72023-04-21Multiverse LegendsMUL 194z2015normalborderlessJustine Mara Andersen
82023-04-21Multiverse LegendsMUL 1292015normalblackSteven Belledin
92023-04-21Multiverse LegendsMUL 1942015normalborderlessJustine Mara Andersen

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Yorion, Sky Nomad has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-04-17 Auras attached to the exiled permanents will be put into their owners' graveyards. Equipment attached to the exiled permanents will become unattached and remain on the battlefield. Any counters on the exiled permanents will cease to exist. Once the exiled permanents return, they're considered new objects with no relation to the objects that they were.
2020-04-17 Before shuffling your deck to become your library, you may reveal one card from outside the game to be your companion if your starting deck meets the requirements of the companion ability. You can't reveal more than one. It remains revealed outside the game as the game begins.
2020-04-17 If a token is exiled this way, it will cease to exist and won't return to the battlefield.
2020-04-17 If more than one player wishes to reveal a companion, the starting player does so first, and players proceed in turn order. Once a player has chosen not to reveal a companion, that player can't change their mind.
2020-04-17 If you reveal a companion outside the game, for as long as it remains there, you may pay any time you could cast a sorcery (that is, you have priority during your main phase and the stack is empty). Once you do, you put it into your hand and behaves like any other card you've brought into the game. For example, if it's discard, countered, or destroyed, it's put into your graveyard, remaining in the game. This is a change from previous rules.
2020-04-17 The companion ability has no effect if the card is in your starting deck and creates no restriction on putting a card with a companion ability into your starting deck. For example, Zirda may be in your starting deck even if your other permanent cards don't all have activated abilities.
2020-04-17 The companion's other abilities apply only if the creature is on the battlefield. They have no effect while the companion is outside the game.
2020-04-17 The requirements of the companion ability apply only to your starting deck. They do not apply to your sideboard.
2020-04-17 You can't exile permanents you control but don't own, or permanents that you own but don't control.
2020-04-17 You choose which permanents to exile as Yorion's triggered ability resolves. No player may take action between the time you choose the permanents and the time they're exiled.
2020-04-17 You may have one companion in the Commander variant. Your deck, including your commander, must meet its companion requirement. Your companion is not one of your one hundred cards.
2020-04-17 Your companion begins the game outside the game. In tournament play, this means your sideboard. In casual play, it's simply a card you own that's not in your starting deck.
2020-04-17 Your minimum deck size is forty cards for Limited events (such as Booster Draft and Sealed Deck) and sixty cards for Constructed events (such as Standard or casual freeform play). Certain variants may have other minimums. The Commander variant requires exactly one hundred cards, so Yorion can never be your chosen companion in a Commander game.
2020-06-01 If you reveal a companion outside the game, for as long as it remains there, you may pay any time you could cast a sorcery (that is, you have priority during your main phase and the stack is empty). Once you do, you put it into your hand and behaves like any other card you've brought into the game. For example, if it's discarded, countered, or destroyed, it's put into your graveyard, remaining in the game. This is a change from previous rules.
2020-06-01 Once you put your companion into your hand, it behaves like any other card you’ve brought into the game. For example, if it’s countered or destroyed, it’s put into your graveyard, remaining in the game.
2020-06-01 Paying to put your companion into your hand is a special action. It doesn't use the stack and players can't respond to it. Once you take this action, you may cast that card if it's legal to do so before any other player can take actions.
2020-06-01 Wizards of the Coast has issued functional errata for the Companion mechanic. Instead of casting companions from outside the game: Once per game, any time you could cast a sorcery (during your main phase when the stack is empty), you can pay to put your companion from your sideboard into your hand. This is a special action, not an activated ability. It happens immediately and can’t be responded to. It can’t be countered or stopped by cards like Phyrexian Revoker. For more information please see https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/june-1-2020-banned-and-restricted-announcement

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