Eddytrail Hawk MTG Card
2016-09-30 - Number 12
2019-11-07 - Number 87
2020-11-12 - Number 16
2020-09-26 - Number KLD-12
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Bird |
| Abilities | Flying |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Key Takeaways
- Eddytrail Hawk’s flying ability lets it bypass ground defenses, vital for advantageous board positions.
- Energy counter generation from the Hawk offers a resourceful edge for aerial combat tricks.
- While somewhat mana-restrictive, its adaptability makes it a worthwhile inclusion in diverse decks.
Text of card
Flying When Eddytrail Hawk enters the battlefield, you get (two energy counters). Whenever Eddytrail Hawk attacks, you may pay . If you do, another target attacking creature gains flying until end of turn.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Eddytrail Hawk may not draw you cards directly in MTG, but its presence can lead to advantageous board states. With its flying ability, it helps you bypass ground defenses, effectively increasing the value of your attacks and potentially drawing out beneficial trades or key removals from your opponent.
Resource Acceleration: Although Eddytrail Hawk does not accelerate resources by producing mana or tokens, it provides a unique type of resource acceleration. Its energy counter generation lets you build up a separate kind of resource, which can be spent to give creatures without flying the ability to soar over blockers, accelerating your offensive capabilities without tapping additional mana.
Instant Speed: Eddytrail Hawk operates at sorcery speed, which means you can’t surprise your opponent during their turn. However, it still ties into a strategy that can include instant-speed interactions by enabling evasion. Setting up your creatures to fly at crucial moments, especially when combined with instants that disrupt during your opponent’s turn, can create sudden shifts in game dynamics, keeping your opponent on the back foot.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One downside of Eddytrail Hawk is that it doesn’t have a built-in way to recoup the card disadvantage from playing creatures. Without card draw or bounce effects, using the Hawk may reduce your hand size, putting you at a potential detriment compared to opponents who maintain card advantage.
Specific Mana Cost: Eddytrail Hawk requires one white mana, which might seem flexible, but this can be restrictive for multicolor decks that need to manage various mana sources. Ensuring the right mana availability can pose a challenge, especially in the early stages of the game when establishing your mana base is crucial.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of two mana for a 1/2 flyer, Eddytrail Hawk might be considered costly when evaluating its power to mana ratio. The ability to give another creature flying is situational, and there are other cards at a lower cost that can provide more immediate impact on the game state or offer better stats and abilities.
Reasons to Include Eddytrail Hawk in Your Collection
Versatility: Eddytrail Hawk is a flexible card, capable of being slotted into decks that require aerial blockers or attackers. Its ability to grant flying to other creatures also makes it valuable in strategies that aim to go over ground stalemates.
Combo Potential: This card offers synergy with strategies revolving around +1/+1 counters or enter-the-battlefield effects. Its energy counter usage aligns well with decks built around the energy mechanic.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where flying creatures are prevalent, or blockers on the ground are robust, Eddytrail Hawk can offer an evasive tactic. It provides utility in both aggressive and midrange decks by allowing key creatures to bypass ground defenses.
How to Beat
Eddytrail Hawk presents a unique challenge on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. It may seem humble with only two power, but its flying ability allows it to soar over ground-based defenses. Quite notably, the energy counter it brings to the field can boost not just itself, but other creatures, helping them to vault the frontline.
To counter Eddytrail Hawk effectively, controlling the skies is your best defense. Employ removal spells such as Fatal Push or Lightning Strike to quickly dispatch it before the energy ability becomes a concern. Ensnaring creatures with flying blockers like Healer’s Hawk or Aerial Responder can also stifle its aerial advantage. Additionally, negating the Hawk’s energy ability through cards like Shielded Aether Thief can make it far less of a nuisance, reducing it to nothing more than a simple creature with minor threats.
Focusing on these strategies can shift the dynamics in your favor, grounding Eddytrail Hawk and maintaining dominance in the game. It’s critical to mitigate the influence of such utility creatures before they can tip the scales, ensuring your victory in the complex playscape of Magic: The Gathering.
Cards like Eddytrail Hawk
Eddytrail Hawk stands out in the world of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering for its unique combination of flying ability and energy counters. While it may first seem similar to other low-cost creatures with flying like Healer’s Hawk, Eddytrail Hawk offers the added advantage of providing energy counters that can be used to give other creatures the ability to fly temporarily.
Looking across other cards, Gust Walker is another two-cost creature with a focus on aerial superiority. While it lacks the inherent flying trait, it compensates with exertion to become a flying threat during the attack. However, Eddytrail Hawk offers consistency in its flying ability without needing to exert, along with energy versatility. There’s also the comparably costed Skyship Plunderer, which incidentally also generates energy, but instead of empowering other creatures, it focuses on proliferating existing counters.
To sum it up, Eddytrail Hawk possesses a simple yet effective dynamic in Magic: The Gathering by enabling strategic mobility through its energy counter mechanic. It may not be as robust as some alternatives, but its synergy with energy-focused decks could uplift it to a notable status among two-drop creatures with the potential for aerial dominance.
Cards similar to Eddytrail Hawk by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Eddytrail Hawk MTG card by a specific set like Kaladesh and Mystery Booster, 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 Eddytrail Hawk 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 Eddytrail Hawk Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2016-09-30 and 2020-11-12. Illustrated by James Paick.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016-09-30 | Kaladesh | KLD | 12 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 87 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | KLD-12 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick | ||
| 4 | 2020-11-12 | Kaladesh Remastered | KLR | 16 | 2015 | Normal | Black | James Paick |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Eddytrail Hawk 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 |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Eddytrail Hawk card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-02-09 | Energy counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They're not associated with specific permanents. (Other kinds of counters that players may have include poison and experience.) |
| 2017-02-09 | Energy counters aren't mana. They don't go away as steps, phases, and turns end, and effects that add mana “of any type” to your mana pool can't give you energy counters. |
| 2017-02-09 | If a triggered ability with one or more targets states that you “may pay” some amount of , and each permanent that it targets has become an illegal target, the ability doesn't resolve. You can't pay even if you want to. |
| 2017-02-09 | If an effect says you get one or more , you get that many energy counters. To pay one or more , you lose that many energy counters. Any effects that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with energy counters. |
| 2017-02-09 | Keep careful track of how many energy counters each player has. You may do so by keeping a running count on paper, by using a die, or by any other clear and mutually agreeable method. |
| 2017-02-09 | Some triggered abilities state that you “may pay” a certain amount of . You can't pay that amount multiple times to multiply the effect. You simply choose whether or not to pay that amount of as the ability resolves, and no player may take actions to try to stop the ability's effect after you make your choice. |
| 2017-02-09 | You can't pay more energy counters than you have. |
| 2017-02-09 | is the energy symbol. It represents one energy counter. |
