Shredding Winds MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	2013-09-27
Set symbol
Set name	Theros
Set code	THS
Number	178
Frame	2003
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Christopher Moeller

Key Takeaways

Shredding Winds ensures card advantage by eliminating key flying creatures and disrupting opponent’s tempo.
Instant speed allows strategic play, using Shredding Winds reactively to protect your board state.
Mana restrictions and higher casting cost may limit its versatility across all deck types.

Text of card

Shredding Winds deals 7 damage to target creature with flying.

"Enemies of the wood! Your presence here is a slap in Nylea's face. Do not be surprised if she slaps back." —Telphe, druid of Nylea

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Shredding Winds doesn’t directly allow you to draw additional cards, it can help maintain card advantage by removing your opponent’s key flying threats with a single card.

Resource Acceleration: Although Shredding Winds does not provide direct resource acceleration like adding mana, efficiently dealing with flying creatures can keep you on par with an opponent who might otherwise gain a significant tempo advantage.

Instant Speed: Shredding Winds offers the flexibility of instant speed, enabling you to strategically plan your removal during the opponent’s turn or in response to an action, potentially disrupting their plans and preserving your board state.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Shredding Winds packs a punch against flying creatures, it necessitates having it in hand at the right moment. This requirement can disrupt hand balance and pacing, particularly when you are holding onto it in anticipation of potential aerial threats rather than advancing your board presence.

Specific Mana Cost: Shredding Winds demands a specific color in its mana cost, requiring two green mana. This specificity can restrict its playability to mainly green decks, reducing its flexibility across the diverse spectrum of decks in MTG.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, including the two specific greens, Shredding Winds is more costly compared with other instant-speed removal options available. Players may find themselves in situations where there are more mana-efficient spells for dealing with creatures, whether they are flying or not.

Reasons to Include Shredding Winds in Your Collection

Versatility: Shredding Winds provides targeted removal against flying creatures, which makes it a useful sideboard card in a variety of decks looking to defend against aerial threats.

Combo Potential: This card offers potential synergies in green decks that may benefit from the destruction of flying creatures, such as enabling strategies that capitalize on clear skies to attack unhindered.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment heavy with flying creatures, this instant can swing the game by removing key threats, making it a timely inclusion depending on the prevalence of decks that rely on flyers.

How to beat

Shredding Winds stands out as a prime tool for players who want to maintain aerial control in Magic: The Gathering. This instant card targets flying creatures and deals a significant 7 damage, enough to take down the majority of airborne threats. To navigate around this potential pitfall, you might want to consider the timing of your plays. Deploying creatures with hexproof or shroud can provide a safeguard, as Shredding Winds requires a target it can legally choose.

Another strategy lies in diversifying the types of threats you present. Relying heavily on creatures with flying can make you vulnerable to this spell. By mixing in creatures with other abilities or those that operate on the ground, you reduce the risk and potential impact Shredding Winds has on your game plan. Moreover, spells like Blossoming Defense give your creatures the necessary buff and protection for the turn, potentially saving them from an untimely demise caused by such targeted removal.

Therefore, by understanding the card’s strengths and limitations, and by crafting a robust and varied creature base, you equip yourself with the means to outmaneuver opponents relying on Shredding Winds to control the skies in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards like Shredding Winds

Shredding Winds is a direct damage spell in Magic: The Gathering that targets creatures with flying. A potential alternative would be Crushing Canopy, which, similar to Shredding Winds, deals with creatures in the air but additionally offers the flexibility of destroying an enchantment, giving it a broader use. Another comparable card is Plummet. This one is also solely focused on taking down flying creatures but at a lesser mana cost, making it an efficient early-game option.

Skyraker Giant follows a slightly different approach by including a sizable body on the battlefield that also comes with the ability to deal damage to flyers. However, due to its creature nature, it doesn’t offer the instant removal prowess that Shredding Winds does. Windstorm provides scalability; players can adjust their mana expenditure to tackle multiple flying threats at once, a feature not seen in the fixed damage of Shredding Winds.

In retrospect, Shredding Winds stands out for its targeted removal against high-toughness flyers. While it lacks the versatility and scalability of its counterparts, its pinpoint precision can be what you need to tip the scales in aerial combat within the game.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shredding Winds MTG card by a specific set like Theros, 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 Shredding Winds and other MTG cards: