Skyreaping MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Released	2014-02-07
Set symbol
Set name	Born of the Gods
Set code	BNG
Number	140
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Seb McKinnon

Key Takeaways

Inexpensively priced at two mana, Skyreaping provides a significant tempo boost during early to mid-game.
Acting at instant speed, it furnishes a strategic upper hand by countering opponents’ flying creatures.
However, the card’s effectiveness is contingent on the presence of opponents’ flyers, limiting its utility.

Text of card

Skyreaping deals damage to each creature with flying equal to your devotion to green. (Each in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to green.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Skyreaping rewards you with the potential to deal substantial damage proportional to the number of creatures with flying your opponents control, offering a significant swing in your favor that can dramatically alter the board state.

Resource Acceleration: Costing only two mana, this card allows for quick deployment, enabling you to save resources for other plays and maintain tempo advantage in the early to mid-game stages.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Skyreaping at instant speed provides an invaluable tactical advantage, allowing you to respond to your opponent’s plays by removing key flying creatures at the most opportune moment.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Skyreaping doesn’t have a direct discard requirement, but its efficiency heavily relies on the presence of creatures with flying. Without these targets, its potential diminishes, essentially being a wasted draw in such scenarios.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a specific combination of green mana, which can be restrictive for multicolor decks that may struggle with mana fixing, especially under pressure.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Skyreaping’s cost is proportionate to its payoff, the initial two mana investment plus the additional cost for each creature with flying can become burdensome. In fast-paced games or when facing decks not utilizing many flyers, its cost-to-benefit ratio may not align favorably when compared to other removal options.

Reasons to Include Skyreaping in Your Collection

Versatility: Skyreaping is a flexible card, fitting well into green decks that can generate a significant number of creatures. It can be particularly impactful in decks featuring a lot of flying creatures, giving it a multifaceted role in both offense and defense.

Combo Potential: This card has synergy with strategies that inflate the power of your creatures. It can be combined with global power boosters or individual buffs, allowing for devastating board impacts against opponents with flying creatures.

Meta-Relevance: With flying creatures frequently dominating the skies in various formats, Skyreaping offers a potent answer to this threat. Its potential to swing games by clearing out multiple threatening fliers cannot be understated, making it a savvy inclusion for any player anticipating aerial combat.

How to beat

Skyreaping can be a powerful card in Magic: The Gathering when facing creatures with flying. Since this removal spell deals damage to fliers based on your devotion to green, managing your board presence is essential to minimize its impact. You might consider playing fewer creatures with flying or employing creatures that have abilities to grant themselves or other creatures temporary protection from green until the end of turn.

Additionally, countering the spell is an obvious choice. Holding up mana for counterspells like Negate or Dispel when you anticipate a Skyreaping can prevent its casting altogether. Similarly, instant-speed enchantment removals, such as Naturalize, can be played in response to a devotion-increasing spell before your opponent proceeds to cast Skyreaping, thereby reducing the potential damage dealt. By understanding the mechanics behind devotion and strategically timing your spells in response to your opponent’s strategy, you can effectively neutralize the threat posed by Skyreaping.

Overall, while Skyreaping can catch many players off guard with a swift blow to their flying creatures, a well-prepared player with the right strategy and responsive tactics can mitigate the danger and maintain a strong stance in the face of this green spell.

Cards like Skyreaping

Within the domain of Magic: The Gathering, Skyreaping possesses its own distinctive charm as an aerial force against opponents. When examining cards akin to Skyreaping, one might consider Windstorm. This card also offers the ability to dish out damage to flying creatures, yet it provides a flexible variable on the amount of damage dealt based on the mana you sink into it. Unlike Skyreaping, which bases its damage on your devotion to green, Windstorm lets you control the extent of its impact directly.

Another spell of note is Hurricane, offering a duality of aerial attack and direct player engagement. While Hurricane shares the flying creature damage characteristic and can target players, it’s not limited by devotion and hence can be more broadly applicable. However, Skyreaping stands out in devotion-centered decks where it can significantly leverage the green mana symbols on the battlefield.

On balance, while each card serves a specialized role, Skyreaping emerges as a potent weapon in the wheelhouse of a green mage dedicated to the ramping up of green symbols, thereby potentially unleashing massive damage against the opponent’s flying creatures.

Cards similar to Skyreaping by color, type and mana cost

Nylea's Intervention - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Skyreaping MTG card by a specific set like Born of the Gods, 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 Skyreaping and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Skyreaping has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-09-15	Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).
2013-09-15	If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be counted if it’s still on the battlefield at that time.
2013-09-15	Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don’t count toward your devotion to any color.
2013-09-15	Numeric mana symbols (, , and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don’t count toward your devotion to any color.