Crow of Dark Tidings: MTG Origin and Set Context

In TCG ·

Crow of Dark Tidings artwork by Simon Dominic, Foundations FD N card art

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Origin story and set context for Crow of Dark Tidings

Every MTG fan has that moment when a card feels like more than its mana cost and stats—a mood, a rumor, a feathered omen you can practically hear just as it flaps into play. Crow of Dark Tidings is one of those little sigils of foreboding tucked into the Foundations core set, a black-flavored signal that a game of fate has begun to tilt toward the graveyard. With a neat, economical 2/1 body for three mana and a pair of wings that spell doom in two different flavors, this creature embodies the core set mindset: accessible, flavorful, and quietly spicy for players who love endless mini-games of mill and graveyard tempo 🧙‍♂️🔥.

Foundations (FDN) is the kind of set that wants to be a bridge—the familiar, friendly core that invites new players to swing a bat and not worry about the rules of a tilted format while still offering a taste of strategic depth. Crow of Dark Tidings fits that mission perfectly. It’s a common, printed in nonfoil, and designed to slot neatly into opening decks without stealing the show from more powerful bomb rares. But its true charm lies in the way its wings beat with two distinct triggers: it mills two cards when it enters the battlefield, and it mills two more when it dies. That dual-edge mill not only accelerates your own game plan but also nudges your opponent toward making decisions about their own library and graveyard boundaries ⚔️🎲.

Flavor-wise, the crow’s ominous presence in the artwork and name evokes a herald of difficult news—the kind that you can't ignore even as you plan your next move. In the lore of the Foundations era, the Foundations card batch leaned into a pragmatic, slightly dark flavor that felt both timeless and approachable. Crow of Dark Tidings embodies that vibe: a creature that can quietly pressure an opponent's library while you set up a longer-term plan with your own graveyard interactions. The combination of Flying and Mill makes it a perfect micro-threat for black-inclined strategies that want to push early chip damage while creating a soft lock on resources 💎.

From a design perspective, Crow of Dark Tidings demonstrates an elegant economy of effects. The mana cost of {2}{B} gives you a reasonable tempo anchor in the early game, as black has long since balanced offense with disruption and attrition. The card’s power/toughness (2/1) keeps it from dominating in a vacuum, but its true value emerges as you chain mill effects—either fueling your own graveyard strategies or pressuring an opponent who’s trying to stack a late-game library for a grand finale. In formats where mill or resource denial has a place, this little zombie-bird can become a nuanced cog in a broader machine 🧙‍♂️💀.

Playing it today: mill, tempo, and board presence

In limited play, Crow of Dark Tidings acts as a midrange flier with recurrency of effect. On the draw, you can cast it on turn three to start the milling of two cards, potentially accelerating your graveyard plans or nudging your opponent toward awkward topdeck decisions. When it dies, that second two-card mill can be the difference between stalling and forcing a late-game cascade of draw steps or a race to a finish line. The dual triggering nature means it rewards players who build a deck with a healthy number of graveyard interactions, self-mills, or synergy with cards that benefit from cards in the graveyard—think value from the graveyard more than raw damage, with a touch of inevitability baked in 🧙‍♂️🔥.

For constructed players, Crow of Dark Tidings can slot into straightforward black-based strategies, especially those that enjoy attrition. It can team up with other mill engines or simply act as a cheap body that forces an opponent to address a looming clock. If you’re piloting a mono-black or small-black-maction deck in Commander, its resilience comes from being a recurring threat that contributes to your overall graveyard plan—even if the mill aspect isn’t the central win condition. Its flying ensures it doesn’t get blocked away by a sea of ground-pounders, so you’re getting that extra reach in a setting where every point of damage matters ⚔️🎨.

Despite its modest rarity and printing history as a common reprint in a beginner-friendly core set, the card still carries real value for a diverse player base. The market numbers on Scryfall show modest but steady interest, with a price around $0.20 USD and proportional value in nonfoil printings. That makes it a smart budget pick for new players who want a flavorful, playable black creature with an always-on mill pressure, without breaking the bank for bulk rares. It’s the kind of card that invites experimentation—pair it with discard outlets, delve-esque effects, or even other mill payoffs to see how many cards you can mill across a couple of turns while you control the pace of the game 🧙‍♂️💎.

“Flying, mill on entry, mill on death—Crow of Dark Tidings gives you a pocket-sized toolkit for turning libraries into graveyards, one top card at a time.”

Art, flavor, and function align nicely here. The creature’s undead, avian silhouette pairs with the macabre mood of the Foundations era, and the card’s name anchors its role as a messenger of darker tidings. It’s a small but flavorful piece of the larger puzzle that makes Foundations feel both timeless and approachable—a reminder that sometimes the quietest creatures do the loudest work on the battlefield 🧙‍♂️💬.

As you prep for your next Draft night or casual Commander session, you might also consider how a practical non-MTG hobby item—like a sleek Clear Silicone Phone Case Slim Durable Open Port Design (yes, a different kind of gear, but equally about protecting and presenting your prized possessions)—can keep your setup tidy while you shuffle decks and chase those last few cards through the library. A little preparation goes a long way when you’re juggling mill timing and card draw in the heat of a late-night duel 🔥.

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