Obsessive StitcherHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Obsessive Stitcher features two activated abilities. The first is a classic 'looting' effect that lets you tap the creature to draw a card and then immediately discard one. The second ability allows you to sacrifice the Stitcher to return any target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield, bypassing its mana cost.

Resolving the Abilities

When you activate the first ability, you draw and discard as a single action; no player can cast spells or activate abilities in between these two steps. For the second ability, you must pay the mana, tap the Stitcher, and sacrifice it as part of the activation cost. The target must be a creature card already in your graveyard before the ability is put onto the stack.

Common Mistakes

A common error is trying to target the Obsessive Stitcher itself with its own reanimation ability. Because you must choose a target for the ability before you pay the costs (which include sacrificing the Stitcher), the Stitcher is not yet in the graveyard to be selected as a valid target. Additionally, remember that discarding a card is mandatory even if you like your current hand.

When to Play It

Deploy Obsessive Stitcher early to start sculpting your hand. It is most effective when you have high-cost creatures in hand that you would rather discard and reanimate than cast fairly. Hold the sacrifice ability until your opponent attempts to remove the Stitcher or until you have a game-winning target in your discard pile.

Interaction examples

Recursive Value

Solemn Simulacrum

If Solemn Simulacrum is in your graveyard, you can activate Obsessive Stitcher's second ability to return it to the battlefield. This triggers the Golem's ability to search for a basic land. If the Simulacrum later dies, you draw a card, and the Stitcher has effectively traded itself for a land and a new card.

Doubling the Impact

Roaming Throne

If you have Roaming Throne on the battlefield naming 'Human' or 'Wizard', and you trigger an ability from a creature of that type, it triggers twice. Note that Obsessive Stitcher uses activated abilities, not triggered abilities, so Roaming Throne will not double the looting or the reanimation effect. However, if the creature you return with the Stitcher has an 'enters the battlefield' trigger, the Throne can double that trigger if the types match.