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Planeswalkers Meet Aven Squire: A White Weave of Exalted
White feels clean and precise in MTG, a color that rewards efficient plays and careful tempo management. Aven Squire—a humble 1/1 flier for {1}{W} from Magic 2013—embodies that philosophy in a single, elegant line of text. Flying keeps it out of the reach of many ground blockers, and Exalted turns a lone attack into a miniature spark of courage that can tilt the battlefield in your favor. 🧙♂️🔥💎
Aven Squire at a Glance
- Type: Creature — Bird Soldier
- Power/Toughness: 1/1
- Keywords: Flying, Exalted
- Rarity: Common
- Set: Magic 2013 (M13)
- Flavor text: “When the meek charge into battle, courage becomes infectious.”
In practice, Aven Squire is a textbook example of white’s efficiency: two mana for a flyer that can buff your side of the board when you attack alone. The Exalted ability doesn’t require Squire to grow into a colossal powerhouse; it simply rewards you for a clean, singular attack with any creature you control. That makes timing everything—one well-timed attack can turn a modest board into a decisive tempo swing. And yes, there’s something delightfully nostalgic about a tiny avian soldier becoming the spark that lifts your army. 🎨⚔️
Exalted and the Lone Attacker: How the Trigger Works
Exalted is a keyword that reads: “Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.” The important nuance is that the buff applies to the attacking creature—the one that fought in solitude. That means you can use Aven Squire to buff itself when it’s the only attacker, or you can leverage exalted on a bigger creature you’ve attacked with alone that turn. The result is a small but meaningful tempo edge: a 1/1 becomes 2/2, a 3/3 can pop to 4/4, and so on, all by the bold choice to attack with a single threat. 🧙♂️🔥
“When the meek charge into battle, courage becomes infectious.”
Pairing Aven Squire with exalted-supporting cards—think white weenie or life-gilt tempo builds—turns the keyword into a reliable plan rather than a flashy moment. It’s not about overwhelming power; it’s about consistently pressuring your opponent with efficient turns and clean combat math. This is the bread-and-butter of early core-set decks, and it remains a satisfying, tactile way to win games with discipline and finesse. 🎲🎯
Planeswalkers in the Mix: How They Shape Attack Decisions
Planeswalkers occupy a unique strategic space. They sit in the command seat, acting as threats, removal magnets, or mana accelerants depending on the deck. When you’re thinking about interactions with Aven Squire, consider how planeswalker presence influences your combat calculus:
- Attacking Planeswalkers: You can choose to direct a lone attacker at your opponent’s planeswalker to burn it down. If you attack with a single creature, Exalted still applies to that creature, potentially turning a small creature into a more credible threat that can finish the job on the next turn.
- Protecting Your Planeswalkers: White’s tempo and space-control tools help you keep your planeswalkers alive long enough to accumulate loyalty counters. Aven Squire’s flying body can navigate past ground blockers to threaten a planeswalker’s emblem-empowered defenses or simply pressure the opponent into costly blocks.
- Exalted as a Pivot: If you’re running a deck that sprinkles multiple exalted creatures, you can orchestrate moments where only one creature attacks—your exalted trigger goes off, and you push through extra damage even if your plan is to attack a planeswalker for plan-destroying damage.
In practice, a typical turn might look like this: you attack with Aven Squire alone to give it a +1/+1 boost, shrinking or bypassing a blocker, and then rally with a bigger follow-up attacker reminiscent of classic white tempo plays. The planeswalker on either side simply adds context—who’s advancing the board state, who’s protecting whom, and who’s ready to push a final point of damage. It’s clean, it’s tactical, and it’s deliciously purist. 🧙♂️💥
Deckbuilding Angles: Where Aven Squire Shines with Planeswalkers
From a design perspective, Aven Squire slots nicely into several archetypes that also feature planeswalkers:
- White Weenie with Planeswalker Support: Use Aven Squire to micro-buff the lone attacker while your higher-impact planeswalker stabilizes the late game.
- Tempo White: A classic approach where early pressure, evasive fliers, and timely exalted triggers keep the opponent on the back foot while you deploy a planeswalker with card advantage or emblem-based reach.
- Token-Heavy Variants: Squire can complement a scrappy air force, shielding or aiding single-beaters that survive exalted buffs to threaten planeswalkers or players.
At common rarity, Aven Squire is budget-friendly, but its value comes from flexibility and flavor. The M13 core set reprint kept this creature accessible, letting players experiment with exalted strategies without breaking the bank. The card’s art by David Palumbo adds charm for collectors and nostalgic players alike. And if you’re curating a modern sleeves-and-pad setup for casual nights, a sturdy non-slip mouse pad (yes, linked below) can keep your battlefield readouts and critical combat math steady as you plan your next exalted attack. 🧙♂️🎨
Practical Tips for Casual and Competitive Play
- Use Squire to threaten a clean, lone-attack buff when you want to push through a planeswalker’s loyalty counter or force a chump block that hurts your opponent’s tempo. 🛡️
- Don’t overcommit. Exalted rewards a single attacker, but if you overload the board with multiple attackers, you’ll miss the trigger—careful sequencing is key. ⚖️
- Pair Squire with other evasive or low-cost threats to maintain pressure while you leverage planeswalker abilities for card advantage or recursion. 🔄
- In draft or sealed, value the flying body for evasive beat-downs early, then pivot to planeswalker value late game—Aven Squire helps you bridge that transition smoothly. 🧭
Art, Lore, and Collectibility
David Palumbo’s illustration captures the noble simplicity of Aven Squire: a vigilant winged archer ready to rally the flock. The card’s flavor text hints at a larger world where courage can infect the masses, a theme that resonates with planeswalkers who catalyze bold shifts in the story. As a reprint in Magic 2013, it remains a familiar, approachable piece for both new players and seasoned collectors who appreciate white’s evergreen toolbox. The card’s rarity as common and its modest price belie the tactical depth it can unlock in a well-tuned exalted shell. 💎
For players building around planeswalkers, Aven Squire offers a compact, reliable anchor that can anchor tempo and provide incremental advantage—much like a patient general guiding a brigade of flyers toward a decisive strike. If you’re curious about pairing this with specific collectors’ gear or want a fresh surface to test your mounted battlefield plans, the same energy translates beautifully from table to table. 🎲