Cryptic Cruiser MTG Card


Cryptic Cruiser offers card advantage by exploiting the graveyard and disrupting opponent strategies. Its instant speed ability provides flexibility and game plan acceleration through exiled cards. Despite its strengths, Cruiser demands specific resources and comes with a notable mana cost.
Cryptic Cruiser - Battle for Zendikar
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Eldrazi Processor
Abilities Devoid
Released2015-10-02
Set symbol
Set nameBattle for Zendikar
Set codeBFZ
Power 3
Toughness 3
Number56
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred bySvetlin Velinov

Text of card

Devoid (This card has no color.), Put a card an opponent owns from exile into that player's graveyard: Tap target creature.

"The seas are no less imperiled than the dry lands. This fight is mine as much as it is yours." —Kiora, to Gideon Jura


Cards like Cryptic Cruiser

Cryptic Cruiser steps into the realm of processing creatures within MTG’s battlefield. It shares a space with creatures like Ulamog’s Nullifier, where exiling cards play a key role. Both require exiling an opponent’s card for activation, however, Cryptic Cruiser uses this to tap creatures, while Ulamog’s Nullifier can counter spells.

Murmuring Mystic is another card that operates at four mana, but instead of interacting with exiled cards, it generates Bird Illusion tokens when casting instant or sorcery spells. Quite different from Cryptic Cruiser’s mechanic yet offers a similar board presence by providing blockers or attackers each turn.

Then there’s Wasteland Strangler, a direct comparison as another creature with processing ability. Although lower in cost, Wasteland Strangler doesn’t tap creatures, rather it offers a potential -3/-3 to a target creature, enabling you to tackle threats immediately. The Cruiser’s ability to tap down potential blockers or attackers adds a strategic aspect but requires careful planning in a match.

Assessing these alternatives highlights Cryptic Cruiser’s unique slot in the eldrazi archetype, complimenting decks that hinge on processing for controlling opponents’ strategies.

Ulamog's Nullifier - MTG Card versions
Murmuring Mystic - MTG Card versions
Wasteland Strangler - MTG Card versions
Ulamog's Nullifier - MTG Card versions
Murmuring Mystic - MTG Card versions
Wasteland Strangler - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Cryptic Cruiser by color, type and mana cost

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Fatestitcher - MTG Card versions
Argent Sphinx - MTG Card versions
Lumengrid Drake - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Phantom Monster - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions
Archivist - MTG Card versions
Thieving Magpie - MTG Card versions
Inga Rune-Eyes - MTG Card versions
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
Laboratory Drudge - MTG Card versions
Johnny, Combo Player - MTG Card versions
Dream Prowler - MTG Card versions
Clone - MTG Card versions
Cytoplast Manipulator - MTG Card versions
Crookclaw Transmuter - MTG Card versions
Dreamborn Muse - MTG Card versions
Turtleshell Changeling - MTG Card versions
Glen Elendra Archmage - MTG Card versions
Fatestitcher - MTG Card versions
Argent Sphinx - MTG Card versions
Lumengrid Drake - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Cryptic Cruiser provides a unique form of card advantage by allowing you to utilize your graveyard. Through its ability to exile opponent’s creatures from graveyards, you can indirectly affect their available resources, hindering their potential strategies or recurring effects.

Resource Acceleration: By using its ability, you can fuel various strategies that benefit from processing exiled cards, thus accelerating your game plan. Additionally, managing the exile zone can enable synergies with other cards that profit from such interactions.

Instant Speed: Though Cryptic Cruiser itself is not an instant, its activated ability can be used at instant speed. This allows strategic flexibility, letting you wait until the most opportune moment during your opponent’s turn to utilize its effect and potentially disrupt their plans.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Cryptic Cruiser requires exiling another creature card from your graveyard as part of its ability activation. This can sometimes be restricting, especially if maintaining graveyard resources is crucial to your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Sporting both colorless and blue mana in its cost, Cryptic Cruiser bolsters certain deck compositions while potentially being a roadblock in multicolored or color-fixing challenged decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With four mana to get it on the field, the Cruiser’s investment can feel steep, especially when juxtaposed with other creatures in the four-mana slot that potentially bring more immediate board impact or value.


Reasons to Include Cryptic Cruiser in Your Collection

Versatility: Cryptic Cruiser allows for multiple uses, fitting into decks that exploit the exile mechanic. Its ability to tap and exile a creature adds another layer of control for limited and casual play.

Combo Potential: With the right deck built around exile effects, Cryptic Cruiser can be a cog in a machine that continually keeps opponents’ creatures off the board while enabling synergies with process effects.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where slower, grindier games prevail, Cryptic Cruiser can play an important role in maintaining board presence and pace. Its ability to consistently remove threats makes it a noteworthy card for such situations.


How to beat

The Cryptic Cruiser, a creature card in MTG, has the potential to be a thorn in your side with its unique ability to exile opponents’ creatures. Its synergy with processing exiled cards is something to watch out for. To counter this Cruiser, it’s crucial to manage your graveyard and exile zones effectively. Cards that provide graveyard recursion or that can shuffle your graveyard back into your library will mitigate the impact of Cryptic Cruiser’s ability, preserving your resources and maintaining your offensive posture.

Furthermore, incorporating removal spells that can target the Cryptic Cruiser swiftly will ensure it doesn’t linger on the battlefield long enough to become problematic. Flight spells, especially those at instant speed, allow you to react immediately to the threat it poses, maintaining control of the game’s pace and denying your opponent the opportunity to capitalize on the Cruiser’s exile ability. This multi-pronged strategy of graveyard protection and timely removal will key you into a position of dominance against a deck featuring the elusive Cryptic Cruiser.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cryptic Cruiser MTG card by a specific set like Battle for Zendikar, 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 Cryptic Cruiser and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cryptic Cruiser has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2015-08-25 A card with devoid is just colorless. It’s not colorless and the colors of mana in its mana cost.
2015-08-25 Cards with devoid use frames that are variations of the transparent frame traditionally used for Eldrazi. The top part of the card features some color over a background based on the texture of the hedrons that once imprisoned the Eldrazi. This coloration is intended to aid deckbuilding and game play.
2015-08-25 Devoid works in all zones, not just on the battlefield.
2015-08-25 Face-down cards in exile are grouped using two criteria: what caused them to be exiled face down and when they were exiled face down. If you want to put a face-down card in exile into its owner’s graveyard, you must first choose one of these groups and then choose a card from within that group at random. For example, say an artifact causes your opponent to exile their hand of three cards face down. Then on a later turn, that artifact causes your opponent to exile another two cards face down. If you use Wasteland Strangler to put one of those cards into their graveyard, you would pick the first or second pile and put a card chosen at random from that pile into the graveyard.
2015-08-25 If a card loses devoid, it will still be colorless. This is because effects that change an object’s color (like the one created by devoid) are considered before the object loses devoid.
2015-08-25 If a replacement effect will cause cards that would be put into a graveyard from anywhere to be exiled instead (such as the one created by Anafenza, the Foremost), you can still put an exiled card into its opponent’s graveyard. The card becomes a new object and remains in exile. In this situation, you can’t use a single exiled card if required to put more than one exiled card into the graveyard. Conversely, you could use the same card in this situation if two separate spells or abilities each required you to put a single exiled card into its owner’s graveyard.
2015-08-25 If a spell or ability requires that you put more than one exiled card into the graveyard, you may choose cards owned by different opponents. Each card chosen will be put into its owner’s graveyard.
2015-08-25 Other cards and abilities can give a card with devoid color. If that happens, it’s just the new color, not that color and colorless.
2015-08-25 You can’t look at face-down cards in exile unless an effect allows you to.