Sentinel Tower – Battlebond MTG Card Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I’m pretty sure TNA did an Electro-Zapping Tower Match at least once. Maybe for the X Division championship, I forget. Regardless, Sentinel Tower is an interesting sort of card that requires some forethought. As a punishment for counterspells or other opposing instants, it’s not stellar. They can play around it, although it does add a little extra downside for anyone hoping to counter more than one spell in a turn. I think it’s worth looking at as an additional or alternate route for spell-heavy strategies: the damage increases rapidly and can create a snowball effect on top of the benefits you’re getting anyway. It’s a little slow for existing archetypes like Kiln Fiend, but it’s at a cost point where it could be the centerpiece of its own deck.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

Sentinel Tower kinda has echoes of Kaladesh‘s Aetherflux Reservoir, from a first glance. It’s a quasi-Storm payoff, where chaining together spells makes for a massive turn. There are a couple of quirks at play here, though: it counts all instants and sorceries, but it only counts them on your turn, and you deliver the shock. So this is a slight deterrent to countermagic, as they’ll take a hit on the spell, and it makes sure spellslinger-style decks have a way to go over the top; chaining together cantrips into a massive turn is tits.

I think Sentinel Tower is slightly better in Legacy and the like than other Battlebond introductions, since it provides a clear way to win once it’s on-board. But you have to live to untap with it in order for it to do work, which is not always guaranteed. It’s a powerful artifact if you have the right shell to make it work, and it has a promising payoff.

Constructed: 2.25
Casual: 3.75
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 4