Steadfast Sentinel MTG Card


Offers card advantage and tactical flexibility with a creature and instant speed aftermath ability from the graveyard. Demands careful resource management due to its specific mana cost and potential card disadvantage. Enhances deck resilience and meta relevance with its robust Eternalize ability for long-term strategy.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Human Cleric
Abilities Eternalize, Vigilance
Power 2
Toughness 3

Text of card

Vigilance Eternalize (, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 4/4 black Zombie Human Cleric with no mana cost. Eternalize only as a sorcery.)


Cards like Steadfast Sentinel

Steadfast Sentinel serves as a solid inclusion in decks seeking durable creatures within Magic: The Gathering. It bears resemblance to a variety of vigilant creatures, such as the notable Aven Sunstriker. Similar to the Sentinel, Aven Sunstriker offers the vigilant trait, allowing it to attack without tapping. However, the Sentinel distinguishes itself with eternalize, granting it a second life on the battlefield with potentially game-altering effects.

Looking at Dauntless Cathar, we notice similarities in terms of resurrection abilities, though Cathar opts for an exile effect to create a token rather than returning vastly stronger. On the other hand, the Sentinel becomes a potent 4/4 token with eternalize, exhibiting an advantage in terms of raw power. Another card, Gust Walker, shares the characteristic of having a secondary ability that increases its battlefield efficacy. While Gust Walker can gain flying until end of turn, our Sentinel instead focuses on a lasting board presence through eternalize, favoring long-term strategy over immediate aerial assault.

The evaluation of Steadfast Sentinel against its counterparts reveals that it carves a niche role among vigilant creatures with enduring qualities in Magic: The Gathering, making it a worthwhile option for strategic deck builders focusing on resilience and lasting board impact.

Aven Sunstriker - MTG Card versions
Dauntless Cathar - MTG Card versions
Gust Walker - MTG Card versions
Aven Sunstriker - MTG Card versions
Dauntless Cathar - MTG Card versions
Gust Walker - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Steadfast Sentinel by color, type and mana cost

Northern Paladin - MTG Card versions
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Witch Hunter - MTG Card versions
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Guardian Seraph - MTG Card versions
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Hero of Bladehold - MTG Card versions
Mausoleum Guard - MTG Card versions
Galepowder Mage - MTG Card versions
Kor Cartographer - MTG Card versions
Sunspire Gatekeepers - MTG Card versions
Akroan Mastiff - MTG Card versions
Northern Paladin - MTG Card versions
Moorish Cavalry - MTG Card versions
Witch Hunter - MTG Card versions
Carrier Pigeons - MTG Card versions
Tormented Angel - MTG Card versions
Seasoned Marshal - MTG Card versions
Coalition Honor Guard - MTG Card versions
Mangara, the Diplomat - MTG Card versions
Akroma's Devoted - MTG Card versions
Aven Cloudchaser - MTG Card versions
Seht's Tiger - MTG Card versions
Valor - MTG Card versions
Guardian Seraph - MTG Card versions
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary - MTG Card versions
Hero of Bladehold - MTG Card versions
Mausoleum Guard - MTG Card versions
Galepowder Mage - MTG Card versions
Kor Cartographer - MTG Card versions
Sunspire Gatekeepers - MTG Card versions
Akroan Mastiff - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Steadfast Sentinel provides strategic depth in your deck building by offering both a creature and an aftermath ability where it can be cast from the graveyard. This dual utility ensures that you get more value out of each card, enhancing the card advantage you hold over your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: Although this card itself does not directly grant resource acceleration, its aftermath ability can be used to support such strategies. By having a presence in the graveyard ready to be utilized, it allows you to optimize your mana each turn more efficiently.

Instant Speed: The aftermath ability of Steadfast Sentinel is notable as it can be cast at instant speed. This flexibility lets you adapt to the state of the game, casting it when most opportune—perhaps at the end of your opponent’s turn or in response to an action, keeping your opponents guessing and holding up mana for potential removal or counterspells.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Steadfast Sentinel requires you to part with a card from your hand in order to initiate its eternalize ability. This can put you at a disadvantage when you’re already tight on resources and need to maintain card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Casting Steadfast Sentinel demands an exact mix of mana, with both generic and white mana necessary. This limits the card’s flexibility, potentially restricting it to decks that can reliably produce both types of mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a full cost of four mana for a 2/2 creature, Steadfast Sentinel’s upfront investment is somewhat steep, especially when you consider other creatures that cost less and provide similar or better stats and abilities. Eternalizing it for six mana is an additional costly investment, raising the question of overall efficiency when compared to other options available in the game.


Reasons to Include Steadfast Sentinel in Your Collection

Versatility: Steadfast Sentinel offers a dual role within your MTG deck due to its Eternalize ability. Initially, it serves as a solid defensive creature. Once in the graveyard, it can return as a stronger version, providing both offense and defense at a critical state of the game.

Combo Potential: With its Eternalize mechanic, Steadfast Sentinel synergizes well with strategies that benefit from graveyard recursion or self-milling tactics. It can also be part of combos that revolve around the utilization of Zombie tokens.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where aggressive strategies prevail, having a resilient creature that can come back from the graveyard can be extremely beneficial. It helps maintain a presence on the board and can deter opponents from attacking.


How to beat

Steadfast Sentinel adds a resilient dynamic to creature strategies in MTG with its enduring ability to return from the graveyard as a stronger, embalmed version of itself. Understanding its strength in endurance and the potential to come back after a board wipe is key in forming a strategy against it. Effective ways to address this creature include utilizing exile effects upon defeat to prevent it from returning or employing counterspells to deny its casting altogether. Cards with graveyard hate mechanics can also be pivotal in controlling the presence of Steadfast Sentinel’s effect on the game, ensuring that once it leaves the battlefield, it stays gone for the remainder of the match.

Another angle to consider is overriding its contribution with more aggressive or value-oriented plays. By ramping up the pressure with efficient creatures or leveraging card advantage, you can diminish the impact that Steadfast Sentinel would have had. Additionally, flying creatures or those with unblockable abilities can often bypass the Sentinel completely, focusing on reducing your opponent’s life total directly. Through these methods, the seemingly steadfast presence of this Sentinel can be circumvented, ensuring your path to victory remains clear.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Steadfast Sentinel MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation and Hour of Devastation, 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 Steadfast Sentinel and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Steadfast Sentinel Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2017-07-14 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Karl Kopinski.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-07-14Hour of DevastationHOU 242015NormalBlackKarl Kopinski
22017-07-14Hour of DevastationHOU 82015TokenBlackKarl Kopinski
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 2472015NormalBlackKarl Kopinski
42020-09-26The ListPLST HOU-242015NormalBlackKarl Kopinski

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Steadfast Sentinel has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Steadfast Sentinel card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2017-07-14 For each card with eternalize, a corresponding game play supplement token can be found in some Hour of Devastation booster packs. These supplements are not required to play with cards with eternalize; you can use the same items to represent an eternalized token as you would any other token.
2017-07-14 If a creature card with eternalize is put into your graveyard during your main phase, you’ll have priority immediately afterward. You can activate its eternalize ability before any player can try to exile it, such as with Crook of Condemnation, if it’s legal for you to do so.
2017-07-14 Once you’ve activated an eternalize ability, the card is immediately exiled. Opponents can’t try to stop the ability by exiling the card with an effect such as that of Crook of Condemnation.
2017-07-14 The token copies exactly what was printed on the original card and nothing else, except the characteristics specifically modified by eternalize. It doesn’t copy any information about the object the card was before it was put into your graveyard.
2017-07-14 The token is a Zombie in addition to its other types and is black instead of its other colors. Its base power and toughness are 4/4. It has no mana cost, and thus its converted mana cost is 0. These are copiable values of the token that other effects may copy.
Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.