Snubhorn Sentry MTG Card
2018-01-19 - Number 23
2019-11-07 - Number 236
2020-09-26 - Number RIX-23
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Dinosaur |
| Abilities | Ascend |
| Power | 0 |
| Toughness | 3 |
Key Takeaways
- Snubhorn Sentry enhances board presence without taxing your card hand due to its low casting cost.
- Achieving the city’s blessing quickly elevates Sentry’s value by activating its ascend ability.
- While sturdy as a blocker, the Sentry’s full potential hinges on meeting specific board conditions.
Text of card
Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents, you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.) Snubhorn Sentry gets +3/+0 as long as you have the city's blessing.
They're fun to train—if you like stubborn, aggressive, and fiercely territorial.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Though the Snubhorn Sentry may not directly allow you to draw cards, it adds to your board presence as a creature, which is essential for creature-based strategies. Its low cost means you can deploy additional spells in your hand more freely, effectively preserving your card resources.
Resource Acceleration: Snubhorn Sentry helps with resource acceleration not through mana production but by fulfilling the city’s blessing criteria quickly thanks to its low casting cost. This can lead to a fortified board state which, in turn, can ramp up the effectiveness of your other permanents that synergize with having a large number of permanents in play.
Instant Speed: While Snubhorn Sentry is not an instant itself, its ascend ability—granting it indestructible once you achieve the city’s blessing—allows it to be a reliable blocker that can survive a variety of combat scenarios. This lets you keep mana open for actual instant-speed interactions, knowing that your Sentry remains a steadfast guardian on the battlefield.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Although Snubhorn Sentry doesn’t demand a discard itself, it requires having ten or more permanents to achieve its full potential, thereby indirectly impacting your hand as you need to keep deploying resources to activate its ascend ability.
Specific Mana Cost: Snubhorn Sentry’s cost relies strictly on white mana. Decks lacking a solid white mana base might struggle to summon this creature consistently, especially early in the game when it’s most beneficial.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While only costing a single white mana, the true cost of Snubhorn Sentry can be high considering its initial 0/3 stats. The card demands a considerable board presence before becoming a formidable 3/3 with vigilance, potentially slowing down your early game strategy as you work towards fulfilling the ascend condition.
Reasons to Include Snubhorn Sentry in Your Collection
Versatility: Snubhorn Sentry boasts a low mana cost and the Ascend ability, allowing it to seamlessly blend into a variety of deck types. As a 1-drop, it fits especially well in strategies aiming to establish board presence quickly and achieve the city’s blessing.
Combo Potential: Its transformation into a vigilant 3/3 creature once you have the city’s blessing makes it an excellent combo piece for decks that can quickly meet this condition. Additionally, its resilience can aid strategies that align with defensive measures or creature synergies.
Meta-Relevance: In metas where aggro decks are prevalent, the Sentry serves as an early blocker to stall opponents. And as the game progresses, its bolstered stats ensure that it remains a relevant threat even in the later stages of the game.
How to Beat Snubhorn Sentry
Snubhorn Sentry has carved a niche for itself as a stalwart defensive creature in Magic: The Gathering. With its low casting cost and Ascend ability granting it a significant power boost, it can be a thorn in the side of many aggressive strategies. To effectively deal with the Snubhorn Sentry, players must take a multi-faceted approach.
First, removal spells that bypass toughness can be particularly effective against Snubhorn Sentry. Cards l
Cards like Snubhorn Sentry
Snubhorn Sentry adds a solid defensive option within Magic: The Gathering’s vast array of creature cards. It’s often equated with other low-cost creatures like Hopeful Eidolon, which also has a low mana cost but Hopeful Eidolon offers lifelink as an advantage. Yet, what sets Snubhorn Sentry apart is its Ascend ability, granting it the potential to turn into a formidable blocker once you have the city’s blessing.
Looking at other defensive creatures, the comparison with Wall of Omens is inevitable. Although Wall of Omens lacks the potential power boost of Snubhorn Sentry, it compensates by drawing you a card upon entry which can be a considerable advantage in gameplay. On the battlefield, Saruli Caretaker stands out as well with its ability to tap another creature you control to add green mana, despite not being as sturdy as the energized Sentry.
Ultimately, Snubhorn Sentry’s unique blend of low cost, defensive utility, and potential to scale up with Ascend, provides an edge in strategic deck builds aiming for long game stamina and resource control in Magic: The Gathering.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Snubhorn Sentry MTG card by a specific set like Rivals of Ixalan 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 Snubhorn Sentry 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 Magic products
Printings
The Snubhorn Sentry Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-01-19 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Aaron Miller.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018-01-19 | Rivals of Ixalan | RIX | 23 | 2015 | normal | black | Aaron Miller | |
| 2 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 236 | 2015 | normal | black | Aaron Miller | |
| 3 | The List | PLST | RIX-23 | 2015 | normal | black | Aaron Miller |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Snubhorn Sentry 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 |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Snubhorn Sentry card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-01-19 | A permanent is any object on the battlefield, including tokens and lands. Spells and emblems aren’t permanents. |
| 2018-01-19 | Ascend on a permanent isn’t a triggered ability and doesn’t use the stack. Players can respond to a spell that will give you your tenth permanent, but they can’t respond to getting the city’s blessing once you control that tenth permanent. This means that if your tenth permanent is a land you play, players can’t respond before you get the city’s blessing. |
| 2018-01-19 | If you cast a spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing until it resolves. Players may respond to that spell by trying to change whether you get the city’s blessing. |
| 2018-01-19 | If you control ten permanents but don’t control a permanent or resolving spell with ascend, you don’t get the city’s blessing. For example, if you control ten permanents, lose control of one, then cast Golden Demise, you won’t have the city’s blessing and the spell will affect creatures you control. |
| 2018-01-19 | If your tenth permanent enters the battlefield and then a permanent leaves the battlefield immediately afterwards (most likely due to the “Legend Rule” or due to being a creature with 0 toughness), you get the city’s blessing before it leaves the battlefield. |
| 2018-01-19 | Once you have the city’s blessing, you have it for the rest of the game, even if you lose control of some or all of your permanents. The city’s blessing isn’t a permanent itself and can’t be removed by any effect. |
| 2018-01-19 | Some cards get power, toughness, and/or abilities once you have the city’s blessing. If another card has an ability that triggers when creatures with certain characteristics enter the battlefield (such as Mentor of the Meek or Elemental Bond do), use the entering permanent’s characteristics after you have the city’s blessing to determine whether those abilities trigger. This is true even if the entering permanent is your tenth permanent. |
