Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Slip Through Space: Statistical Power vs. Similar Unblockable Cards
In the grand tradition of tempo plays and card-drawing cantrips, Slip Through Space sits at a fascinating crossroads. A single blue-mana spell from Oath of the Gatewatch, it bears the Devoid watermark—meaning it has no color on the card itself—yet its color identity is blue. That little paradox is part of what makes it so tasty from a statistical perspective: it can swing tempo while nudging you toward card advantage. 🧙♂️🔥💎 The spell reads simply: target creature can’t be blocked this turn, then draw a card. In a game where every decision compounds your chance to win or lose, it’s the kind of toggle you want to have in your back pocket when the board is unsettled and your options are thin. ⚔️
What the card actually does, at a glance
- mana cost: {U} — a cheeky one-mana play for a cantrip with a built-in evasive edge.
- type: Sorcery (Devoid)
- text: Devoid (This card has no color.) Target creature can't be blocked this turn. Draw a card.
- rarity: Common
- set: Oath of the Gatewatch (OGW)
Its Devoid tag makes Slip Through Space a neutral plank in the color wheel—useful in Eldrazi-focused or colorless-heavy strategies where you want reliable pressure without tying your deck to a specific color identity. The fact that it both threatens to slip past blockers and replaces itself with a draw is a classic tempo-plus-card-selection play. And yes, the flavor text hints at the Eldrazi’s unsettling influence—“The Eldrazi twisted in a direction that had no name, and a frontal assault became a panicked rout.” It’s the kind of lore flourish that gives you the chill while you’re calculating your pump and paths to victory. 🎨🧙♂️
“The Eldrazi twisted in a direction that had no name, and a frontal assault became a panicked rout.”
Strategic value in Limited and Constructed contexts
In Limited formats, this spell is a tempo enabler wrapped in a cantrip. On turn one, it’s a tempo-losing play; on turns two and three, it can become a tempo swing if you can land it on a target reliably. You’re paying a light mana tax to ensure that your attacker isn’t swallowed by a lone blocker, while simultaneously refreshing your hand. The draw helps you smooth out draws, which matters when you’re navigating a mazy early-game board with a handful of two-power creatures and a couple of removal spells. The disruption is real—being unblockable for a turn often translates into a spike in damage and a dip in your opponent’s stall potential. 🧙♂️🎲
In Constructed formats, its role shifts again. Slip Through Space is a colorless spell in practice, but its color identity remains blue. That makes it a curious fit in decks that want to hedge against limited missing pieces, or in broader blue archetypes that prize card advantage and evasive pressure. It’s not a premier finisher by any stretch—the card itself is small and the body is not intimidating—but its efficiency is undeniable: one mana to unmask an unblocked attacker and to write a fresh card into your hand is a reliable tempo tool, especially when you anticipate stalemates with midrange decks. And because it’s common, it’s approachable for budget builds that still want to lean into clever evasion plays. 💎⚔️
Statistical power: a practical framework for evaluation
When we talk about “statistical power” for a spell like Slip Through Space, we’re really discussing two intertwined outcomes: how often it makes a creature unblocked on the turn you cast it, and how often that draw translates into meaningful follow-up plays. A simple way to frame this is to think in terms of two axes: tempo gain and card utility. The tempo gain comes from the unblockable trigger, which reduces the opponent’s ability to trade blocks efficiently. The card draw cushions variance by giving you another option the following turn, which is especially valuable if your deck operates on thin lines of play. 🧙♂️🎲
Consider some practical considerations that influence the probability of payoff: - Board state: If your opponent has abundant blockers late in the game, the chance of a turn-blowing unblocked attack rises with any evasion spell you can land. Slip Through Space adds a guaranteed unblocked one-shot, even if only for the turn. 🔥 - Creature distribution: In a limited pool with a solid fraction of evasive or aggressive threats, a one-mana, one-shot unblockable effect becomes a more reliable contributor to damage output. If your deck leans on larger finishers, the white noise of extra draws matters less than the immediate threat of a single unblocked swing. ⚔️ - Follow-up options: The draw matters. If you’re searching for an answer to removal, a larger beater, or even another cantrip, that fetch can tilt the late-game equation in your favor. The value compounds when your hand includes a mix of threats and interaction. 🎨 In short, Slip Through Space earns its keep by delivering a clean tempo swing and a cantrip with minimal cost, which is precisely the kind of lever you want when you’re trying to quantify the probability of landing the next hit or finding the right answer at the exact moment you need it. 🧙♂️💎
Design, art, and the cultural ripple
From a design perspective, Slip Through Space embodies a compact, efficient spell that embraces the Devoid framework while remaining deliberately blue in spirit. Its one-mana cost is approachable for new players and seasoned veterans alike, and the synergy with draw helps justify its place in a deck that wants to be both aggressive and card-smart. The Raymond Swanland illustration captures that moment of a spell slipping through a veil of reality—a perfect visual metaphor for a mechanic that makes your threats vanish into the ether just long enough to strike. The art resonates with the OGW era’s Eldrazi motif and the broader mood of a world under shifting, impossible pressure. 🎨🧙♂️ For collectors and players diving into EDH, the card’s common status means it’s accessible but not scarce, so it tends to appear with modest frequency in casual circles. The price data on Scryfall shows a non-foil around $0.49 and foils at roughly $5.44, while its EDHREC rank sits in a position that marks it as a recognizable, if not marquee, option for wringing maximum value from a single-turn evasion cantrip. Such spread mirrors the dual nature of the spell: a reliable tempo tool that also serves as budget-friendly redundancy in a blue-based build. 🧙♂️💎
Playing with power: a closing reflection
Ultimately, Slip Through Space rewards players who love counting bytes of tempo and chasing one more card they didn’t know they needed. It’s not the flashiest card in OGW, but it is a template for how a small spell can tilt the balance in a close game. If you’re chasing a deck that wants to outpace the opposition on a shoestring budget, this is the kind of gem you should keep in mind when you’re drafting or assembling your pauper-leaning blue shells. And who knows—maybe you’ll discover a new, witty line of play: cast it on a critical turn, draw into a removal spell, and push through for the win while your opponent scrambles to assemble a blockers wall that’s just a beat late. 🧙♂️🎲
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