Kheru Mind-Eater MTG Card

Treasure Chest (PZ2)
2016-11-16 - Number 65761

Commander 2017 (C17)
2017-08-25 - Number 17

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Vampire
Abilities	Menace
Power	1
Toughness	3

Key Takeaways

Kheru Mind-Eater offers card advantage by utilizing an opponent’s hand, disrupting their strategy.
It can lead to resource acceleration by playing exiled cards, saving your own spells.
Instantly impacting gameplay, it enables swift use of stolen cards in certain formats.

Text of card

Menace Whenever Kheru Mind-Eater deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles a card from their hand face down. You may look at cards exiled with Kheru Mind-Eater, and you may play lands and cast spells from among those cards.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Kheru Mind-Eater gives a unique twist to card advantage by leveraging an opponent’s card pool. When it deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles a card from their hand and you get to use it. This not only bolsters your options but can deprive your rival of strategically important resources.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly impacting your mana, the ability to play your opponent’s exiled cards can equate to resource acceleration. You effectively save your own resources while deploying your opponent’s spells, which can lead to more efficient turn progressions and unexpected advantages.

Instant Speed: Though Kheru Mind-Eater itself isn’t an instant, its impact can be almost immediate in the right circumstances. In formats where creatures can be given haste, it enables you to potentially utilize stolen cards right away, incorporating a form of instant speed utility to your strategy.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Kheru Mind-Eater requires you to exile a card from your opponent’s hand upon dealing combat damage, but it forces you to play that card or lose it forever. This often means you must have the appropriate mana available, or you risk wasting the stolen resource.

Specific Mana Cost: With a mana cost that includes one black and two generic mana, Kheru Mind-Eater demands a dedicated mana base. This can potentially restrict the card to decks that can reliably produce black mana early in the game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its intriguing ability, the total mana cost of three may be considered steep for a creature with modest stats like Kheru Mind-Eater. In more aggressive or efficient decks, players may find better alternatives that provide more immediate impact on the game state.

Reasons to Include Kheru Mind-Eater in Your Collection

Versatility: Kheru Mind-Eater offers flexibility in deck building, easily fitting into various black-focused strategies. As a creature with Menace, it serves both offensive and defensive roles, complicating opponents’ blocking decisions.

Combo Potential: This card pairs well with tactics that benefit from card denial or require creatures that can reliably deal combat damage to a player. Its ability to exile cards from an opponent’s hand when it deals damage opens up avenues for disruptive plays and advantageous card interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In a gameplay environment where hand advantage is crucial, Kheru Mind-Eater stands out as a powerful tool. It disrupts opponents’ plans while affording you access to additional resources, potentially tipping the scales in matchups that focus on control or strategy-intensive exchanges.

How to Beat Kheru Mind-Eater

Confronting a Kheru Mind-Eater on the battlefield can be daunting due to its sneaky nature as a Menace creature. This card essentially turns any successful attack into a potential disruption for your opponent, as you get to exile a card from their hand and play it using any mana color. To tackle this threat, consider strategies that either prevent it from attacking or remove it before it becomes a problem.

Flying or reach creatures can serve as a useful deterrent against it since Menace requires that it be blocked by two or more creatures. Spells that can offer multiple blockers, like Raise the Alarm, are also effective. Spot removals, such as Fatal Push or Path to Exile, are excellent for directly dealing with the Mind-Eater. Enchantment-based removals like Pacifism or Arrest can neutralize it without triggering death effects. Lastly, cards that grant hexproof to your hand, like Witchbane Orb or Leyline of Sanctity, can prevent the Mind-Eater’s ability from impacting you, keeping your hand safe from unwanted intrusions.

Adjusting your playstyle to minimize the damage Kheru Mind-Eater can do, while bringing reactive cards that counteract its abilities, is key to maintaining control during your duels.

Cards like Kheru Mind-Eater

Kheru Mind-Eater holds a unique position in the realm of creature cards with control abilities. Hailing from the Commander 2017 set, this card parallels others like Thoughtseize for its capacity to disrupt opponents’ strategies. Both force the issue of card advantage but in different ways; Kheru Mind-Eater snatches a card directly upon dealing combat damage, while Thoughtseize provides the knowledge and choice upfront at the price of life points and without requiring an attack.

Another card worth mentioning in the same conversation is Dark Confidant. It shares a similarity in giving you access to extra cards, albeit these come from your own deck consistently at the cost of life. The intrigue of Kheru Mind-Eater lies in its potential for both psychological warfare and tangible game impact, a trait less prominent in Dark Confidant’s approach to card advantage.

Assessing Kheru Mind-Eater against these counterparts emphasizes its ambush predator style, which can turn the tide by hijacking an opponent’s tools. In a landscape of numerous creature and control cards, Kheru Mind-Eater offers a compelling alternative for players looking to wield the element of surprise to their advantage in the MTG battlefield.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Kheru Mind-Eater MTG card by a specific set like Treasure Chest and Commander 2017, 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 Kheru Mind-Eater and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Kheru Mind-Eater Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-11-16 and 2017-08-25. Illustrated by Igor Kieryluk.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2016-11-16	Treasure Chest	PZ2		65761	2015	Normal	Black	Igor Kieryluk
2	2017-08-25	Commander 2017	C17		17	2015	Normal	Black	Igor Kieryluk

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Kheru Mind-Eater has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Kheru Mind-Eater card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2017-08-25	If another player gains control of Kheru Mind-Eater, that player can see all of the exiled cards and may play them. Once a player looks at a face-down exiled card, that player may look at that card any time later in the game.
2017-08-25	Once you begin to cast an exiled card, losing control of Kheru Mind-Eater won’t affect the spell.
2017-08-25	The last ability of Kheru Mind-Eater only lets you cast cards exiled by that card. If Kheru Mind-Eater leaves the battlefield, the exiled cards are lost forever.
2017-08-25	You may play land cards exiled with Kheru Mind-Eater only if you have an available land play this turn.
2017-08-25	You must pay the costs to cast the exiled cards. If one has an alternative cost, you may cast it for that cost instead.