Voldaren Duelist MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Vampire Warrior
Abilities Haste
Power 3
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers indirect card advantage by potentially forcing opponents to use more resources to deal with it.
  2. Can clear blockers to hasten damage, pressuring the opponent’s mana and board state.
  3. Demands careful play from opponents, altering their strategies due to its combat influence.

Text of card

Haste When Voldaren Duelist enters the battlefield, target creature can't block this turn.

"I have yet to find my equal."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Voldaren Duelist doesn’t directly let you draw cards, its strong impact on the board can effectively diminish your opponent’s card quality, leading to an indirect form of card advantage. Compact power in a single card often means your opponents must spend multiple cards to recover, giving you the upper hand.

Resource Acceleration: Although not a traditional resource accelerator, the Duelist’s ability to tap down a potential blocker can clear the way for accelerated damage. This, in turn, pressures your opponent’s resources, often forcing them to make unfavorable trades or use mana inefficiently.

Instant Speed: The Duelist’s effects aren’t at instant speed, but its presence shifts your opponent’s play patterns as they must consider the risk of leaving mana untapped or playing spells pre-combat. This pseudo instant speed pressure often benefits the rest of your instant speed interactions by making the opponent play around imagined scenarios.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Voldaren Duelist requires a player to discard another card, which can be particularly hindering when hand size is already diminished.

Specific Mana Cost: This card necessitates both red mana and generic mana, potentially making it unsuitable for multi-colored decks that might not have the needed mana readily available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that might be deemed steep for its given abilities, players may opt for more cost-effective creatures to fill their four-mana slot.


Reasons to Include Voldaren Duelist in Your Collection

Versatility: Voldaren Duelist offers a unique combination of abilities, making it a flexible pick for red-based aggressive decks. With the power to hinder your opponent’s blockers on entry, it can adapt to various board states and enhance your offensive tactics.

Combo Potential: Alongside cards that benefit from tapping or incapacitating opponent creatures, Voldaren Duelist can integrate well into strategies aimed at controlling combat outcomes, synergizing with effects that reward you for dealing combat damage to a player.

Meta-Relevance: In a landscape where tempo plays can turn the tide of a game, Voldaren Duelist’s impact on combat can disrupt your opponent’s plans. It’s well-suited for inclusion in a meta where enabling your attackers or temporally locking down potential blockers can secure critical victories.


How to beat

Voldaren Duelist is a creature card that can create significant momentum shifts in MTG matches. Noted for its haste ability, it enables a quick attack upon entering the battlefield, often catching opponents off guard. Understanding its power lies in its surprise factor and immediate impact is crucial. To effectively counter this card, consider preemptive strategies like keeping instant speed removal spells in hand, which can be cast in response to the Duelist’s summoning.

Another viable tactic is maintaining a strong defensive lineup. Creatures with high toughness or those with reach can deter or minimize the damage caused by the Duelist’s aggressive entry. In a broader sense, cards that grant life whenever you cast a spell or control other creatures’ abilities can mitigate the impact of the Duelist’s attack, thus turning the tide back in your favor. Remember, the key is anticipation and maintaining resources that can respond swiftly to threats like the Voldaren Duelist.

Adopting a control archetype within your deck construction is also beneficial against such threats, ensuring that you have consistent answers to aggressive creatures throughout the game. By employing these methods, you can lessen the Duelist’s effectiveness and maintain an advantage over your opponent.


Cards like Voldaren Duelist

Voldaren Duelist is a noteworthy combatant in Magic: The Gathering’s assortment of aggressive creatures. It bears similarity to cards like Ember Hauler, which also thrives in aggressive decks. Voldaren Duelist, a creature that can disable potential blockers on its entry, offers a strategic advantage during attack phases. Ember Hauler lacks this combat-impacting ability but provides a means to deal direct damage instead.

Moving to other comparisons, there’s the Bloodrage Brawler, which exerts raw power as a 4/3 body for two mana. However, unlike Voldaren Duelist, it demands a discard upon entering the battlefield, which could potentially be a disadvantage. Then we have Heir of Falkenrath which transforms into a formidable flyer, offering an alternate aggressive approach. Although without the immediate board influence of the Duelist, it provides long-term airborne pressure.

Summing up, Voldaren Duelist stands out amongst its peers with its enter-the-battlefield ability to impede strategic blockers. It caters to players favoring immediate board impact over static power, making it a compelling option in aggressive MTG decks looking to maintain momentum and control the combat stage.

Ember Hauler - Magic 2011 (M11)
Bloodrage Brawler - Amonkhet (AKH)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Voldaren Duelist MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad and Mystery Booster, 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 Voldaren Duelist and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Voldaren Duelist Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2019-11-15. Illustrated by Jason Rainville.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-04-08Shadows over InnistradSOI 1912015normalblackJason Rainville
22019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 10992015normalblackJason Rainville
32019-11-15Game Night 2019GN2 442015normalblackJason Rainville
42020-09-26The ListPLST SOI-1912015normalblackJason Rainville

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Voldaren Duelist has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

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