Swift Reckoning MTG Card

Magic Origins (ORI)
2015-07-17 - Number 35

Swift Reckoning - Ultimate Masters (UMA)

Ultimate Masters (UMA)
2018-12-07 - Number 39

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Spell mastery

Key Takeaways

Allows efficient threat removal without losing card advantage, contributing to stronger board positions.
Instant speed enables surprise plays and maintains mana for other spells, enhancing game control.
Spell Mastery elevates its versatility, making it a powerful option in certain MTG metagames.

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Spell mastery — If there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, you may cast Swift Reckoning as though it had flash. (You may cast it any time you could cast an instant.) Destroy target tapped creature.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Swift Reckoning may not directly let you draw cards, but its ability to easily remove opposing creatures means you’re often getting rid of a significant threat without losing a card yourself. This can lead to virtual card advantage as your opponent will have fewer options against you.

Resource Acceleration: While Swift Reckoning doesn’t generate additional mana or treasure tokens, it does save precious mana for other spells. Its low casting cost facilitates a smoother curve, allowing you to efficiently allocate resources across your plays and potentially cast more spells in a single turn.

Instant Speed: The true strength of Swift Reckoning lies in its instant speed. This allows you to navigate the game with confidence, holding back mana for a well-timed reaction to an opponent’s move. You can deal with threats during your opponent’s turn, keeping you in control and ready to counteract whatever plays they attempt to push through.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Swift Reckoning doesn’t ask players to discard cards, but it does have a condition that must be met for its Spell Mastery ability. This often requires having at least two instant or sorcery cards in your graveyard, making it potentially less effective early in the game when those cards may not be present.

Specific Mana Cost: This sorcery card needs one white mana to cast, necessitating a dedicated source in your mana pool. While beneficial in white-centric decks, this specificity can limit the card’s inclusion in multi-colored or colorless decks that may not always have white mana readily available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The card’s total casting cost may seem affordable at two mana, but when considering the speed of the game and the presence of alternative removal options, Swift Reckoning can appear less attractive. Its sorcery speed further constrains its utility since it cannot be used as a combat trick during an opponent’s turn, which other instant-speed removal spells can offer for similar or even lower mana costs.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Swift Reckoning is an adaptable removal spell useful in various decks. Its ability to destroy tapped creatures makes it a reliable choice in a format where creatures are consistently engaged in combat or tapped for other abilities.

Combo Potential: As part of a deck with tap-down mechanics or cards that enable instant-speed engagement, Swift Reckoning seamlessly integrates, allowing strategists to remove key threats at critical moments. Its potential shines in decks that control the flow of the game.

Meta-Relevance: In a playing environment dominated by aggressive creature-based decks, having efficient removal spells like Swift Reckoning can tilt the scales in your favor. It remains a relevant choice for players looking to maintain parity or gain control against creature-heavy strategies.

How to beat

Swift Reckoning is a potent removal spell that can turn the tides in Magic: The Gathering by dispatching creatures before they can mount a threat. To effectively counter this card, it’s essential to play around the spell’s limitations. Unlike some removal options, Swift Reckoning relies on the spell mastery condition to be met in order to be cast at any time. If an opponent doesn’t have two or more instants and/or sorceries in their graveyard, Swift Reckoning can only be played at sorcery speed. Timing your plays to avoid potential removal during your turn, therefore, becomes a strategic move.

Additionally, indestructible and hexproof creatures provide a solid line of defence against Swift Reckoning. Cards with hexproof are elusive, making them ineligible targets for such targeted removal spells. By prioritizing creatures with these abilities, you can create a formidable board presence that Swift Reckoning cannot dismantle. Moreover, using counterspells can neutralize removal spells directly from the stack, ensuring your creatures survive to push for a victory.

Understanding when to extend the board and when to hold back is crucial in anticipating and overcoming the challenge posed by Swift Reckoning. It’s all about strategic deployment and protection of your assets on the battlefield.

Cards like Swift Reckoning

Swift Reckoning is a spell card known for its efficiency in Magic: The Gathering, often compared to other removal spells in the game. With a mechanic that allows it to destroy a tapped creature, it shares similarities with Gideon’s Reproach, which also targets tapped creatures, dealing damage rather than outright destruction. Both cards are valued for their ability to remove threats during the combat phase or when creatures are tapped for abilities.

Another counterpart in this category is Divine Verdict. While it shares the tapped creature condition for removal, Divine Verdict is more mana-intensive than Swift Reckoning. However, it does offer players the flexibility to remove any attacking or blocking creature. Then there is Blessed Alliance, which also interacts with tapped creatures by offering multiple choices, one of which is to untap up to two creatures, thus delivering increased versatility in comparison to the singular focus of Swift Reckoning.

While each of these cards has its unique strengths and gameplay considerations, Swift Reckoning stands out for its Spell Mastery feature, which allows for instant-speed removal if there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard. This aspect elevates Swift Reckoning’s strategic value, catering to decks aiming for timely and efficient creature control.

Cards similar to Swift Reckoning by color, type and mana cost

Gather the Townsfolk - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Swift Reckoning MTG card by a specific set like Magic Origins and Ultimate 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 Swift Reckoning and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Printings

The Swift Reckoning Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2015-07-17 and 2018-12-07. Illustrated by Chris Rahn.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2015-07-17	Magic Origins	ORI		35	2015	Normal	Black	Chris Rahn
2	2018-12-07	Ultimate Masters	UMA		39	2015	Normal	Black	Chris Rahn

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Swift Reckoning has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2015-06-22	Check to see if there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard as the spell resolves to determine whether the spell mastery ability applies. The spell itself won’t count because it’s still on the stack as you make this check.
2018-12-07	If an effect allows you to cast Swift Reckoning from your graveyard, you need two other instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard to cast it as though it had flash.
2018-12-07	The number of instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard matters only as you begin to cast Swift Reckoning. Once it’s cast, that number doesn’t matter and will have no effect on Swift Reckoning resolving.