Shimmering Glasskite MTG Card

Shimmering Glasskite - Betrayers of Kamigawa

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Spirit
Abilities	Flying
Released	2005-02-04
Set symbol
Set name	Betrayers of Kamigawa
Set code	BOK
Power	2
Toughness	3
Number	51
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	John Avon

Key Takeaways

Shimmering Glasskite forces multi-spell strategies to deal with its passive hexproof ability.
Despite its versatility, it’s restrictive in mana cost and demands strategic deck building.
Its unique resistance to targeted spells makes it a formidable card in competitive play.

Text of card

Flying Whenever Shimmering Glasskite becomes the target of a spell or ability for the first time in a turn, counter that spell or ability.

A child's whisper could crack its shell, but not even an oni's scream could penetrate it.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Shimmering Glasskite adds a layer of defense to your card resources by forcing an opponent to expend more than one removal spell to target it. Its ability adds resilience to your fleet, indirectly maintaining your card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While Shimmering Glasskite doesn’t directly accelerate resources, it effectively conserves them. By potentially absorbing extra removal attempts, it can save your more crucial creatures or resources from being targeted.

Instant Speed: Although Shimmering Glasskite itself isn’t cast at instant speed, its passive ability works at all times. This means it inherently complicates your opponent’s instant-speed removal plans during their turn, making it a reliable piece in your in-game strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Shimmering Glasskite may not have a discard requirement, but building a strategy around it requires careful hand management. Not having a discard option means missing out on potential synergy with mechanics that benefit from discarding.

Specific Mana Cost: Shimmering Glasskite requires both blue mana and colorless mana, which may not be a hurdle for mono-blue decks but can be restrictive for multicolored ones. Having a specific mana combination can limit deck-building options and overall flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that may compete with other impactful four-mana spells or creatures in the meta, Shimmering Glasskite’s cost-efficiency could be questioned. Players might find that other cards at the same mana slot offer more immediate board impact or card advantage.

Reasons to Include Shimmering Glasskite in Your Collection

Versatility: Shimmering Glasskite’s ability to gain hexproof after each spell cast makes it an adaptable option in numerous deck builds. This flexibility protects it from targeted removal, rendering it a steadfast presence on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: This creature’s unique hexproof trigger can be exploited with decks that cast multiple spells in a turn. It creates opportunities to form synergies with spell-slinging strategies, enhancing both offensive and defensive tactics.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment rife with spot removal and control elements, Shimmering Glasskite’s capacity to resist targeted spells multiple times in a turn cycle can give it a significant edge over other creatures, thus holding its own in current competitive formats.

How to beat

Shimmering Glasskite presents a unique challenge on the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering due to its distinctive ability that prevents it from being the target of spells or abilities your opponent controls more than once each turn. This characteristic offers a layer of protection that demands a strategic approach to overcome.

To counter this elusive creature, consider leveraging board wipes which skirt around the one-target limitation by affecting each creature on the battlefield, such as “Day of Judgment” or “Wrath of God”. Another effective strategy is utilizing spells that force opponents to sacrifice creatures, like “Diabolic Edict”, which circumvent targeting altogether. It’s also wise to apply pressure by swiftly building your own board presence, thereby outpacing the protector effect of Shimmering Glasskite with a quantity of threats or using tools that can remove multiple creatures at once without targeting, such as “Settle the Wreckage”.

While the Glasskite may initially seem tough to break, a blend of non-targeted removal and broad-strokes strategy can effectively neutralize its defensive capabilities, thus ensuring that this shimmering adversary quickly becomes a thing of the past.

Cards like Shimmering Glasskite

Shimmering Glasskite makes a unique entry into the realm of creature cards in Magic: The Gathering. It has a kinship with creatures like Krasis Incubation in terms of providing a degree of protection to itself. Krasis Incubation, with its ability to lock down a creature, shares the utility aspect of warding off certain spells or abilities. However, Shimmering Glasskite takes flight with its built-in shield, bouncing noncreature spells targeted at it unless their caster pays an additional two mana.

When considering others in the family, we see Thunderclap Wyvern, which offers a static power and toughness boost to your other flying creatures while it’s on the battlefield. It lacks the self-protective feature of Shimmering Glasskite, focusing more on augmenting an aerial assault. There’s also Geist of Saint Traft that stands its ground with hexproof, ensuring complete protection from being targeted altogether—an advantage in certain matchups compared to the conditional shield the Glasskite offers.

Weaving through these comparisons, Shimmering Glasskite’s ability to elegantly deter opposing interactions, while encouraging strategic uses of mana, places it into a fascinating position among its peers within the Magic: The Gathering ecosystem.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shimmering Glasskite MTG card by a specific set like Betrayers of Kamigawa, 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 Shimmering Glasskite and other MTG cards: