Soulflayer MTG Card
2015-01-23 - Number 84s
2015-01-23 - Number 84
2020-04-17 - Number 138
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Demon |
| Abilities | Delve |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 4 |
Key Takeaways
- Soulflayer offers strategic depth, utilizing the graveyard for customized ability gains.
- Its delve mechanic provides a cost-effective way to play a high-impact creature.
- Despite mana constraints, it remains a valuable combo enabler in various decks.
Guide to Vigilance card ability
In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.
Text of card
Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for .) If a creature card with flying was exiled with Soulflayer's delve ability, Soulflayer has flying. The same is true for first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, reach, trample, and vigilance.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Soulflayer’s delve ability is a perfect strategy to capitalize on card advantage. By utilizing cards from your graveyard, you can effectively cast it for significantly less mana, while still maintaining a strong board presence.
Resource Acceleration: Although Soulflayer itself doesn’t generate mana, its low casting cost through delve accelerates your resource usage. It allows you to deploy other threats or hold up mana for reactive plays more efficiently.
Instant Speed: While Soulflayer is cast at sorcery speed, its potential to gain abilities from instants in the graveyard can result in a creature that operates with the flexibility of instant speed. Combat tricks or protection spells that were used earlier can make Soulflayer a formidable and unpredictable threat during any phase of the game.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the key elements to unlocking the full potential of Soulflayer is its delve ability, which necessitates discarding cards from your graveyard. This can be a double-edged sword, as that same graveyard fuel is a limited resource that may be necessary for other strategies within your deck.
Specific Mana Cost: Casting Soulflayer requires exact mana colors, one black and one colorless, which can sometimes pose a challenge in multicolored decks that rely on a diverse mana base. This need for specific mana can lead to inconsistencies in play, especially in the early game stages where mana fixing is more crucial.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of four, Soulflayer demands a relatively significant investment. This can be particularly taxing in the early turns of the game when efficiency can often dictate the pace and direction of the match. Furthermore, other creatures at the same or lower mana cost may provide immediate impact or synergies that are more aligned with your deck’s overarching game plan.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Soulflayer has the unique ability to delve and gain the abilities of any creature cards from your graveyard. This flexibility allows it to adapt to various game states and serve different roles depending on your strategy.
Combo Potential: When paired with creatures that have powerful abilities like hexproof, flying, or lifelink, you can craft a Soulflayer that becomes a menace on the battlefield, creating synergies that are hard for opponents to deal with.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta that’s heavy on removal spells, a carefully crafted Soulflayer can be incredibly resilient, making it a formidable inclusion in decks that aim to outlast their opponents with quality threats.
How to beat Soulflayer
Soulflayer presents a unique challenge on the battlefield, unlike any other creature card in Magic: The Gathering. This black creature card stands out with its delve ability, enabling players to cast it for a significantly reduced cost by exiling cards from their graveyard. Additionally, Soulflayer gains the abilities of any creature card exiled with it, making each play potentially different and dangerous depending on what lies in the graveyard.
Confronting a Soulflayer requires a strategic approach. Control decks that can manage the graveyard are at an advantage, with cards like Scavenging Ooze not only removing potential ability sources for Soulflayer but also growing stronger in the process. Graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace can neutralize the threat altogether, exiling graveyards and leaving Soulflayer devoid of additional abilities. Efficient removal spells are also key – Path to Exile or Murderous Rider can dispatch Soulflayer regardless of its gained abilities, albeit these must be timed carefully if hexproof or indestructible abilities are in play.
Ultimately, to emerge victorious against a Soulflayer, consider how to keep the graveyard in check and have answers ready for whatever abilities it may have accrued. This ensures that you maintain control over the game and dilute the impact of this versatile threat.
Cards like Soulflayer
Soulflayer is a unique creature card in Magic: The Gathering, inviting comparisons with other graveyard-utilizing creatures. Its ability to gain the keywords of any number of creature cards in your graveyard sets it apart in deck-building creativity. A comparable card is Chromanticore, which naturally has all the abilities Soulflayer aspires to gain but lacks the same dynamic flexibility. In contrast, Chromanticore is an enchantment creature with a set array of abilities regardless of the graveyard’s state.
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn is another creature that shares some of the keyword abilities that are desirable for Soulflayer’s delve effect such as flying, double strike, vigilance, and indestructible. However, Zetalpa lacks Soulflayer’s cost-reducing delve and is constrained by its high mana cost. Similarly, Boneyard Wurm serves as a creature whose power and toughness are defined by the number of creature cards in your graveyard, echoing the graveyard synergy but without the versatility of gaining multiple abilities.
Considering the strategic depth and adaptability offered, Soulflayer holds a unique position within the category of graveyard-related cards in Magic: The Gathering. Its potential to become a powerhouse based on the diversity of keywords in your graveyard creates varied and exciting gameplay.
Cards similar to Soulflayer by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Soulflayer MTG card by a specific set like Fate Reforged Promos and Fate Reforged, 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 Soulflayer 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 Magic products
Printings
The Soulflayer Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2015-01-23 and 2020-04-17. Illustrated by Seb McKinnon.
| # | Release | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015-01-23 | Fate Reforged Promos | PFRF | 84s | 2015 | normal | black | Seb McKinnon | |
| 2 | 2015-01-23 | Fate Reforged | FRF | 84 | 2015 | normal | black | Seb McKinnon | |
| 3 | 2020-04-17 | Commander 2020 | C20 | 138 | 2015 | normal | black | Seb McKinnon |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Soulflayer has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Soulflayer card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2014-11-24 | Creature cards that have abilities that grant the listed keyword abilities to themselves won’t count. For example, exiling a Battle Brawler (a creature with “As long as you control a red or white permanent, Battle Brawler gets +1/+0 and has first strike”) with Soulflayer’s delve ability won’t cause Soulflayer to have first strike, even if you control a red or white permanent. |
| 2014-11-24 | You can’t exile more cards from your graveyard than you’d need to pay Soulflayer’s generic mana requirement. In most situations, this means you can’t exile more than four cards, even if you want to exile more to give it extra abilities. |
| 2020-01-24 | If one of those creature cards has one or more variants of the listed keywords (for example, hexproof from white), this creature gains those specific variants. |
| 2021-03-19 | Because delve isn’t an alternative cost, it can be used in conjunction with alternative costs, such as flashback. It can also be used to pay for additional costs that include generic mana. |
| 2021-03-19 | Delve doesn’t change a spell’s mana cost or mana value. For example, Treasure Cruise’s mana value is 8 even if you exiled three cards to cast it. |
| 2021-03-19 | You can exile cards to pay only for generic mana, and you can’t exile more cards than the generic mana requirement of a spell with delve. For example, you can’t exile more than seven cards from your graveyard to cast Treasure Cruise unless an effect has increased its cost. |
