Faith Healer MTG Card


Faith Healer - Urza's Saga
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Human Cleric
Released1998-10-12
Set symbol
Set nameUrza's Saga
Set codeUSG
Power 1
Toughness 1
Number14
Frame1997
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byRandy Gallegos

Key Takeaways

  1. Transforms enchantments into life at instant speed, providing strategic flexibility and health maintenance.
  2. Accelerates resource recycling, enabling enchantments to return from the graveyard for repeated use.
  3. Demands sacrifice of another enchantment, requiring careful gameplay decisions for its activation.

Text of card

Sacrifice an enchantment: Gain life equal to the sacrificed enchantment's total casting cost.

The power of faith is quiet. It is the leaf unmoved by the hurricane.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Faith Healer, players can turn their enchantments into valuable life points, maintaining a healthy life total while effectively transforming less useful cards on the field into a tangible benefit.

Resource Acceleration: While not direct ‘mana’ acceleration, Faith Healer can accelerate a player’s resources by allowing them to reuse enchantments through recycling with cards that return enchantments from the graveyard to the hand or battlefield.

Instant Speed: Faith Healer’s ability can be used at instant speed, offering flexibility for players to respond to threats or unfavorable board states during an opponent’s turn while capitalizing on the imminent loss of an enchantment.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the tactics of gameplay, Faith Healer requires you to sacrifice another enchantment, which might compel you to choose between maintaining board presence or leveraging its ability.

Specific Mana Cost: Faith Healer commands a distinct mana combination, white mana, thereby aligning its utility predominantly within white decks or those with a stable mana base to support this requirement.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana value sitting at two, there are alternative cards within the same bracket that could provide more immediate or impactful advantages on the battlefield, making it important for players to weigh its cost against potential strategic benefits.


Reasons to Include Faith Healer in Your Collection

Versatility: Faith Healer offers a unique blend of life gain and utility in decks that capitalize on enchantments and artifacts, as it can turn them into a source of life when they’re no longer needed on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: This card works well in strategies centered around recurring or sacrificing permanents for profit. With Faith Healer, players can create synergies that convert enchantments or artifacts into a steady stream of life points, making it a fine addition to various engine-based combos.

Meta-Relevance: In a metagame where board wipes and removals are prevalent, having an out like Faith Healer means that your valuable enchantments and artifacts can be a source of lifeline instead of simply being lost to removal. This makes it a card worth considering for its resilience and adaptability to a dynamic playing field.


How to Beat Faith Healer

Safeguarding your gameplay from the abilities of Faith Healer involves shrewd strategy and a prepared deck. This card’s capability to convert any of your artifacts or enchantments into valuable life points can be troublesome. Tactically, direct removal spells such as Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile effectively bypass the self-sacrifice mechanic Faith Healer offers its controller, ensuring the creature is dealt with and its ability rendered moot without granting its owner any life gain advantage.

Graveyard disruption is also a sound approach. Cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void prevent the Faith Healer’s ability to have any impact post-removal, as they ensure that cards don’t actually hit the graveyard for their triggered ability to happen. Lastly, counterspells remain a steadfast line of defense against all manner of spells and abilities in MTG. Deny Faith Healer entrance to the battlefield altogether, and maintain the upper hand by preventing your opponent’s plans from unfolding. Carefully considering these solutions will help mitigate the Faith Healer’s influence during the game.


Cards like Faith Healer

Faith Healer offers a unique niche within the realm of utility creatures in Magic: The Gathering. It is reminiscent of cards such as Auramancer, which allows for recursion of enchantment cards from the graveyard to your hand. Unlike Auramancer, Faith Healer pushes the boundaries by providing the ability to convert enchantments directly into life points. This not only recoups value from enchantments at a potential risk of being lost but also fortifies your life total in a pinch.

Resembling Faith Healer’s function, we have the Monk Idealist, a card that also retrieves enchantments from the graveyard to hand. While it doesn’t offer the instant life gain, it does provide another chance to cast powerful enchantments. Additionally, there’s the self-sacrifice element of Nova Cleric which permits removal of all enchantments from the game; though it shares the theme of enchantment interaction, it focuses on disrupting strategies rather than enhancing your own position.

Assessing the dynamics of these cards illustrates that Faith Healer embodies a rare blend of life gain and enchantment utility. It stands out in decks that capitalize on enchantment synergies or require a lifeline in the form of increased life points.

Auramancer - MTG Card versions
Monk Idealist - MTG Card versions
Nova Cleric - MTG Card versions
Auramancer - Odyssey (ODY)
Monk Idealist - Urza's Saga (USG)
Nova Cleric - Onslaught (ONS)

Cards similar to Faith Healer by color, type and mana cost

White Knight - MTG Card versions
Soul Shepherd - MTG Card versions
Soltari Monk - MTG Card versions
Talon Sliver - MTG Card versions
Keeper of the Light - MTG Card versions
Angelic Page - MTG Card versions
Avenger en-Dal - MTG Card versions
Royal Falcon - MTG Card versions
Spirit Weaver - MTG Card versions
Voice of the Blessed - MTG Card versions
Stoneforge Mystic - MTG Card versions
Drannith Magistrate - MTG Card versions
Leonin Lightscribe - MTG Card versions
Silver Knight - MTG Card versions
Longbow Archer - MTG Card versions
Silverflame Squire // On Alert - MTG Card versions
Flumph - MTG Card versions
Cloudreach Cavalry - MTG Card versions
Samite Healer - MTG Card versions
Kor Firewalker - MTG Card versions
White Knight - Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons (DDG)
Soul Shepherd - Weatherlight (WTH)
Soltari Monk - Tempest (TMP)
Talon Sliver - Tempest (TMP)
Keeper of the Light - Exodus (EXO)
Angelic Page - Battle Royale Box Set (BRB)
Avenger en-Dal - Nemesis (NEM)
Royal Falcon - Starter 2000 (S00)
Spirit Weaver - Invasion (INV)
Voice of the Blessed - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Stoneforge Mystic - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Drannith Magistrate - Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (IKO)
Leonin Lightscribe - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Silver Knight - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Longbow Archer - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Silverflame Squire // On Alert - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Flumph - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Cloudreach Cavalry - Legions (LGN)
Samite Healer - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Kor Firewalker - Mystery Booster (MB1)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Faith Healer MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Saga, 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 Faith Healer and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Faith Healer has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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