MTG Salvation

Without support, in the best case this is a one-sided, smaller Thalia for one mana. I think that would be good enough, so the question is just, how much does it hurt that it only works once per turn, and doesn't prevent casting, instead just draws a card.

The card plays really well with anthems and cheap equipment. A Bonesplitter, Luminarch Aspirant, Grafted Wargear or Maul of the Skyclaves pretty much forces them to give you a card every time they cast a noncreature spell, and Skullclamp can cash it in after your opponent has played enough lands to not be affected that badly by the effect. Also, if I understand the interaction correctly, you can flash in Force of Virtue after they cast a spell, but before the trigger resolves, to force them to give you a card, assuming they have only 1 mana open.

I suspect this would be a card you play in a deck it is good in, and otherwise a card you side in against control, where you're very happy with it.

If only this had 2power...might’ve been too strong though. It's good but probably won't make the cut at 360

I initially wrote this off since it's so much worse than Thalia if your opponent is just playing creatures. But not having your own spells taxed is a major game-changer. I also hadn't considered how good it is with equipment, which is real upside for a white card. Throw in the fact that it's an artifact and I'm pretty stoked to make room for Esper Sentinel.

I love it! Great hate at a great rate. I can find room for a card like this.

I think it's at the very least an interesting creature.

It doesn't seem like the opener I want in a deck that is blitzing into the red zone, but maybe a more tempo-oriented deck. Maybe as a WU deck, where I've got counterspells and flash flyers. I mean, imagine how annoying it must be to have to pay for this while also getting Mana Leaked.

This is more of a card that hoses a specific type of deck.
You really need to get at least one card out of it to be even remotely playable.

A vanilla 1/1 for W is a really bad floor if it's not doing anything.
Maybe I'm underesitmating how often a non-cantripping opponent will have multiple non-creatures and the spare mana to pay the tax, but I don't see it happening often enough.
If you get to draw a card by the time they cast some big non-creature bomb, you may not have time to leverage the drawn card and has put you down a card in the mean time.

Certainly annoying AF for a cantrip heavy deck

This needed two power. It's kinda sad how bad Ragavan dunks in this card. Poor white...

Card can be tough topdeck, but on turns 1 through 3 I can see this absolutely taking over a game, and especially with equipment this certainly can scale into the late game. Definitely intrigued, and will certainly test this.

And to everybody saying this needed more stats, that would make this creature absolutely ridiculous lol

As with all taxing effects this is difficult to test. 1 power really hurts this as I want to have my 1 drops aggro.

I my artifact cube, the artifact type will matter, there are multiple noncreature spells (artifacts!) as well as power boosting equipment. Without equipment it does not do much, but so does Kor Duelist (which I have). I guess it is worth a test there.

My mind went to “a white artifact creature Mystic Remora”, admittedly from an EDH lens, but that’s what this feels similar to. It does need to be cast early to take full effect, but most 1 drops do. My equipment/anthem package isn’t super strong either (maybe this is another reasons to beef it up?), so it’s sort of a crapshoot on increasing the tax effect for my environment. I think it’s a powerful effect, though, so I have an eye on it.


Just so much to consider with this set.

Was really looking forward to running this in my Heliod, God of the Sun EDH / Commander deck when it already spiked to $40+ non-foil. What a load of BS. Why is everyone treating Esper Sentinel like it's the White Allosaurus Shepherd thinking that Modern Horizons 2 supply will never be corrected like with what happened to Jumpstart?

Who would seriously drop $160+ on a playset of Esper Sentinels for Modern when it's more than likely going to see more play in EDH / Commander? Aside from this card and a few other brand new Rares and Mythics the Expected Value for Modern Horizons 2 is INSANE. Not even the best cards from Kaldheim such as The World Tree were THAT ridiculously expensive on pre-order. There's just no excuse.

I’m wondering if this is perhaps better than I initially thought. It’s very annoying to play against in the online Cubes, and in many cases I would prefer if my opponent had a vanilla 2/1 for W. It’s also cool that they made it a human (not as relevant online but would be relevant for my Cube).

Curious if anyone has updated thoughts on this card.

Quote from Patrunkenphat7 »

I’m wondering if this is perhaps better than I initially thought. It’s very annoying to play against in the online Cubes, and in many cases I would prefer if my opponent had a vanilla 2/1 for W. It’s also cool that they made it a human (not as relevant online but would be relevant for my Cube).

Curious if anyone has updated thoughts on this card.

As the guy playing with it in those online cubes, I’ve been very happy with it. If you draw a single card it’s really good, like a better thraben insoector. And if you don’t draw a single card with it it was almost a half price asymmetric Thalia.

Card has had good showings in white weenie decks so far for me.

My group is hesitant, but I’m cutting Mardu Woe-reaper for this in my next update. I’ve learned from Thraben Inspector and Legion’s Landing that simply having a 1-mana body with upside is underrated.

It's been good for us but because it's an actual 1/1 it needs either support or a good match up to be relevant more than most creatures.


Edit: the fact that my cube is powered, small, and equipment heavy helps it a lot. Easier to end up in a white weenie deck with thalia, luminarch aspirant, or stoneforge in 360 than at a larger size.

Found this card really shines in the White/Blue control decks, as it provides free cards or less mana from the opponent for the turn, which Control wants.
Add this card into multiplayer and he gets exponentially better

This guy has been awesome. Paying two mana for Thoughtseize feels pretty bad. Whether or not they pay the tax, you get your value. Add equipment for extra value!

Esper Sentinel is an absolute nightmare. He's terrible on his own yes, but if you can curve Esper Sentinel into any snowball creature such as Rabblemaster, 3 drop walkers, he's almost alwways going to trade up in value and mana.