Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Creature — Vampire Cleric
Power 1
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Vito’s ability to deal damage equal to life gained can quickly alter the game’s momentum in your favor.
  2. Instant-speed activation allows strategic flexibility, making Vito a constant threat during gameplay.
  3. Despite setup requirements, Vito’s combo and synergy potential make him a valuable addition to lifegain decks.

Text of card

Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life. : Creatures you control gain lifelink until end of turn.

"Through the blood of the wicked, we shall be redeemed. Let us pray."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose ups the ante by turning your health gains into a strategic advantage, effectively dwindling your opponent’s life total while improving your board state. Every instance of life gain translates to potential damage against your adversaries, making each of your life-gaining cards a dual-threat for resource management.

Resource Acceleration: While Vito himself does not directly accelerate resources, his ability to apply pressure can lead to a game state that encourages the opponent to allocate resources inefficiently. This indirect advantage can snowball into a lead that is hard for your opponent to overcome, especially if you can sustain life gain each turn.

Instant Speed: Vito’s ability works at instant speed, providing flexibility to turn any life gain happening during either player’s turn into immediate damage. This forces opponents to be wary about end-of-turn effects or spells that could unexpectedly swing the game in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose demands a significant amount of setup to use effectively. Players often need to incorporate other cards that facilitate life gain, which could lead to uncomfortable decisions where essential cards must be discarded to maintain synergy.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s cost encompasses a dual mana requirement, one being black. While this isn’t typically problematic for mono-black or lifegain-focused decks, it restricts Vito’s inclusion in more varied mana bases and can impact deck fluidity in multicolored builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana, including two black, Vito’s initial impact on the game is moderate. Considering other cards in the three mana slot that can offer immediate effects like removal or card advantage, Vito may not always be the most tempo-efficient play during the early to mid-game phases.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose easily slides into various deck archetypes, excelling in Lifegain or Aristocrats strategies by turning health gains into direct damage against opponents.

Combo Potential: Vito has synergistic allure, conjuring potent interactions with cards like Exquisite Blood for an unyielding combo that can end games swiftly once your life total starts to climb.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where life totals are a focus, Vito’s ability to shift the battlefield’s dynamics with passive aggression ensures its relevance and threat level in many current metagames.


How to beat

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is a compelling card in MTG that stands out for its ability to turn life gain into a weapon against opponents. While challenging to overpower, there are effective strategies to mitigate its impact on the game. Tackling Vito requires disrupting its synergies, primarily by targeting life gain mechanisms. Tactics such as graveyard removal can be potent, with cards like Scavenging Ooze interrupting recursive life gain strategies that Vito thrives on.

Counterspells play a key role as well, with spells like Negate or Essence Scatter preventing Vito from entering the battlefield in the first place. This preemptive measure can be a vital part of your game plan. Removal is also a reliable approach, with options such as Murderous Rider providing a swift end to Vito’s reign on the board. Enchantment removal can dismantle his comrades, like Exquisite Blood, further weakening his presence.

In essence, beating Vito requires awareness and readiness to counter life gain synergies. With prompt disruption and precise targeting, Vito’s potential is significantly diminished, rendering him far less daunting. As you prioritize threat management and maintain control over the game state, Vito’s power can be effectively neutralized.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial in MTG play. If you’ve enjoyed unwrapping the layers of this card’s strategic value, you’ll find there’s much more to explore. Dive deeper into synergies and turn those insights into victory by incorporating Vito into the right decks. Expand your gameplay by discovering ways to exploit life total variations and fine-tune your strategies against potential counters. Take your MTG expertise further with every match by mastering both the individual cards and the overarching tactics they support. Join us for an in-depth look at Vito and unlock the full potential of your MTG collection.


Cards like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is an intriguing character in the world of Magic: The Gathering, weaving together life gain and loss into a potent strategy. A close relative in effect is Sanguine Bond, which also translates life gain into opponent life loss. However, Vito makes an impact with his ability to grant lifelink to all creatures you control at a pivotal moment for a cost, adding a layer of versatility that Sanguine Bond does not possess.

Exquisite Blood is another card that dances in synchrony with Vito’s abilities, with a focus on draining life from opponents whenever you gain life—echoing Vito’s trigger but without directly affecting creatures. Combining both cards, players can unleash an infinite combo, instantly securing victory under the right conditions. In direct comparison, though, Vito stands out with his creature buffing potential, impacting the board immediately upon deployment.

To sum up, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose holds his own amongst MTG’s life manipulation cards, offering a unique blend of aggression and defense that can shift the tide of battle, making him a formidable presence on the battlefield and a favorite for players aiming to exploit life total variations.

Sanguine Bond - MTG Card versions
Exquisite Blood - MTG Card versions
Sanguine Bond - Magic 2010 (M10)
Exquisite Blood - Avacyn Restored (AVR)

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Nettling Imp - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Royal Assassin - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
El-Hajjâj - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
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Frozen Shade - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Scathe Zombies - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Sorceress Queen - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Wall of Bone - Rivals Quick Start Set (RQS)
Lost Soul - Introductory Two-Player Set (ITP)
Mindstab Thrull - Masters Edition (ME1)
Mischievous Poltergeist - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Strongarm Thug - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Razortooth Rats - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Ghastly Remains - Legions (LGN)
Lord of the Undead - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Deepwood Ghoul - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Dross Prowler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Nim Lasher - Mirrodin (MRD)
Nim Abomination - Darksteel (DST)
Nantuko Husk - Ninth Edition (9ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Resale Promos, 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 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2007-01-01 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Lie Setiawan.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 819542015normalblackLie Setiawan
22007-01-01Resale PromosPRES 1272015normalblackLie Setiawan
32020-07-03Core Set 2021M21 3622015normalblackLie Setiawan
42020-07-03Core Set 2021M21 1272015normalblackLie Setiawan
52022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 4872015normalblackLie Setiawan

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2020-06-23 Because Vito's first ability doesn't deal damage, you won't gain life when it resolves if Vito has lifelink.
2020-06-23 Each creature with lifelink dealing combat damage causes a separate life-gaining event. For example, if two creatures you control with lifelink deal combat damage at the same time, Vito's first ability will trigger twice and you may choose a different opponent for each trigger. However, if a single creature you control with lifelink deals combat damage to multiple creatures, players, and/or planeswalkers at the same time (perhaps because it has trample or was blocked by more than one creature), the ability will trigger only once.
2020-06-23 If an ability triggers whenever an opponent loses life and causes you to gain life, such as the ability of Exquisite Blood, this will loop until either you win the game or a player takes an action to break the loop.
2020-06-23 If you gain an amount of life “for each” of something, that life is gained as one event and Vito's first ability triggers only once.
2020-06-23 In a Two-Headed Giant game, life gained by your teammate won't cause the ability to trigger, even though it caused your team's life total to increase.

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