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Weaving Stories with Celestine Cave Witch

Magic: The Gathering has always rewarded players who treat games as narratives, moments of choice that echo long after the board clears. Celestine Cave Witch is a perfect lens for that kind of storytelling 🧙‍♂️🔥. A black-aligned creature that arrives with a bite-sized swarm and a potential for lasting, creeping tension, Celestine invites players to sculpt a tale where every attack nudges a character toward a fateful decision. The moment Celestine enters, you’re no longer just calculating stats—you’re setting scenes: a dim cavern, whispering wings, a pact you might regret, or a bargain that changes the game’s feel forever 💎.

Card snapshot: what you get on the table

• Name: Celestine Cave Witch
• Mana cost: {3}{B} — a clean, three-mana commitment that forgives tempo if you’ve got an inkling of a plan 🧩
• Color: Black (color identity B)
• Type: Creature — Human Warlock
• Power/Toughness: 2/3
• Rarity: Rare (set Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021, cmb2) — a playful nod to the chaotic spirit of playtesting
• enters the battlefield: When Celestine enters, create two 1/1 black Insect creature tokens — instant, tangible buildup on turn one and turn two 🪲🪲
• Attack trigger: Whenever Celestine attacks, you may sacrifice an Insect. When you do, you curse the defending player — create a black Aura Curse enchantment attached to that player with “Enchant player” and “At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.”

“Sometimes the best card is the one that makes your opponent question every choice they’ve made since the opening draw.”

In practical terms, Celestine is a storyteller that starts with two buzzing companions and ends with a looming shadow. The 2/3 body asks to be attacked or defended, while the ETB trigger plants tokens that are more than just chump blockers — they’re dramatic devices waiting to be deployed. The attack-cost sacrifice to deliver a Curse is the plot twist: you give up a little momentum to install a lasting, creeping menace on the opponent’s side of the table. The aura Curse attaches to the defending player and slowly erodes their life total, turning a single exchange into an ongoing emotional thread 🎭.

Strategic storytelling: turning curves into character arcs

Celestine’s design intentionally blends board presence with narrative leverage. Your early turns can feel hopeful: you drop Celestine, populate with two Insects, and set the stage for a quiet turn-based drama. But as soon as you commit to an attack and sacrifice one of your insects, the real arc begins: the opponent now lives under a curse that grows more menacing with each upkeep. The card’s flavor breathes through the math, because every life loss is a ticking reminder of the pact—whether it’s a grim bargain you’re more than willing to make or a trap you just fell into 🧙‍♂️⚔️.

Here’s how to lean into that narrative without losing track of the board state:

• Early tempo with intent: Play Celestine when you have a clean line of play and at least two Insects ready to eat the attack trigger. The tokens aren’t just bodies; they’re characters who have a stake in the story you’re telling 🧩.
• Trade-off timing: Attacking with Celestine is the story’s midpoint. Sacrifice a token to ensure the Curse lands on a chosen target at the right moment. The Curse’s upkeep trigger adds a slow-burning clock you and your opponent feel in real time 🔥.
• Protect the narrative arc: While you guide the tale, don’t forget defense. A clean line of removal or disruption keeps you from losing the thread to an opponent's swing, while your own disruptions keep the tension focused on the curse’s inevitability.
• Token economy as character depth: Two 1/1 Insects aren’t a wasted line; they’re the chorus that makes the final verse hit harder. Sacrificing one insect to power the Curse is a choice that echoes in every future upkeep, shaping the player’s empathy and risk calculus 🪲🎲.

Flavor, art, and the value of a well-woven card

Celestine’s art by Bonnie Gabriel reinforces the somber, mythic mood of a cave-lit chamber where winged creatures circle a calculating mind. The black frame and timeless frame style of the card, paired with its playtest rarity, make it a quaint relic for collectors who enjoy the story behind the stats. While it’s not a modern staple, its reprint history and classification as a non-foil, rare creature in a playful set remind us that MTG’s heart often beats in niche corners—the kind of corners where a single card can spark an entire night’s storytelling 🧙‍♂️💎.

On the table, Celestine becomes a bridge between pure strategy and narrative flavor. The dual nature of its start-of-life tokens and its endgame curse creates a dynamic arc you can carry from opening grip to late-game epilogue, even when the board looks bleak. That balance—between risk and reward, story and mechanics—lies at the core of why we play Magic in the first place: to feel like a world traveler who’s walked into a cave, found a witch, and left with a new legend to tell 🎨⚔️.

If you’re a fan of the confluence of lore, clever card design, and the occasional card-game-haunted mood, Celestine Cave Witch is the kind of card that makes you smile while you clutch your tokens and plan your next chapter of revenge or redemption 🧙‍♂️🎲.

Shop talk and a small cross-pimp to something shiny

While Celestine might not be a modern powerhouse, it occupies a delightful niche where story and play interact. And if you’re shopping for your next MTG accessory, consider a little cross-promotion—a bright neon card holder for your prized permanents can keep your story pristine as you tell it on game night. For a playful, modern carry with MagSafe compatibility on a sturdy phone case, check this neon card holder product from our shop:

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