Lantern Spirit MTG Card


Lantern Spirit - Innistrad
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Spirit
Abilities Flying
Released2011-09-30
Set symbol
Set nameInnistrad
Set codeISD
Power 2
Toughness 1
Number62
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byJohann Bodin

Key Takeaways

  1. Lantern Spirit’s looting ability refines your hand, while supporting a seamless mana curve.
  2. Being able to evade removal at instant speed makes it a formidable and recurring threat.
  3. Though it demands careful hand and mana management, its adaptability makes it a collection staple.

Text of card

Flying : Return Lantern Spirit to its owner's hand.

Bound to the square where she died, she calls out to those in danger—usually scaring them straight into the peril she warns of.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lantern Spirit provides a repeatable looting effect, allowing you to draw a card while discarding a less useful one. This can keep your hand fresh with relevant spells and increase the quality of your resources over time.

Resource Acceleration: While Lantern Spirit itself doesn’t generate additional mana, its low casting cost aids in a smooth mana curve. This can help ensure that you’re able to deploy threats and hold up mana for other actions simultaneously.

Instant Speed: The ability to return Lantern Spirit to your hand at instant speed offers a unique form of protection against removal spells. By keeping mana available, you can swiftly respond to threats, preserve your board presence, and utilize your resources effectively during the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Lantern Spirit obligates players to discard a card to utilize its evasion ability, which can deplete your hand and hinder card advantage over the course of a game.

Specific Mana Cost: This creature needs a precise combination of mana, including blue, to be played, restricting its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce that color.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the initial casting cost is moderate, the cumulative cost of utilizing its bounce ability can quickly add up, making it a costly investment in matches where mana efficiency is key.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lantern Spirit offers a unique blend of evasion and resilience, making it a flexible addition to blue-focused decks. Its ability to return to a player’s hand makes it a persistent threat that can survive board wipes and targeted removal.

Combo Potential: Lantern Spirit’s flickering nature allows players to exploit enter-the-battlefield effects of other creatures or enchantments. It also serves as an excellent defender that can readily be called back to hand, preparing for synergistic plays or avoiding unfavorable trades.

Meta-Relevance: As the MTG landscape fluctuates, creatures with evasive skills like Lantern Spirit remain evergreen in their utility. Its presence can pressure control decks and outmaneuver the strategies reliant on creature combat, maintaining its relevance irrespective of the shifting metagame.


How to beat Lantern Spirit

Lantern Spirit presents a unique challenge on the battlefield with its capacity to dodge removal and blockers through its return-to-hand ability. This blue creature card can easily slip away from spells aiming to destroy or target it, making direct removal a less effective tactic. To effectively combat Lantern Spirit, emphasizing board control is critical. Cards like Supreme Verdict or Wrath of God that don’t target individual creatures but clear the board can overcome its elusive nature. Furthermore, employing effects that restrict the opponent’s ability to cast spells or return cards to hand, such as Drannith Magistrate or Pithing Needle targeting Lantern Spirit, will hinder their means to evade. Bear in mind, ensuring your deck has multiple strategies to handle such versatile creatures will enhance your chances of maintaining control over the gameplay and ultimately, lead to greater success in your matches.


Cards like Lantern Spirit

In the realm of evasion-heavy creatures within Magic: The Gathering, Lantern Spirit stands out due to its unique ability to return to its owner’s hand. This little spirit can be likened to fellow fliers such as Stormfront Pegasus and Faerie Miscreant—each of them a low-cost creature designed to chip away at the opponent’s life total from the air. Yet, what distinguishes Lantern Spirit is its resilience against removal spells, making it a persistent threat.

Another card worthy of comparison is Mist-Cloaked Herald, known for being unblockable. While both serve as consistent sources of damage, the Lantern Spirit’s defensive utility gives it versatility, enabling you to dodge targeted spells or sweepers by spending just one blue mana to recall it back to your hand. Further, Spectral Sailor can also be slotted into a similar role in a deck, offering not just evasion but also built-in card draw, although at higher mana costs. It sacrifices the protective bounce ability of Lantern Spirit for extra card advantage.

Ultimately, every deck demands a fine balance of traits, and Lantern Spirit, with its repeatable evasion ability, provides a combination of offense and defense that is hard to come by in other cards, making it a compelling choice for decks that value resilience.

Stormfront Pegasus - MTG Card versions
Faerie Miscreant - MTG Card versions
Mist-Cloaked Herald - MTG Card versions
Spectral Sailor - MTG Card versions
Stormfront Pegasus - Magic 2010 (M10)
Faerie Miscreant - Magic Origins (ORI)
Mist-Cloaked Herald - Rivals of Ixalan (RIX)
Spectral Sailor - Core Set 2020 (M20)

Cards similar to Lantern Spirit by color, type and mana cost

Wall of Water - MTG Card versions
Prodigal Sorcerer - MTG Card versions
Apprentice Wizard - MTG Card versions
Homarid - MTG Card versions
Daring Apprentice - MTG Card versions
Time Elemental - MTG Card versions
Rootwater Shaman - MTG Card versions
Wind Drake - MTG Card versions
Volrath's Shapeshifter - MTG Card versions
Stronghold Biologist - MTG Card versions
Quicksilver Wall - MTG Card versions
Wall of Air - MTG Card versions
Phantom Warrior - MTG Card versions
Wormfang Drake - MTG Card versions
Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - MTG Card versions
Ghost of Ramirez DePietro - MTG Card versions
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar - MTG Card versions
Queen of Ice // Rage of Winter - MTG Card versions
Mistform Warchief - MTG Card versions
Horned Turtle - MTG Card versions
Wall of Water - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Prodigal Sorcerer - Unlimited Edition (2ED)
Apprentice Wizard - The Dark (DRK)
Homarid - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Daring Apprentice - Mirage (MIR)
Time Elemental - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Rootwater Shaman - Tempest (TMP)
Wind Drake - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Volrath's Shapeshifter - Stronghold (STH)
Stronghold Biologist - Nemesis (NEM)
Quicksilver Wall - Prophecy (PCY)
Wall of Air - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Phantom Warrior - Duels of the Planeswalkers (DPA)
Wormfang Drake - Judgment (JUD)
Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
Ghost of Ramirez DePietro - Commander Legends (CMR)
Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Queen of Ice // Rage of Winter - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Mistform Warchief - Scourge (SCG)
Horned Turtle - Eighth Edition (8ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lantern Spirit MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad, 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 Lantern Spirit and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Lantern Spirit has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2011-09-22 Only Lantern Spirit’s controller may activate its ability.

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