Stormwatch Eagle MTG Card

Prophecy (PCY)
2000-06-05 - Number 50

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number PCY-50

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Bird
Abilities	Flying
Power	2
Toughness	1

Key Takeaways

Gains card advantage with the potential to draw, enriching strategic possibilities during play.
Instant speed casting offers tactical flexibility, reacting to opponents’ moves efficiently.
Demands a card discard, posing potential drawbacks for certain deck strategies.

Text of card

Flying Sacrifice a land: Return Stormwatch Eagle to its owner's hand.

When eagles leave the sky, sailors leave the sea.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Stormwatch Eagle card provides a valuable edge by potentially drawing you additional cards upon meeting its triggered ability condition. This can bolster your hand, keeping you flush with options and strategies to outmaneuver opponents.

Resource Acceleration: With the Stormwatch Eagle’s capabilities, you have an opportunity to launch ahead in the game by speeding up your access to necessary resources. Its synergy with other cards can also help you amass the mana needed for pivotal plays that can swing the tide in your favor.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Stormwatch Eagle at instant speed is a tactical advantage, affording you the flexibility to react during your opponent’s turn. Catch them off-guard or simply optimize your own strategy by making moves at the most opportune times without telegraphing your plans too early.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Stormwatch Eagle’s casting dynamic could pose a strategic hiccup as it necessitates discarding another card. For deck strategies that hinge on maintaining a full grip, this bird’s requirement might clip your game plan’s wings, especially during critical late-game turns where each card in hand is vital.

Specific Mana Cost: Locked into blue mana for its cost, Stormwatch Eagle may not seamlessly integrate into multicolor decks. Flyers are a dime a dozen in the magic realm, and a deck that isn’t predominantly blue could find this feathery friend to be more of a burden than a boon, often sitting as an unplayable card in hand due to mana constraints.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Weighing the benefits against its mana expenditure, Stormwatch Eagle might not soar as high as expected. With other creatures in the blue skies costing less and providing similar or better effects, this particular bird struggles to find its place amongst more mana-efficient alternatives, potentially clogging your hand when you’re aiming for a smooth and streamlined mana curve in your gameplay.

Reasons to Include Stormwatch Eagle in Your Collection

Versatility: Stormwatch Eagle is adaptable, capable of slotting easily into a variety of blue-centered decks that favor flying creatures and evasion tactics.

Combo Potential: With its ability to possibly return to hand and be played again, it meshes well with strategies that capitalize on casting or ETB (Enter the Battlefield) effects.

Meta-Relevance: Given its aerial supremacy and potential for cycling in and out of your hand, Stormwatch Eagle could be a strategic play against slower, ground-based decks dominating the current meta landscape.

How to beat

Overcoming the Stormwatch Eagle in a game of Magic: The Gathering requires strategic know-how. This flying creature can be a pesky threat if left unchecked. Key to defeating it is to utilize targeted removal spells that neutralize threats without requiring combat. Spells like Murder, which can destroy any creature at instant speed, can effectively take care of the Stormwatch Eagle without giving your opponent the opportunity to reap its benefits.

Alternatively, placing creatures with the reach ability on the battlefield can also halt the Eagle in its tracks. By doing so, you maintain a solid defensive line that’s capable of blocking and eventually eliminating the Stormwatch Eagle. Finally, countering it with spells like Cancel or Essence Scatter as it’s being cast ensures that this feathered foe doesn’t have the chance to soar and tip the scales in your opponent’s favor.

Understanding and deploying these tactics can help keep Stormwatch Eagle from dominating the skies and the game, keeping the path to victory clear for resourceful players of Magic: The Gathering. Remember to monitor your opponent’s moves and have answers ready in your hand to clip the Eagle’s wings as soon as it appears.

Cards like Stormwatch Eagle

Stormwatch Eagle finds its niche within the pantheon of flying creatures in Magic: The Gathering. It’s often likened to other creatures like Welkin Tern, which also boasts the flying ability for a similar mana cost. Where Stormwatch Eagle takes flight, however, is its forecast ability, allowing you to get a glimpse of the future by drawing a card. This is a distinct advantage over Welkin Tern, which does not provide card advantage.

Another bird of a feather is the Spire Owl. It shares the element of card insight with Stormwatch Eagle, but instead of drawing a card, it allows you to rearrange the top four cards of your library, offering a different kind of strategic foresight. Moving onto the Stormrider Spirit, while not a bird, this spirit creature also features flash, like Stormwatch Eagle, enabling surprise blocks or end-of-turn play. Yet, it doesn’t offer the same card advantage that forecasting with Stormwatch Eagle can bring to the game.

Considering the flight patterns of these similar cards, Stormwatch Eagle offers a valuable blend of utility by combining aerial defense with the potential to maintain card flow, positioning it as a multifaceted choice for deck builders in Magic: The Gathering.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Stormwatch Eagle MTG card by a specific set like Prophecy and The List, 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 Stormwatch Eagle and other MTG cards: