Phantom Monster MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 17 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Illusion
Abilities Flying
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides aerial pressure as a 3/3 flyer, demanding opponents to have an answer or risk consistent damage.
  2. Good fit for blue-centric decks, enhancing card advantage and accelerating the path to victory.
  3. Restrictive mana cost requires careful deck construction to optimize its powerful presence on the board.

Text of card

Flying

"While, like a ghastly rapid river, Through the pale door, A hideous throng rush out forever, And laugh—but smile no more." —Edgar Allan Poe, "The Haunted Palace"


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Phantom Monster card provides a significant presence in the sky with its flying ability, which can enable players to consistently apply pressure and potentially bypass opponents’ ground defenses. This flying threat often demands an answer, potentially providing indirect card advantage by exhausting the opponent’s resources.

Resource Acceleration: While Phantom Monster itself doesn’t provide direct resource acceleration, its four power in the air can quickly shorten the game, accelerating the path to victory. In blue-centric decks focused on control or tempo, reducing the number of turns needed to win can be a form of accelerating the game’s pace in your favor.

Instant Speed: Although Phantom Monster is not an instant, its inclusion in decks with counter magic or other instant-speed interactions can be strategic. Its casting cost requires a commitment of four mana, but once on the battlefield, it allows players to confidently pass turns with mana open for instant-speed responses, knowing they have a steadfast threat already in play.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Phantom Monster demands precise deck building and strategy to ensure you can meet its requirements without depleting critical hand resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring two blue mana, the card has a restrictive cost that can be challenging to fulfil in multi-colored or color-intensive decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its cost at four mana, including two blue, there may be alternative creatures or spells that provide better value or versatility for the same or lower investment.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Phantom Monster provides a solid body in the air as a flying creature. This ability allows it to fit well into various blue-based decks, particularly those that need a reliable four-drop that can apply pressure or act as a defender against other creatures with flying.

Combo Potential: This card shines in decks that manipulate the power and toughness of creatures. Being a creature with flying, it partners effectively with cards that capitalize on creatures with a certain type or ability, making it a versatile combo piece in many strategies.

Meta-Relevance: With the continuous evolution of the meta-game, Phantom Monster remains a pertinent choice in environments where flying creatures are essential for breaking stalemates or evading ground-based strategies. Its straightforward design and compatibility with numerous blue-focused strategies make it a potentially valuable addition in the current meta.


How to beat

The Phantom Monster card poses an interesting challenge in the world of MTG due to its reliable presence in the air space as a 3/3 flying creature. Dealing with this elusive threat can require strategic adjustments. In a game where board control is paramount, effectively managing flying creatures becomes crucial. Cards such as Grasp of Darkness or Murder are straightforward solutions, offering the ability to remove creatures regardless of their flight capability.

Counteractive measures can range from prevention to direct removal. For instance, a preemptive approach includes using counterspells like Cancel or Mana Leak to neutralize Phantom Monster before it even hits the battlefield. However, if the creature has successfully been cast, instant removal spells that target flying creatures, such as Plummet or Winds of Rebuke, provide efficient ways to clear the skies.

Ultimately, adjusting your strategy to include these types of answers within your deck will enhance your resilience against flying threats like Phantom Monster, allowing you to maintain control of the match and navigate toward victory.


Cards like Phantom Monster

Phantom Monster, a notable creature in the Magic: The Gathering universe, shares space with other four-mana cost blue creatures that offer strategic advantages in gameplay. It bears comparison to Air Elemental, which boasts a stronger presence with a 4/4 stat line. However, Phantom Monster, with its 3/3 stats, has the distinction of flying as soon as it hits the battlefield, providing immediate aerial defense or pressure.

Cloud Elemental is another peer, though it costs less at three mana. This makes Cloud Elemental a quicker play, but it is markedly less sturdy with a 2/3 build and has the additional restriction of being able to block only creatures with flying. Comparatively, Phantom Monster has no such limitations, granting greater flexibility in combat scenarios.

To sum up, Phantom Monster’s balance of cost, offensive capability, and preemptive block potential positions it as a solid choice amongst midrange flying creatures. Its straightforward power and lack of complicated conditions make it an enduring creature card for players valuing immediate board impact and defensive reliability.

Air Elemental - MTG Card versions
Cloud Elemental - MTG Card versions
Air Elemental - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Cloud Elemental - Visions (VIS)

Cards similar to Phantom Monster by color, type and mana cost

Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
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Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
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Dreamborn Muse - MTG Card versions
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Phantasmal Forces - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Wall of Vapor - Chronicles (CHR)
Screeching Drake - Portal Second Age (P02)
Tradewind Rider - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Archivist - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Extravagant Spirit - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Thieving Magpie - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Inga Rune-Eyes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Laboratory Drudge - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Undercover Operative - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Archmage Emeritus - Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX)
Hisoka, Minamo Sensei - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Johnny, Combo Player - Unhinged (UNH)
Dream Prowler - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Clone - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Cytoplast Manipulator - Dissension (DIS)
Crookclaw Transmuter - Time Spiral (TSP)
Dreamborn Muse - Tenth Edition (10E)
Turtleshell Changeling - Lorwyn (LRW)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Phantom Monster MTG card by a specific set like Limited Edition Alpha and Limited Edition Beta, 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 Phantom Monster and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Phantom Monster Magic the Gathering card was released in 16 different sets between 1993-08-05 and 2022-11-28. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11993-08-05Limited Edition AlphaLEA 691993normalblackJesper Myrfors
21993-10-04Limited Edition BetaLEB 701993normalblackJesper Myrfors
31993-12-01Unlimited Edition2ED 701993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
41993-12-10Intl. Collectors' EditionCEI 701993normalblackJesper Myrfors
51993-12-10Collectors' EditionCED 701993normalblackJesper Myrfors
61994-04-01Revised Edition3ED 711993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
71994-04-01Foreign Black BorderFBB 711993normalblackJesper Myrfors
81994-06-21Summer Magic / EdgarSUM 711993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
91995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 901993normalblackJesper Myrfors
101995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 901993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
111996-12-31Introductory Two-Player SetITP 111993normalwhiteJesper Myrfors
121997-03-24Fifth Edition5ED 1081997normalwhiteRebecca Guay
132007-09-10Masters EditionME1 431997normalblackJesper Myrfors
142016-06-10Eternal MastersEMA 652015normalblackRichard Wright
152017-11-17Iconic MastersIMA 692015normalblackRichard Wright
162022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 692015normalblackJesper Myrfors
172022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 3661997normalblackJesper Myrfors

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Phantom Monster has restrictions

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

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