Protecting Thieving Magpie: Evasion Tricks for Blue Decks

In TCG ·

Thieving Magpie by Una Fricker from Dominaria Remastered, a blue flying bird ready to strike

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Protecting Thieving Magpie: Evasion and Control in Blue Decks

Blue decks prize tempo, proper sequencing, and card advantage, all of which align beautifully with Thieving Magpie’s {2}{U}{U} mana cost and its 1/3 frame. This Dominaria Remastered reprint carries the hallmark blue focus on evasion and information—the Magpie flies with ease, unblocked by non-flying threats, and rewards you with a fresh card whenever it lands a hit on your opponent. That small, ongoing engine can snowball into a real game plan if you treat Magpie as more than a cute value creature. 🧙‍♂️💎

Dominaria Remastered places Thieving Magpie as an uncommon within a Masters-style reprint cycle, a reminder of blue’s enduring calculus: invest in resilience, protect your threats, and let incremental advantage compound over time. The art by Una Fricker captures the bird’s opportunistic charm, a wink to Urza’s era and the playful cruelty of a well-timed draw engine. The flavor text—“Rayne once made several unkind comparisons between the bird's naked opportunism and Urza's.”—adds a playful edge to the tactical seriousness of keeping Magpie alive on the battlefield. 🎨

Evasion tricks that keep Magpie alive

At its core, Thieving Magpie is already equipped with flying, which is the first and most reliable layer of protection. But blue decks should push beyond the obvious by layering temporary evasion and strategic positioning. Temporary grant-your-creature-evasion spells, plus well-timed tap-down or bounce effects, can keep Magpie from becoming a removal target or being overwhelmed by bigger bodies. The goal is to deliver damage to your opponent that triggers the draw while keeping Magpie in play for as many turns as possible. 🧭

Counterplay is another natural fit. Blue’s permission suite—counterspells and permission-heavy lines—lets you weather opposing answers and keep Magpie safe to swing again on the next turn. The mana cost is friendly enough to establish a tempo that still leaves you mana up for protection, so you’re not forced into a risky all-in. When Magpie successfully deals damage, you’ll be drawing a card—and with the right setup, that extra card can be the difference between stalling and sprinting to victory. 🔮

Blink, bounce, and re-deploy for continued value

Blink and flicker effects are blue’s secret sauce for value engines. Reintroducing Magpie to the battlefield can trigger another draw, and if you’re pairing it with other enter-the-battlefield (ETB) or attack-friendly creatures, the clock starts ticking on card advantage. A careful, well-timed blink can turn a single hit into multiple draws over several turns—enough to outpace a lot of control-heavy matchups. The long game becomes a simple math problem: how many cards can you generate before your opponent stabilizes? The answer is often “more than you expect.” 🎲

In the Dominaria Remastered landscape, you’ll notice how blue’s toolbox supports these loops with a mix of creatures and noncreature spells. Landlore Navigator, a fellow creature from the set’s ecosystem, demonstrates how blue decks in this era could layer threats and value. While Navigator may not directly fuel Magpie’s draw on damage, its presence in the same casual tier highlights the flavor of a blue shell that looks to out-think and outvalue the opposition. It’s the kind of synergy that makes your list feel cohesive rather than ad hoc. ⚔️

Protection-minded packages: how to craft a reliable shield

To truly safeguard your Magpie, assemble packages that cover both protection and tempo. Practical directions include:

  • Counterspells to answer targeted removal and early threats
  • Temporary tap-down effects to stall blockers or force favorable blocks
  • Bounce effects to reset threats or redeploy Magpie after a removal
  • Drafted draw engines that ensure you find more answers while Magpie keeps hitting

Blue thrives on building a patient plan—don’t force a one-turn win if you can weave a longer-term advantage. Each hit with Magpie becomes a data point: you’re trading raw power for information, and that information compounds into future draws. When you finally land that additional card, you’ll look back and see how the protection suite and evasion tricks aligned to keep the engine humming. 🧙‍♂️🔥

For players who love the micro-interactions of a well-timed play, Thieving Magpie represents a delicious paradox: a fragile 1/3 flyer that becomes a credit-card-style value generator with precision protection. It’s a reminder that blue’s strength isn’t just in stopping the opponent’s plan—it’s in building your own plan with a library of answers and a heartbeat of tempo. And because the card is commonly reprinted and widely accessible, it remains a frequent pick for casual and competitive blue decks alike, where every draw tilts the balance toward deck consistency. 🎨

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Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

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