Pointed Discussion

Good ol' Birds. You can't go wrong.

Of course this card is every bit as deserving of a 5 and has been one of the definitions of mana ramp.

Looks like Wizards is going to stick to the Ravnica artwork for the next couple of years.
Not that i dislike it, but it seems to be rather ungenerous with these buildings in the background.

I'd like to see 7th Edition artwork once again.

Why do they keep changing the flavor -.-

Perty birdy.

Ahhhhh no. I like the Ravnica artwork. Who cares about the buildings? They look cooler than that 7th edition rain forest anyways.

I can't rate this correctly. Where's the 6th star to click?

People who say "Maybe you want the 1 power in exchange for just adding green mana" don't understand how big of a mana ramp "any color" honestly is.
Not to mention this guy is flying, so putting a Giant Growth in most cases is much better for a quick hit.
I love me some Llanowar Elves, don't get me wrong,
I just feel there's a legitimate reason why this guy is Rare, and he is Common.

like high class takeout quick amazing and versatile but costs a ton of money

The god of mana-ramp. All hail the Birds of Paradise!

A very elegant design.

Birds of Paradise is one of the original, and defining, creatures of Magic. It has survived to this day, through thick and thin, because it is a beautifully balanced card.

Breaking the card down:

At a cost of , the creature comes into play as early as turn one (compare Druid of the Anima), allowing it to impact the game from the get-go.

The cost is flexible enough to permit play in any given deck that runs green, as it does not require the use of either multiple forests or multiple colors.

The ability to produce any given color of mana (compare Llanowar Elves), combined with the above points, makes it the most flexible mana-ramping creature in the game - and it is very powerful. All turn three plays now become possible on turn two; dropping a Rhox War Monk or a Woolly Thoctar second turn is the beginning of the end for your opponent.

Similarly, turn four plays may begin after your third land, and so on. An uncontested Birds of Paradise effectively grants you an extra turn (in mana production) over your opponent, allowing you to play bigger threats faster.

Moreover, Birds of Paradise enables greater color flexibility, allowing such powerful plays as the above, which all require three distinct colors.

Finally, Birds of Paradise possesses flying on a 0/1 body. The loss of a point in power is, to my mind, not significant. The style of the card does not lend itself to maximize damage-vs-cost (contrast Goblin Guide), but rather to maximize the ability to play a wider variety of threats as quickly as possible. You do not want to be tapping this creature to attack, but to generate mana. The minimal 0/1 toughness and addition of flying allow Birds of Paradise to remain defensive, giving the player the option to block any number of larger creatures, sans trample, later in the game when additional mana-generation is less useful.

As a core-set creature, Birds of Paradise has seen many years of play, and will undoubtedly continue to in years to come.

I've been playing magic since revised and I have yet to open one of these in a pack. It's the longest running streak in card games. They call me the ironman.

So far i've opened a good 25 packs of m11 and still no birds. God hates me.

i opened this in a pack of 10th, i remember being sad about it, i hate noobs lol

I killed a guy I knew three times with a bird of paradise and several Turntimber Groves, so yeah Birds of Paradise wins games! I love it, it's one of the best cards ever!

Forest, Birds, Go

My favorite card in the game.

Doesn't get much better than this, unless you're not playing green ;)

I have been playing Magic since unlimited hit the shelves and I have never opened one of these in a pack of cards yet. I finally broke down and got a playset from e-bay. These puppies are not rare they are even more mythic then the mythic rares.

infernox10 people use Llanowar Elves over birds of paradise because lanowar elves are elves and the more elves and the more elves you have the more powerfull the rest are and elf decks are mono green anyway. But in anything other then elf decks birds of paradise is better. Below I got 3 bird of pardice in 15 boaster packs they seemed like the most common rares in the set to me.

Well the flavour text has made it official -

This is god-tier.

Lazy gods only used five colors, though...

this + giant growth/vines of vastwood = unforeseen 3-4 damage :)

I love first turn drops that have people rushing to use their removal. Cards like this are a great way to keep the big stuff safe.

I beat my friend with a single Bird in my exalted deck. Funny times...

A classic. And excellent artwork. 5/5

Everyone focuses on the any color mana ramp the Birds are famous for, and yes that is a very VERY powerful effect, one of the most powerful, yet intrinsically balanced cards in the game. But don't forget one of the major reasons Birds have remained a staple RARE for all this time, it's a FLYING green creature, nearly unheard of in all of Magic. With it's flying, Birds remain relevant long after the mana base is firmly entrenched, and makes dropping a Birds a good idea even in a mono green deck.

Birds really can stand up and shout: "I am the beating heart of Magic" more than any other card, never been banned, never missed a Standard season, more than relevant, phenomenal from day 1 through the modern day, without being broken or forgotten at any point in its history, from casual to draft and sealed to the cutthroat vintage circuits, nobody looks down upon the Birds.

Birds of Paradise! We're knocking on heaven's door!

Birds of Paradise! How could we ask for more?

I swear that I can see forever in your eyes...

I so love iSlapTrees's post. So true and so often has that happened! It's a trick that has won me more games, and now with battle cry and Raid Bombardment, my friends are always taking out my "Birds of Target Practice" as soon as they can!

I'd actually like to see them reuse the art from Alpha. There would be legal issues but it would be worth it.

Anyways, there is no reason for birds to be able to produce mana other than the fact that they always have. Paradise cards will usually cause mana production of any color, and is kind of one of Magic's evergreen in-name cues, similar to Lotus and Mox.

Cuz I'm as freeee as a bird nowwwww
AND THIS BIRD YOU CANNOT CHAAAAAAAAAANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also i once got this up to an 11/11 trampler with Gigantiform and something else. My opponent pulled a Hellkite Charger and a Bear Umbra. My 2nd favorite game.

5 star in the beginning of a game but later when you have 7 or 8 land out and your hoping to draw a win card but instead you get a bird then how would you feel?

In a pinch it;s also a better chump blocker than llanowar elf

Too Bad This Thing Dies To Removal!

Great card...however, I think that because they gave colorless mana a pretty shorthand symbol {X} plus all they hybrid mana symbols, I think that they should make a "mana of any color" symbol, maybe a color fade like the color wheel going, from the top going clockwise, WUBRG...also, there should also be "mana from these three colors" like on MSE

There's nothing that needs said about this card. If you're running anything green, you're running Birds of Paradise. 5/5

One of my favorite flavor texts in MTG.