Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel: Artifact Creature - Human Soldier, Modern Horizons 2. MTG card printings, market prices, rulings, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {W}
- Mana value
- 1
- Type
- Artifact Creature - Human Soldier
- Colour identity
- White (W)
- Power / toughness
- 1/1
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Modern Horizons 2 (MH2)
- Released
- 2021-06-18
- Collector number
- 12
- Artist
- Eric Deschamps
Build around this card with Grover
About Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare white artifact creature from Modern Horizons 2 (MH2), a draft-focused set released in June 2021. It is collector number 12 in that set, with art by Eric Deschamps. It costs {W} (one white mana) to cast, for a mana value of 1. It is a 1/1 creature. Its colour identity is white. It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless and Gladiator. It has been printed in 6 sets, from The List (2020) to Modern Horizons 2 Timeshifts (2024). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $53.19 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Whenever an opponent casts their first noncreature spell each turn, draw a card unless that player pays {X}, where X is this creature's power.
The more Esper changes, the more he refuses to.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $53.19 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Esper Sentinel by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Modern | Legal |
|---|---|
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
Other printings of Esper Sentinel
Esper Sentinel has been printed in 6 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Secret Lair Drop (SLD) #2123 | Rare | 2026 |
| Modern Horizons 2 Timeshifts (H2R) #2 | Rare | 2024 |
| The List (PLST) #MH2-12 | Rare | 2023 |
| Jumpstart: Historic Horizons (J21) #75 | Rare | 2021 |
| Modern Horizons 2 (MH2) #328 | Rare | 2021 |
| Modern Horizons 2 Promos (PMH2) #12s | Rare | 2021 |
Official rulings
Three official rulings apply to Esper Sentinel, newest first.
- This ability checks Esper Sentinel's power when it resolves, not when the ability goes on the stack. If Esper Sentinel is no longer on the battlefield when it resolves, use the power it had the last time it was on the battlefield.
- If a noncreature spell was already cast by an opponent the turn Esper Sentinel enters the battlefield, that opponent already cast their first noncreature spell this turn, and Esper Sentinel's ability won't trigger for that opponent that turn.
- If Esper Sentinel's has negative power when this ability resolves, then {X} is {0}. The opponent may still choose not to pay the cost if they want you to draw a card.
Similar cards
Other artifact creature cards with a white colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.