Alaborn Musketeer MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Human Soldier
Abilities Reach
Power 2
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Alaborn Musketeer provides aerial defense, key in MTG’s flying-heavy metagame.
  2. Low-cost casting can result in accelerated board presence and gameplay.
  3. Requires a discard for ability activation, demanding careful hand management.

Text of card

Alaborn Musketeer can block creatures with flying.

Muskets gave the Alaborn army an advantage it had long lacked—air defense.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Alaborn Musketeer can pierce through defenses by potentially dealing with flying creatures, ensuring that your tabletop strategy maintains aerial control. This utility may prevent opponents from gaining a card advantage by using flying creatures as their primary offense or defense.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly impacting resource acceleration, this card’s low-cost appeal allows for a diversified game play early on. You can deploy other strategic pieces sooner, effectively streamlining your mana usage for a swifter and more efficient board development.

Instant Speed: With the ability to block flying creatures, Alaborn Musketeer can add an element of surprise to your defensive tactics. It can change the battlefield dynamics at crucial moments, mirroring the benefits of instant speed spells by disrupting opponent’s expectations and well-planned attacks.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Alaborn Musketeer card demands a certain setup to use, as its ability requires a discard to activate. This can sometimes prove to be a serious drawback, especially when your hand is already running thin and every card counts.

Specific Mana Cost: With an allegiance to white mana, the Alaborn Musketeer cannot just be slotted into any deck. It requires a specific mana base, ideally suited for white-centric or two-color decks that can reliably produce white mana to fulfill its casting cost.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: A closer look at the card’s mana cost reveals that it may be on the higher side for its stats and abilities. In a game where tempo and efficiency are paramount, there are alternatives that may provide a better balance between cost and performance.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Alaborn Musketeer adds value to a variety of deck builds, particularly those that are designed to control the board. With its reach ability, it functions effectively as a blocker against flying creatures, which are commonly encountered in various MTG formats.

Combo Potential: This card slots into combos that capitalize on its ability to potentially deter or eliminate flying threats, pairing well with cards that manipulate blockers or benefit from surviving attackers.

Meta-Relevance: As aerial strategies continue to be popular, the meta often shifts to include numerous flying creatures. Alaborn Musketeer’s defensive capability makes it relevant in such environments, guarding against commonly used evasive creatures and complementing ground-based tactical plays.


How to beat

The Alaborn Musketeer can be a tricky card to align against in Magic: The Gathering, primarily if you regularly summon flying creatures. With its ability to block creatures with flying, the Musketeer may deter your airborne attacks. However, the card’s defense isn’t impenetrable. Instead of relying on creatures with flying, consider using those with trample or ample ground forces, which the Musketeer cannot block. Moreover, it has a modest toughness, so using spells that deal damage can eliminate it effectively from the battlefield. Board control spells such as Wrath of God or targeted removal like Murder are particularly beneficial as they can manage multiple threats or single out the Musketeer for removal. Lastly, if the Musketeer is equipped or buffed, keeping up enchantment or artifact control will ensure your opponent cannot make the most of its abilities.

In essence, overcoming Alaborn Musketeer requires strategic play around its abilities. Focus your strategy on versatile creature abilities and removal spells that can outmatch the defenses put in place by Alaborn Musketeer. By adapting your gameplay to the cards on the field, this particular challenger can be swiftly managed.


Cards like Alaborn Musketeer

Alaborn Musketeer is an intriguing creature within Magic: The Gathering’s vast array of cards. It shares some features with other members of the soldier archetype, such as Standing Troops. While both cards are white and cost three mana, Alaborn Musketeer offers the added utility of reaching over defenders thanks to its ability to block creatures with flying. In comparison, Standing Troops carry vigilance, allowing them to stay untapped when defending.

Another card worth discussing is the Youthful Knight, summoning a comparable battlefield presence with first strike for the same converted mana cost. However, the Youthful Knight lacks the Musketeer’s flying defense capability but has a lower activating cost. These small yet impactful distinctions can influence deck building and in-game strategies when it comes to creature selection.

Lastly, while considering other soldier cards in the related theme, Elite Inquisitor stands out. It’s costlier than Alaborn Musketeer but brings a robust suite of abilities such as first strike and protection against werewolves, vampires, and zombies. Although the Elite Inquisitor offers more versatility, Alaborn Musketeer remains a competent choice for those requiring aerial defense without breaking their mana curve.

Standing Troops - MTG Card versions
Youthful Knight - MTG Card versions
Elite Inquisitor - MTG Card versions
Standing Troops - Exodus (EXO)
Youthful Knight - Stronghold (STH)
Elite Inquisitor - Innistrad Promos (PISD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Alaborn Musketeer MTG card by a specific set like Portal Second Age and Masters Edition IV, 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 Alaborn Musketeer and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Alaborn Musketeer Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1998-06-24 and 2011-01-10. Illustrated by Heather Hudson.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11998-06-24Portal Second AgeP02 31997normalblackHeather Hudson
22011-01-10Masters Edition IVME4 11997normalblackHeather Hudson

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Alaborn Musketeer has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks