Sea's Claim MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant

Key Takeaways

  1. Sea’s Claim offers card advantage by manipulating lands without reducing hand size.
  2. It can disrupt opponents’ mana and synergize with Island-dependent cards.
  3. Versatile and meta-relevant, Sea’s Claim counters land-based strategies.

Text of card

Enchanted land is an island.

"My vengeance will drown my enemies as my storms drown the desert." —Ixidor, reality sculptor


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Sea’s Claim comes into play with immediate effect on the board state, essentially allowing you to control additional land with a single card. This can lead to a disadvantage for your opponent while you maintain your original hand size, effectively providing you an edge in card efficiency.

Resource Acceleration: By turning your opponent’s land into an Island, you potentially disrupt their mana base, and if you are running cards that benefit from the number of Islands you control, like those with islandwalk or effects that count your Islands, this can accelerate your resource availability significantly.

Instant Speed: Although Sea’s Claim is not an instant, its impact on the game can be as immediate as an instant-speed interaction. It can be played just before your turn to ensure that the transformed land is unusable by your opponent for their entire turn, similar to the tactical deployment of instant-speed actions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Sea’s Claim doesn’t directly demand discarding, having it in hand instead of a more immediate response card can be a subtle liability in fast-paced games.

Specific Mana Cost: Sea’s Claim requires a blue mana to cast, which restricts its playability strictly to blue decks or those that can afford a mana base diverse enough to include blue mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its low absolute cost, when considering the spectrum of one-mana plays available in Magic, Sea’s Claim competes with powerhouse cards that can influence the board state more significantly upon resolution.


Reasons to Include Sea’s Claim in Your Collection

Versatility: Sea’s Claim offers a straightforward way to disrupt your opponent’s mana base that can be included in a variety of blue decks. Its ability to convert any land into an Island makes it a simple yet effective tool for mana strategy and control decks alike.

Combo Potential: It pairs excellently with cards that have land-type dependent abilities, like those that get bonuses for each Island an opponent controls. This synergy can turn Sea’s Claim into a powerful component of a winning combo, increasing both its value and your control over the game.

Meta-Relevance: As the game evolves and land-based strategies become more common, Sea’s Claim remains relevant by serving as a counter to land utility and mana flexibility. Its inclusion in your deck ensures that you’re equipped to tackle strategies that rely heavily on non-basic lands.


How to beat

Sea’s Claim is a unique enchantment that has the tactical ability to turn an opponent’s land into an Island. One effective strategy to counter this card is to include non-basic lands in your deck that have multiple land types or land cards that can’t be targeted by abilities. This could involve cards like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, which has all land types, or a card like Cavern of Souls, which offers protection from being targeted by enchantments like Sea’s Claim.

Another approach is to employ land destruction or enchantment removal spells, such as Ghost Quarter or Disenchant, to directly address the impacted land or remove Sea’s Claim itself. Players could also consider running cards that benefit from having islands or that neutralize island-related bonuses, thereby minimizing Sea’s Claim’s disruptive impact while pivoting to their advantage. Utilizing such strategies can substantially diminish the control that Sea’s Claim attempts to exert and maintain the tempo of your gameplay.

Understanding your deck’s vulnerabilities and foreseeing potential counters are crucial in Magic the Gathering. Strategically preparing for cards like Sea’s Claim can ensure that its controlling effect on the battlefield is short-lived and ultimately inconsequential to your path to victory.


Cards like Sea's Claim

Sea’s Claim stands as an intriguing utility in the realm of land control within Magic: The Gathering. It shares its primary function with cards like Spreading Seas, which also transforms a target land into an Island. Sea’s Claim does this for a mere one blue mana, maintaining a low cost for early game strategic plays. Spreading Seas, though it costs two mana, sweetens the deal by allowing the controller to draw a card.

Tidebinder Mage can also disrupt land strategy but deviates as it primarily serves as a creature that taps down opposing red or green creatures. Despite the different approach, it compliments Sea’s Claim’s goal of controlling the battlefield’s tempo. Convincing Mirage is another reshaper of lands, but requires two mana and lacks the extra utility that drawing a card with Spreading Seas offers.

Ultimately, while evaluating cards with the ability to manipulate lands, Sea’s Claim shines in its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, giving players a tactical edge in the early stages of a match without sacrificing card advantage or mana economy.

Spreading Seas - MTG Card versions
Tidebinder Mage - MTG Card versions
Convincing Mirage - MTG Card versions
Spreading Seas - Zendikar (ZEN)
Tidebinder Mage - Magic 2014 (M14)
Convincing Mirage - Magic 2010 (M10)

Cards similar to Sea's Claim by color, type and mana cost

Flight - MTG Card versions
Unstable Mutation - MTG Card versions
Field of Dreams - MTG Card versions
Dream Coat - MTG Card versions
Tangle Kelp - MTG Card versions
Tidal Flats - MTG Card versions
Flood - MTG Card versions
Backfire - MTG Card versions
Mystic Remora - MTG Card versions
Essence Flare - MTG Card versions
Awesome Presence - MTG Card versions
Cloak of Invisibility - MTG Card versions
Vanishing - MTG Card versions
Mana Chains - MTG Card versions
Robe of Mirrors - MTG Card versions
Telepathy - MTG Card versions
Veiled Sentry - MTG Card versions
Air Bladder - MTG Card versions
Seal of Removal - MTG Card versions
Shimmering Wings - MTG Card versions
Flight - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Unstable Mutation - Ultimate Masters (UMA)
Field of Dreams - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Dream Coat - Legends (LEG)
Tangle Kelp - The Dark (DRK)
Tidal Flats - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Flood - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Backfire - Renaissance (REN)
Mystic Remora - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Essence Flare - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Awesome Presence - Alliances (ALL)
Cloak of Invisibility - Mirage (MIR)
Vanishing - Visions (VIS)
Mana Chains - Weatherlight (WTH)
Robe of Mirrors - Tenth Edition (10E)
Telepathy - Magic 2010 (M10)
Veiled Sentry - Urza's Saga (USG)
Air Bladder - Nemesis (NEM)
Seal of Removal - Nemesis (NEM)
Shimmering Wings - Tenth Edition (10E)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Sea's Claim MTG card by a specific set like Onslaught and Ninth Edition, 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 Sea's Claim and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Sea's Claim Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2002-10-07 and 2005-07-29. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-10-07OnslaughtONS 1131997normalblackAlan Pollack
22005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 972003normalwhiteThomas Gianni
32005-07-29Ninth Edition9ED 97★2003normalblackThomas Gianni

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Sea's Claim has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

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