Consuming Vortex MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Instant — Arcane |
| Abilities | Splice |
| Released | 2004-10-01 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Champions of Kamigawa |
| Set code | CHK |
| Number | 54 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Pete Venters |
Key Takeaways
- Consuming Vortex provides a strategic edge by disrupting opponent plays while offering instant speed flexibility.
- Costly and restricted by blue mana, it might not fit in every deck, especially those with diverse mana bases.
- Due to its versatility, Consuming Vortex is useful in metagames where creature control is crucial for victory.
Text of card
Return target creature to its owner's hand. Splice onto Arcane (As you play an Arcane spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card's effects to that spell.)
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Consuming Vortex stands out by offering the flexibility to return key nonland permanents to their owner’s hand, potentially dismantling an opponent’s board presence and disrupting their strategy. This can leave them at a significant disadvantage while you maintain control of the game.
Resource Acceleration: While Consuming Vortex itself does not directly provide mana or Treasure tokens, the temporary removal of costly threats can indirectly accelerate your resource advantage by saving mana for more efficient plays or stalling opponents as you develop your board.
Instant Speed: The capability to cast this card at instant speed gives players the upper hand by allowing them to react to an opponent’s moves during their turn, preserve mana for counters or removal, and strategically plan the best moment to weaken opponent forces.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Consuming Vortex commands you to part with another card from your hand when you cast it. This downside can be particularly taxing when your hand is already depleted, forcing tough decisions about which resources to sacrifice.
Specific Mana Cost: Consuming Vortex demands a precise combination of mana for its casting cost—two blue and one of any color. This requirement restricts its inclusion to decks that can reliably produce blue mana, potentially excluding it from more versatile mana bases.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, Consuming Vortex’s ability to return a creature to its owner’s hand might not always be the most mana-efficient option available. In fast-paced games where every mana point counts, players might find other spells that accomplish similar goals for less, leaving more resources available for other strategies.
Reasons to Include Consuming Vortex in Your Collection
Versatility: Consuming Vortex offers flexible options as it can be a pivotal card for controlling the pace in various deck builds. This card can return creatures to an opponent’s hand, disrupting their plays and providing you with a significant tempo advantage.
Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with setups that benefit from casting spells multiple times or that aim to capitalize on opponent’s bouncing creatures. It’s a useful piece in strategies that revolve around the spell-casting mechanic.
Meta-Relevance: In game environments where creatures with strong enter-the-battlefield effects or heavy aggro strategies are prevalent, Consuming Vortex can be a crucial part of your arsenal. It can either hinder your opponents’ progress or reset your own creatures for additional value.
How to beat
Consuming Vortex is the kind of card that requires a strategic approach to counter. This trap card in Magic: The Gathering can bounce creatures back to an opponent’s hand, which disrupts your board state and can lead to a loss of momentum. To effectively navigate around this card, one key strategy is to deploy low-cost creatures or those with enter-the-battlefield effects. This way, even if you face the Consuming Vortex, your loss is minimal and you might even gain advantage through repeated ETB effects.
Alternatively, holding onto cards with the capability to counter noncreature spells, like Negate, gives you a direct way to address Consuming Vortex, protecting your creatures from being returned to your hand. It’s also beneficial to diversify your threats, ensuring that not all your eggs are in one basket, effectively lessening the impact of your opponent’s Consuming Vortex. Playing with cards that can be cast from the graveyard or having creatures with embalm or eternalize can also dampen the blow, as these mechanics allow your creatures to return to the battlefield even after being targeted.
Ultimately, going up against Consuming Vortex calls for calm and composure, making sure you have resourceful creatures and strategic counterspells on deck to outmaneuver your opponent’s disruptive tactics and maintain control of the game board.
Cards like Consuming Vortex
Consuming Vortex is a card that MTG players have found various uses for within the game, particularly in controlling their opponents’ battlefield. At its core, the card offers a return-to-hand effect that players might recognize in other well-known cards such as Unsummon. Like Consuming Vortex, Unsummon lets you bounce a creature back to its owner’s hand, yet does so at a lower mana cost but without the flexibility of the replicate ability.
A deeper look into MTG reveals another card with a related mechanic, Into the Roil. Into the Roil is intriguing for its kicker feature that, if used, allows the player to draw a card. Whereas Consuming Vortex excels in its ability to target multiple copies with replicate, adding thickness to a player’s strategy during the game. Similarly, Cyclonic Rift offers a sweeping tempo advantage, though at a much higher cost, returning all nonland permanents to their owner’s hands if overloaded.
Evaluating the benefits and situational usage of cards with bounce effects in MTG, Consuming Vortex emerges as a versatile option for those who seek repeated control over the board, especially in decks where every cast counts to the bigger scheme of the game.
Cards similar to Consuming Vortex by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Consuming Vortex MTG card by a specific set like Champions of Kamigawa, 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 Consuming Vortex and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Consuming Vortex has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Consuming Vortex card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2013-06-07 | A card with a splice ability can’t be spliced onto itself because the spell is on the stack (and not in your hand) when you reveal the cards you want to splice onto it. |
| 2013-06-07 | If all of the spell’s targets are illegal when the spell tries to resolve, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. |
| 2013-06-07 | You choose all targets for the spell after revealing cards you want to splice, including any targets required by the text of any of those cards. You may choose a different target for each instance of the word “target” on the resulting spell. |
| 2013-06-07 | You reveal all cards you intend to splice at the same time. Each individual card can be spliced only once onto any one spell. |
