Nimble Innovator MTG Card
2016-09-30 - Number 58
2020-11-12 - Number 59
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Vedalken Artificer |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Key Takeaways
- Provides card advantage instantly by drawing a card as it enters the battlefield.
- Optimizes mana use with a reasonable cost for its stats and card draw effect.
- Its main phase playability allows players to maintain flexibility and strategic depth.
Text of card
When Nimble Innovator enters the battlefield, draw a card.
"A failure is simply another opportunity for improvement. Just wait until you see what I come up with next."
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Nimble Innovator offers players the immediate benefit of drawing a card upon entering the battlefield. This effect ensures you’re not falling behind in the race for resources and can replace itself in your hand, maintaining a healthy number of options.
Resource Acceleration: While this creature doesn’t directly accelerate resources like some ramp spells or artifacts do, it efficiently uses mana. Priced at four mana for a body and a card, it’s a reasonable deal in terms of what you get for the mana spent, optimising your resources particularly in a deck that values creature spells.
Instant Speed: Although Nimble Innovator is a creature and not an instant, its value lies in its ability to be played during your main phases, allowing for strategic flexibility. You can deploy other instant-speed interactions on your opponent’s turn and wait for the right moment to cast Nimble Innovator, ensuring you’re making the most of your play options.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Nimble Innovator might provide card advantage by allowing you to draw when it enters the battlefield, it doesn’t come with a discard mechanic. Players seeking to fine-tune their hands or trigger discard synergies won’t find this utility in Nimble Innovator.
Specific Mana Cost: Nimble Innovator’s casting cost requires both blue and generic mana, demanding a commitment to blue mana pools which could restrict its inclusion in multicolored or colorless deck strategies.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing four mana to cast, Nimble Innovator’s impact on gameplay may not line up with its expense, especially since there are other creatures and spells available at a lower mana cost that provide similar or even better card draw capabilities.
Reasons to Include Nimble Innovator in Your Collection
Versatility: Nimble Innovator offers the flexibility to slot into various decks, particularly those seeking additional card draw. Its straightforward mechanic provides a valuable card upon entering the battlefield, ensuring you’re never behind in card advantage.
Combo Potential: When paired with blink or bounce effects, Nimble Innovator turns into a card-drawing engine, providing recurrent value and synergizing with strategies that emphasize manipulating the number of cards in hand.
Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to keep your hand stocked, Nimble Innovator maintains relevance in metas where sustaining a consistent flow of resources can be the difference between victory and defeat. It plays well into strategies that out-value opponents over time.
How to beat
Nimble Innovator is an incrementally impactful card in Magic: The Gathering, primarily valued for its card draw ability upon entering the battlefield. This blue creature is a mild threat but can provide card advantage to your opponent if left unchecked. Dealing with this creature requires a strategy that limits the benefits it can offer.
To effectively neutralize the Innovator, consider using instant speed removal spells that forbid the player from exploiting the card draw. Counter spells work impeccably to stop the card from ever hitting the field and granting its trigger. On a broader scale, employing strategies that restrict enter-the-battlefield effects will also diminish the Innovator’s influence on the game. Furthermore, keeping card draw in check with hand disruption tactics or applying pressure through aggressive board control can prevent your rival from maximizing the utility of the Innovator’s draw.
Ultimately, while the Innovator’s ability to provide card advantage is noteworthy, its impact can be managed with timely interference. Understanding when to restrain card draw can turn the tide and avert the incremental advantage the Nimble Innovator offers.
Cards like Nimble Innovator
Nimble Innovator joins the niche of creature spells offering card draw in Magic the Gathering. In many ways, this card is reminiscent of creatures like Elvish Visionary—both play a pivotal role in drawing a card to maintain card advantage. Nevertheless, Nimble Innovator stands out with its higher power level, providing both a 2/2 body and a card, albeit for an increased mana cost.
Another peer within this grouping is Sea Gate Oracle, presenting a similar draft to Nimble Innovator but offering a ‘look at the top two cards and put one into your hand’ mechanic, which allows for more selectivity with the drawn card. Sea Gate Oracle also shares the same total power and toughness. Yet, it costs one blue mana, signaling its specific alignment to blue mana decks versus the flexible mana requirement of Nimble Innovator.
Gleaning from this analysis, Nimble Innovator holds its ground within the troop of blue creatures with card draw abilities. Its simple yet effective design makes it a versatile pick, adapting easily to various deck types and strategies in Magic the Gathering.
Cards similar to Nimble Innovator by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Nimble Innovator MTG card by a specific set like Kaladesh and Kaladesh Remastered, 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 Nimble Innovator and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Nimble Innovator Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-09-30 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by Slawomir Maniak.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016-09-30 | Kaladesh | KLD | 58 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Slawomir Maniak | |
| 2 | 2020-11-12 | Kaladesh Remastered | KLR | 59 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Slawomir Maniak |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Nimble Innovator has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
