Wake of Vultures MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Bird
Abilities Flying
Power 3
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Wake of Vultures enables continuous card advantage through creature sacrifice, essential in prolonged matches.
  2. Its instant speed reaction offers strategic flexibility in managing the battlefield during any turn.
  3. The card’s specific mana cost and higher expenditure may deter diverse deck integrations.

Text of card

Flying o1o B, Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate

"So the vulture said to the griffin, 'You gonna eat that?'" —Azeworai, "The Ugly Bird"


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Wake of Vultures allows you to repeatedly convert creatures into draw power, especially in longer games where fueling your strategies becomes critical.

Resource Acceleration: This card, within the right deck, serves as a recurring source of sacrifice, potentially triggering other effects or synergies that turn creatures into more valuable resources.

Instant Speed: Wake of Vultures operates at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to react swiftly to the ever-changing battlefield, utilize end-of-turn tactics, or strategically manage your creature assets during your opponent’s turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Wake of Vultures necessitates a creature card’s sacrifice, potentially setting you back if you’re short on creatures or rely on their synergy.

Specific Mana Cost: This MTG card requires black mana, making it less flexible for decks that aren’t heavily focused on or inclusive of black mana sources and strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that totals four mana, including three of any color and one black, some players may find Wake of Vultures less appealing compared to other cards with a lower mana requirement offering similar or better functionalities.


Reasons to Include Wake of Vultures in Your Collection

Versatility: Wake of Vultures offers flexibility in deck building by acting as a creature that can be sacrificed for an instant speed effect, making it a strategic addition for decks focused on utilizing the graveyard or sacrificing creatures for value.

Combo Potential: This card interacts well with strategies that revolve around death triggers or benefit from creatures continually entering and leaving the battlefield, hence creating potential for powerful combos with other cards.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Wake of Vultures can serve as an effective tool, allowing you to maintain board presence while disrupting your opponents by selectively removing key creatures from graveyards.


How to Beat Wake of Vultures

Wake of Vultures offers adaptability on the battlefield as a flying black creature that thrives in graveyard-centered decks. As a creature that can essentially gain indestructibility by sacrificing other creatures, it creates a presence that is hard to remove. To effectively counter this pesky bird, one must think beyond traditional removal spells that target single creatures.

Mass removal spells, such as board wipes that don’t discriminate between creature types or protection statuses, can bypass the Vulture’s defensive strategy. Cards like Wrath of God or Damnation can clear the board, including the Wake of Vultures, no matter how many creatures it’s ready to sacrifice. Additionally, graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace can sever the link between Wake of Vultures and its food source, making it just another creature waiting to be dealt with through conventional means.

Overall, when strategizing against Wake of Vultures, ensure your deck has the means to either prevent creatures from reaching the graveyard in the first place or remove multiple threats at once, mitigating the Vulture’s advantage and maintaining control of the game.


Cards like Wake of Vultures

Wake of Vultures offers a unique take on creature abilities within Magic: The Gathering. It’s important to examine its features by comparing it to other cards. Just like Wake of Vultures, Vampire Nighthawk provides an interesting blend of abilities. However, while Wake of Vultures demands a mana investment to gain flying until end of turn, Vampire Nighthawk comes with flying innately, along with deathtouch and lifelink.

Carrion Vulture is another card that echoes the sentiments of Wake of Vultures within the flying creature subset. Both cards share the flying potential but Carrion Vulture stands apart with its scavenge ability, giving it added utility in the graveyard. Scavenging Hyena enters the scene with a similar mantra but takes it further with its ability to get stronger if there’s a card with a greater mana value in your graveyard.

Assessing these cards against Wake of Vultures highlights a blend of utility and versatility that defines the card’s role. Despite this, Wake of Vultures maintains a unique stance in MTG due to its convertible ability to adopt flying, presenting strategic adaptability in gameplay.

Vampire Nighthawk - MTG Card versions
Vampire Nighthawk - Wizards Play Network 2009 (PWP09)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Wake of Vultures MTG card by a specific set like Visions and Eternal Masters, 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 Wake of Vultures and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Wake of Vultures Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1997-02-03 and 2019-11-07. Illustrated by Jeff Miracola.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-02-03VisionsVIS 741997normalblackJeff Miracola
22016-06-10Eternal MastersEMA 1152015normalblackJeff Miracola
32019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 8182015normalblackJeff Miracola
42020-09-26The ListPLST EMA-1152015normalblackJeff Miracola

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Wake of Vultures has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-06-08 You can sacrifice Wake of Vultures to activate its own ability. The ability will have no effect as it resolves.

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