Xathrid Slyblade MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: When the Xathrid Slyblade is flipped face-up, its hexproof ability can serve as a safeguard for your strategies, effectively complicating your opponent’s removal plans and potentially keeping them a card behind.

Resource Acceleration: While Xathrid Slyblade doesn’t directly accelerate resources through traditional mana ramp mechanisms, by using its morph ability, you can conveniently manage your mana and develop your board, optimally utilizing your available resource each turn.

Instant Speed: The power of the Xathrid Slyblade lies in its morph ability to be turned face-up at instant speed, allowing you to react swiftly to threats, surprise your opponent with sudden hexproof, and smoothly adapt to the ebb and flow of the match.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Xathrid Slyblade requires you to have Hexproof to utilize its full potential, which may necessitate additional cards or mana to achieve, potentially using up valuable resources.

Specific Mana Cost: The card’s activation cost includes both black and generic mana, which could be cumbersome for multicolored decks that may not always have the precise mana available when needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a three mana requirement to cast and an additional mana to activate its Hexproof ability, the Xathrid Slyblade can be considered mana-intensive, especially when compared to other creatures or spells that provide immediate value or pose a greater threat on the board.

Reasons to Include Xathrid Slyblade in Your Collection

Versatility: Xathrid Slyblade offers flexibility in deck building due to its ability to morph, becoming a powerful assassin on the battlefield. It can serve as an unsuspecting blocker or a strategic attacker in the right circumstances.

Combo Potential: With its unique hexproof turning ability, this card can seamlessly integrate into strategies that require targeted removal while setting up for combo plays, slipping through defenses or enabling sacrifice synergies.

Meta-Relevance: In a game that’s constantly shifting, having a card like Xathrid Slyblade can be crucial. Its adaptability to various situations makes it a worthy inclusion, competitive in environments where unsuspected threats can turn the tide of battle.

How to beat

When your match includes the Xathrid Slyblade, you’re dealing with a stealthy and potential game changer in the combat phase. One of its main strengths is its Hexproof ability, keeping it safe from targeted spells or abilities until its transformation. To circumvent this, focus on using board wipes or cards that affect each creature rather than targeting individual ones. Cards like Wrath of God or Supreme Verdict can handle the Xathrid Slyblade without triggering its Hexproof.

Furthermore, since the Slyblade must tap and pay mana to become unprotected and gain deathtouch, timing your removal spells after the Hexproof is lost but before the creature deals damage becomes crucial. Fast acting instant removals like Path to Exile or Fatal Push can effectively take it out before it becomes lethal. Also, keeping creatures with First Strike or cards that prevent combat damage can neutralize the risk if combat is unavoidable. Ultimately, understanding the Slyblade’s activated abilities and having a strategy to disrupt its mechanics are key to maintaining control over the battlefield.