When it comes to Magic: The Gathering cards, price and power don’t always go hand in hand. Sure, format staples typically climb to high prices, but there are plenty of solid, reliable cards that remain affordable for their entire lifespan. With the promised five-year print run of MTG Foundations, I expect we’ll see many such cards in the near future. In fact, some are emerging already. Elenda, Saint of Dusk, for example, is putting in work in both Standard and Pioneer in the early days of MTG Foundations. The best part? Copies only cost around $0.50 at present.
Elenda, Saint Of Dusk MTG
- Mana Value: 2WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Legendary Creature – Vampire Knight
- Stats: 4/4
- Card Text: Lifelink, Hexproof from instants. As long as your life total is greater than your starting life total, Elenda gets +1/+1 and has Menace. Elenda gets an additional +5/+5 as long as your life total is at least 10 greater than your starting life total.
While she may not look it at first glance, Elenda, Saint of Dusk is actually a milestone card for MTG. This is the first time that “Hexproof from instants” has been printed on a Magic card, ever. We’ve seen other “Hexproof from” variants before, but this is the first that protects against instants. You really couldn’t pick a better card type here. While true Hexproof is obviously better, stopping instants turns off the majority of played removal in most formats. This makes Elenda very hard to deal with right off the bat.
Protection is great and all, but it’s only worth it if the creature in question is worth protecting. Thankfully, Elenda very much is. Even in her base form as a 4/4 Lifelink, she can make like very difficult for aggressive opponents. Such a body blocks nicely and gains you a big chunk of life in the process. Of course, she often won’t stay a 4/4 for long. If you gain life above your starting total, easily done thanks to Lifelink, she becomes a 5/5 and gains Menace. A 5/5 with Menace and Lifelink for four is very much above rate and can put away games in short order. Especially backed up with relevant protection.
Elenda’s ‘final form,’ where she becomes a 10/10 once you’re 10 over your starting life total, is mostly flavor text. If you’re meeting that condition, the game is most likely over regardless of a 10/10 in play. That said it’s very much nice to have, and the cherry on top of a deceptively powerful design. Simple, well-statted creatures like this don’t typically appear in high-tier decks. So far, Elenda is defying the odds, however.
A Saint With Cross-Format Appeal
Despite her simplicity, Elenda, Saint of Dusk has already found homes in both Pioneer and Standard. Mostly the former, which is interesting. Pioneer is a more powerful format than Standard, so it’s unusual for a card to perform better there in general. That’s exactly what’s happening right now, however.
So far, Elenda is seeing the bulk of her play in Pioneer Niv to Light lists. This is a consistent tier two deck in the format. As the name suggests it revolves around Bring to Light, a tutor that puts a creature right into play and scales up in effectiveness the more colors you funnel into it. You can grab Niv-Mizzet Reborn with this to fully restock your hand since the deck is entirely two-color cards. From there, you play a grindy value game to victory.
Elenda fits well here for two reasons. Firstly, because she’s a two-color card. That’s a core entry requirement for Niv to Light, so, as silly as that sounds, it’s a big plus. Second, because she adds some useful utility. Niv to Light is all about having answers to different situations, and Elenda lets you answer Aggro with ease. Having access to a creature like that on tap is very valuable indeed.
Elenda is also seeing sparing play in some Mardu Greasefang decks, but for the most part, she’s a Niv to Light girl in Pioneer. In Standard, however, she’s putting in work in Orzhov Midrange lists. While not as popular as the Dimir or Golgari versions, Orzhov Midrange is still very much part of the format. Elenda is an ideal inclusion there too, presenting a threat that Control, Midrange’s natural enemy, has a very hard time dispatching. For $0.50, this kind of multi-format appeal is very impressive indeed.
