Monastery Swiftspear

Creature — Human Monk

Haste

Prowess (Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)

Combos

• Aura Finesse + Monastery Swiftspear
• Lightning Bolt + Monastery Swiftspear

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (47)

Andramalech on Swinging with Isshin

1 month ago

OberstHati some more one-drop creature bodies such as Monastery Swiftspear, Harried Spearguard, things like that or Reinforced Ronin, Rabbit Battery, etc.

Andramalech on Wizard Aggro

2 months ago

Monastery Swiftspear is d@#$%mn near required to be here, you should adjust for a more strict balance of spells v. creatures. Maybe Expressive Iteration? I'm not sure that card is legal in Pioneer.

BotaNickill on Rakdos Speed Aggro

3 months ago

I Love a good Red Aggro Deck! Ash Zealot is one of my personal favorite creatures. If you run her along with Madcap Skills, a fun card to add is Thunderous Might. It can really lead to some explosive turns. It helps to have some other red devotion along with this of course. Which is why I run another of my old favorite hotties, the Burning-Tree Emissary. Razorkin Needlehead seems like it might be worth considering. Monstrous Rage is also really really good. Probably better suited for Monastery Swiftspear and Slickshot Show-Off, but you already have a handful of other buff spells in there, so yeah. Anywho, Good Luck!

wallisface on Rakdos Speed Aggro

4 months ago

Some thoughts:

• Dreadhorde Butcher is a very decent Rakdos aggro creature. Monastery Swiftspear also feels like a must.

• I don’t think either if the auras are worth it, they’re too likely to allow the opponent to 2-for-1 you with a killspell and immediately lose you the game through lost tempo.

• Fear of Missing Out is better than all your current 2-mana creatures and could lead to some really powerful turn-3 wins provided you can adjust the deck to reliably have delerium (playsets of Mishra's Bauble, Street Wraith could help with this. Ideally you'd also want Bloodstained Mire but I get that’s $$$).

sergiodelrio on MASSIVE EDH RC ban list …

7 months ago

capwner, saber4734, with respect, but if a card wants to go in all of the decks, it should be looked at for banning. Some might consider this to be a hot take, but others have already stated it in the discussion and imho that, in isolation, is a correct attitude. From a collectors standpoint I can see the frustration, and I will also acknowledge that just looking at this isolated "stat" and make a ban decision would be short-sighted.

But think about it... at what point will EDH be in a place where, when you start building a deck, most slots will be autofilled by "cards that go in any deck" (or, related, let's make a deck that can play the biggest amount of OP cards in the most efficient way)? What would that do to format diversity?

Also, to the people saying a lot of tables having rule-0'ed those cards out anyway... As I mentioned before: rule 0 works both ways.

PS: I remember WotC banning Monastery Swiftspear in Pauper for being too "swingy". Maybe that was a consideration too of the people in charge of bannings for EDH, idk.

Hypersayia9001 on Narset / Bria

8 months ago

So, I'd personally start by looking at your creatures and seeing what doesn't have a benefit outside of itself, if that makes sense.

So, Monastery Swiftspear and Stormchaser Mage only contribute a single body to the board state and their own prowess. Beyond that, they don't offer anything. Triton Wavebreaker is similar there, though the ability to use it as an aura might be useful in some situations, most cases it's just a body and you'd prefer a cantrip. You don't have enough wizards for Adeliz, the Cinder Wind to be of use, and same vein, too few of your creatures are otters for Valley Floodcaller to work either.

In a prowess heavy deck, you want to be running as few creatures as you can get away with. somewhere in the ballpark of 20 would probably be best.

9-lives on The Party Pyromaniac

10 months ago

Yes, but if you're going for a burn deck, you will want as many burn spells as possible. Vexing Devil does this. And, it is just as useful as Monastery Swiftspear in that if they can remove a Vexing Devil, then they can remove a Monastery Swiftspear. 1 mana for 4 damage is the best burn card available. Also, the Monastery Swiftspear will at most deal 3 damage on turn 2 if you cast it on turn 1. Yes, it gets better as it goes on, but regardless you're going to have to keep her on the field. This is why I find Satyr Firedancer a fidgety card. It has to stay on the field, but it's a 1/1.

And yes! Mutiny is a rarely used card, but it's pretty good on its own. I also love Deflecting Palm as my very favorite card. No one expects it, and it really ruins some people's plans.

9-lives on The Party Pyromaniac

10 months ago

You might want to check out my deck:

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Igne Natura Renovatur Integra: The Inferno of Pan

Modern* 9-lives

SCORE: 7 | 10 COMMENTS | 656 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

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BTW, I think Vexing Devil is always better than Monastery Swiftspear. That's because if they do have creature removal, they will use it on the swiftspear just as much as the vexing devil. Then, if they don't want a 4/3 in the beginning, they will choose the 4 damage. If you draw this early in the game, just as much as you would draw a monastery swiftspear, then it's worth it.