Warping Wail MTG Card

Warping Wail - Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW)

Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW)
2016-01-22 - Number 12

Commander Masters (CMM)
2023-08-04 - Number 812

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant

Key Takeaways

Exiles small creatures, disrupts opponent’s plays, and potentially swings card advantage in your favor.
Instant speed allows for surprise maneuvers and intricate interplays during the opponent’s turn.
Requires colorless mana, presenting deck-building challenges but rewarding strategic resource management.

Text of card

( represents colorless mana.) Choose one — • Exile target creature with power or toughness 1 or less. • Counter target sorcery spell. • Put a 1/1 colorless Eldrazi Scion creature token onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this creature: Add to your mana pool."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Warping Wail offers a versatile toolset, opening up opportunities for crucial tactical reactions and potential card advantage against opponents. Its ability to exile creatures with power or toughness 1 or less can neutralize key components of an opponent’s strategy, often leaving them a card down in the exchange.

Resource Acceleration: The second mode of Warping Wail provides a burst of resource acceleration by enabling the casting player to put a colorless Eldrazi Scion token onto the battlefield. This token can be sacrificed for mana, helping you ramp up to bigger threats ahead of the normal pace of the game.

Instant Speed: Warping Wail’s utility shines as an instant speed answer, giving players the flexibility to respond to an opponent’s actions during their turn. Whether it’s interrupting a combo or countering a sorcery spell, the capability to act on the fly makes Warping Wail a card that can pivot games in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Warping Wail doesn’t make you discard, its multifaceted utility could lead to tough decisions on what to keep in hand when preparing to cast it.

Specific Mana Cost: Warping Wail’s cost requires one colorless mana, which can be restrictive and may necessitate a deck containing Wastes or other specific mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a two-mana instant, Warping Wail’s effects may compete with other options that have a lower cost or provide a stronger immediate impact on the game state.

Reasons to Include Warping Wail in Your Collection

Versatility: Warping Wail offers a unique set of abilities, making it adaptable to various situations. It can act as creature removal, a counter to sorcery spells, or create a blocker, aligning with diversified game plans.

Combo Potential: Utilizing its instant speed to disrupt opponent strategies or protect your key plays, Warping Wail slots smoothly into decks that value interactive play or combo off during unexpected windows.

Meta-Relevance: With a shifting meta that may emphasize sorcery-heavy decks or require instant-speed interaction, Warping Wail maintains relevance by being able to counter crucial plays and offer flexibility across multiple archetypes.

How to beat

Warping Wail offers MTG players a versatile tool, capable of countering sorceries, exiling small creatures, or even producing colorless mana. This utility makes it a challenge to navigate as it can disrupt a wide range of strategies. However, its effectiveness hinges on the availability of colorless mana and the size of the creatures you play.

To overcome Warping Wail, consider playing spells at instant speed to sidestep its sorcery countering ability. Larger creatures also fall outside its exiling capacity, which targets those with power or toughness 1 or less. Additionally, permanents that can produce colorless mana themselves become valuable to counteract the mana generating aspect of Warping Wail. Thus, adapting your gameplay to include diverse spell speeds, larger threats, and efficient mana-use can help you best this flexible card.

Remember, understanding your opponent’s potential responses and managing resources wisely are key to turning the tables on Warping Wail’s disruptive power in your Magic: The Gathering battles.

BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the art of Magic the Gathering involves a nuanced understanding of the cards at your disposal. Warping Wail is a tactical gem that shouldn’t be overlooked. Its ability to exile small creatures, disrupt sorcery spells and even ramp your mana can pivot the tide of a match. It’s important to consider how it fits into your game plan and the flexibility it adds to your deck. For a deeper dive into how Warping Wail can warp the fabric of your MTG strategy, align with decks that reward foresight, or adapt to changes in the meta, journey further with us. Learn more and integrate Warping Wail into your gameplay to ensure victory is within reach.

Cards like Warping Wail

Warping Wail stands out among utility spells in Magic: The Gathering due to its versatility and color identity. A comparison may be drawn with cards like Unsubstantiate, which also serves multiple functions like bouncing a spell or creature to its owner’s hand. Though Unsubstantiate doesn’t offer the creature removal or mana ramp possibilities inherent to Warping Wail, its utility in countering spells or disrupting an opponent’s board is noteworthy.

Moving to other flexible options, we encounter Dismember, which offers a similar creature removal function. However, Dismember specifically targets bigger creatures by giving them a substantial power and toughness reduction, whereas Warping Wail can exile smaller creatures and provide additional functions, albeit within the constraints of its colorless mana requirement.

Lastly, Spell Pierce poses itself as a competitor in the counter spell category. While it’s more limited in scope, targeting only noncreature spells with a low mana cost, its cheaper cost and instant speed make it a formidable weapon against early game strategies. In essence, Warping Wail provides a broader range of options that makes it a pivotal card for players looking to adapt to various in-game scenarios.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Warping Wail MTG card by a specific set like Oath of the Gatewatch and Commander Masters, 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 Warping Wail and other MTG cards: