Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur MTG Card


The card’s cycling ability ensures card advantage, crucial for maintaining momentum in drawn-out matches. Flash enables unexpected plays, disrupting opponent strategies by utilizing its instant-speed advantage. Its transformation downside and specific mana cost pose challenges, highlighting the need for strategic deck construction.
Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact
Abilities Craft,Transform
Released2023-11-17
Set symbol
Set nameThe Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Set codeLCI
Number129
Frame2015
LayoutTransform
BorderBlack
Illustred byDavid Auden Nash

Text of card

When Visage of Dread enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals their hand. You choose an artifact or creature card from it. That player discards that card. Craft with two creatures (, Exile this artifact, Exile the two from among creatures you control and/or creature cards in your graveyard: Return this card transformed under its owner's control. Craft only as a sorcery.)


Cards like Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur

Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur represents an intriguing multiform card within the Magic: The Gathering pantheon. It’s a dual-faced card, sharing a kinship with the Modifier creature type, which sees majestic beasts like Regisaur Alpha bring considerable power to the board. However, Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur offers a unique twist with its transforming ability, adding a layer of strategic flexibility that fixed-form creatures lack.

Similar to Huntmaster of the Fells, which also flips between a human and a creature form, Visage of Dread allows players to adapt to changing game states. Yet, unlike Huntmaster’s werewolf transformation, this card transforms from an eerie presence into a looming dinosaur, offering a different set of abilities. On the flipside, we have a card like Thing in the Ice, which also showcases the transformative dual nature. Nonetheless, while Thing in the Ice converts into a massive creature upon spell casting, Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur relies on a turn-based condition to change forms, thus diversifying the tactical approaches available to players.

When one weighs the mechanics and potential board impact of similar transformative cards, Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur holds its own in the realm of versatile threats, offering both an ominous deterrent and a substantial late-game presence.

Regisaur Alpha - MTG Card versions
Regisaur Alpha - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur by color, type and mana cost

Charcoal Diamond - MTG Card versions
Blade of the Oni - MTG Card versions
Transmogrant's Crown - MTG Card versions
Vault Skirge - MTG Card versions
Razorlash Transmogrant - MTG Card versions
Mukotai Soulripper - MTG Card versions
Cranial Plating - MTG Card versions
Scepter of Fugue - MTG Card versions
Salvage Slasher - MTG Card versions
Glaze Fiend - MTG Card versions
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot - MTG Card versions
Implement of Malice - MTG Card versions
Wishclaw Talisman - MTG Card versions
Giant's Skewer - MTG Card versions
Gisa's Favorite Shovel - MTG Card versions
Lucille - MTG Card versions
Netherborn Altar - MTG Card versions
Malefic Scythe - MTG Card versions
Draugr's Helm - MTG Card versions
Poet's Quill - MTG Card versions
Charcoal Diamond - MTG Card versions
Blade of the Oni - MTG Card versions
Transmogrant's Crown - MTG Card versions
Vault Skirge - MTG Card versions
Razorlash Transmogrant - MTG Card versions
Mukotai Soulripper - MTG Card versions
Cranial Plating - MTG Card versions
Scepter of Fugue - MTG Card versions
Salvage Slasher - MTG Card versions
Glaze Fiend - MTG Card versions
Metalspinner's Puzzleknot - MTG Card versions
Implement of Malice - MTG Card versions
Wishclaw Talisman - MTG Card versions
Giant's Skewer - MTG Card versions
Gisa's Favorite Shovel - MTG Card versions
Lucille - MTG Card versions
Netherborn Altar - MTG Card versions
Malefic Scythe - MTG Card versions
Draugr's Helm - MTG Card versions
Poet's Quill - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur lends itself to strategic deck building by offering the potential to replace itself in your hand, thanks to its cycling ability. This can be particularly beneficial in long games where maintaining a heavy hand is crucial.

Resource Acceleration: The back side, Dread Osseosaur, provides significant board presence due to its substantial power and toughness. This can rapidly escalate the pressure on your opponent, leading to a faster path to victory.

Instant Speed: The front face, Visage of Dread, has flash, enabling you to surprise your opponents by playing it at any time you could cast an instant. This flexible speed keeps opponents guessing and can disrupt their strategies.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Visage of Dread requires the player to discard another card to transform it into Dread Osseosaur. This can pose a strategic setback, particularly in a critical late-game situation where each card in hand is vital.

Specific Mana Cost: Sporting a specific mana cost that includes black mana, Visage of Dread might not seamlessly fit into all deck archetypes, potentially limiting its adoption outside of mono-black or certain two-colored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When measuring its mana value against other creatures of similar power levels, Dread Osseosaur’s cost may be seen as steep, especially in formats where lower-cost creatures can deliver comparable battlefield presence and impact.


Reasons to Include Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur in Your Collection

Versatility: The dual-nature of Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur offers flexibility in deck building. As an instant on one side and a creature on the other, it adapts to various situations on the battlefield, granting defensive and offensive options.

Combo Potential: Visage of Dread can enable graveyard strategies by shifting creatures in and out of the graveyard, while Dread Osseosaur’s trample ability allows for high damage potential, pairing well with cards that capitalize on high-power creatures.

Meta-Relevance: With a shift towards reanimation tactics and big creature plays, Dread Osseosaur’s hefty presence can make a significant impact. Simultaneously, Visage of Dread offers interaction with spells and abilities that reward players for instant and sorcery casts, ensuring relevance in various formats.


How to beat

Visage of Dread and its backside, Dread Osseosaur, present a formidable presence on the battlefield. This transforming card from Magic: The Gathering is not just a sight to behold but also a powerhouse in the game. To gain the upper hand, focus on its vulnerability during transformation. Being a 4/4 creature with ward {1}, Visage of Dread can be dealt with using targeted removal spells that bypass the ward cost, such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile, before it becomes the larger, more threatening 7/7 Dread Osseosaur. Additionally, since the backside hinges on nightbound mechanics, keeping it perpetually day eliminates the chance for Visage of Dread to reveal its terrorizing counterpart.

Also, consider leveraging exile effects to permanently remove either side of this creature from the game—cards like Swords to Plowshares offer a clean and efficient solution. If the creature has already transformed, board wipes like Damnation or Wrath of God can reset the playing field. Remember that with the right strategy and timing, overcoming even the most dreadful creatures in Magic: The Gathering is always within reach.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur MTG card by a specific set like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur and other MTG cards:

TCGPlayerBUY NOW
BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer
Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Visage of Dread // Dread Osseosaur card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2023-11-10 Craft abilities are activated abilities with costs that have a mana component as well as an additional "materials" component.
2023-11-10 Craft abilities are written "Craft with
-aterials]
-ana]", which means "
-ana], Exile this permanent, Exile
-aterials] from among permanents you control and/or cards in your graveyard: Return this card to the battlefield transformed under its owner's control. Activate only as a sorcery."
2023-11-10 If a card that isn't a transforming double-faced card becomes a copy of a card with craft, it'll stay in exile if you activate the craft ability. It won't return to the battlefield.
2023-11-10 If the materials required include multiple objects, you may exile some of them from among permanents you control and the rest from among cards in your graveyard. You don't have to choose all permanents or all cards from your graveyard.
2023-11-10 If you don't have at least two cards in your library, you can't choose to mill two cards.
2023-11-10 The back faces of some cards with craft refer to cards "used to craft" it. This refers to the cards exiled as part of the cost of the craft ability of the front face. Those cards are considered to be "used to craft" that permanent as long as they remain exiled and the permanent remains on the battlefield, even if the permanent's controller changes or some of its characteristics change (because of a copy effect, for example.)
2023-11-10 You may exile tokens you control as part of the materials required. However, because they aren't cards and won't stay in exile, any abilities that refer to what you "used to craft" the back faces won't refer to anything.