Voidwalk MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Cipher
Released	2013-02-01
Set symbol
Set name	Gatecrash
Set code	GTC
Number	55
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	James Ryman

Key Takeaways

Voidwalk enables recurring advantage and strategic disruption by exiling creatures temporarily.
Instant speed allows surprise plays, offering significant tactical flexibility during games.
While powerful, Voidwalk’s cipher ability demands discarding, affecting hand size.

Text of card

Exile target creature. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Voidwalk gives players a unique avenue for recurring card advantage by momentarily exiling creatures. This can disrupt your opponent’s board presence or even be used on your own creatures to reuse enter-the-battlefield effects for tactical gains.

Resource Acceleration: Although Voidwalk doesn’t directly provide traditional forms of mana acceleration, it effectively saves resources by allowing you to handle opposing threats without spending multiple cards to do so, freeing up your mana for other strategies.

Instant Speed: As a card that can be cast at instant speed, Voidwalk offers flexibility in gameplay. You can navigate through your main phases without committing to a play, retaining the ability to surprise your opponent by exiling target creatures during their turn or in response to an action, thus protecting your own board state or interrupting combos.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Voidwalk can be a part of intricate combos or evasion tactics, it requires a card to be discarded each time you want to activate its cipher ability. This can deplete your hand quickly, especially in decks that don’t have efficient ways to refill their grip.

Specific Mana Cost: The card’s casting cost includes blue mana, which necessitates a commitment to that color in your deck. If your MTG deck isn’t tailored to include sufficient blue sources, casting Voidwalk consistently could prove challenging.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Priced at four mana, including one blue, it may compete for a spot with other impactful four-drops in your deck. Given that this is not an immediate board impacting play, there may be more cost-effective ways to protect or reuse your creatures within the MTG universe.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Voidwalk offers a unique form of interaction that allows players to temporarily remove threats or reuse beneficial enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects. This ability makes Voidwalk a fit for various strategies that capitalize on tempo gains or ETB manipulation.

Combo Potential: Its capability to flicker creatures opens up numerous combo possibilities. Consider pairing Voidwalk with creatures that have powerful ETB triggers to maximize value each time they re-enter the battlefield, leading to potential game-swinging scenarios.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where board presence and continuity are key, Voidwalk can disrupt opponent strategies. It can efficiently handle creature-based combos or recurring threats, making it a relevant choice in diverse competitive environments.

How to beat

Voidwalk presents a unique challenge in MTG as a card known for temporarily displacing creatures from the battlefield. This can be an inconvenience when your key creatures are consistently returning to your hand only to be recast. To effectively counter this persistent bounce mechanism, focus on cards that either negate blue spells or utilize creatures that benefit from being returned to the hand. Cards with enter-the-battlefield effects can actually turn Voidwalk’s ability into an advantage for you.

In addition, having instants that can counter spells or provide hexproof to your creatures will protect them from being targeted by Voidwalk. It’s also worth including low-cost creatures in your deck, so if they do get returned to your hand, they can be replayed without a substantial loss in momentum. Lastly, don’t overlook the power of simply overloading the board with more creatures than your adversary can handle. The overall strategy against Voidwalk revolves around adaptability and leveraging the temporary absence of your creatures as a potential boon rather than a setback.

BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG involves understanding the subtle nuances of cards like Voidwalk. Its power to alter the battlefield and recycle enter-the-battlefield abilities is a crafty tool in any player’s arsenal. Whether you’re aiming to disrupt your opponent’s plans or concocting your own complex combos, Voidwalk is a catalyst for creativity. Embrace the strategic depth it offers and consider the ways it could synergize within your deck. Ready to expand your strategic horizons and add another dimension to your gameplay? Dive deeper with us and discover the full potential of Voidwalk as part of your MTG journey.

Cards like Voidwalk

Voidwalk is an intriguing Magic: The Gathering card that opens up strategic spaces in gameplay, akin to a suspension bridge between turns. Analogous to cards like Banishing Knack, Voidwalk offers the ability to temporarily remove a creature from the battlefield. Where it differs is its Oracle text that targets any creature, not just ones you control, and has a cipher ability which can recur this effect whenever the encoded creature deals combat damage to a player.

Comparatively, Ghostly Flicker presents a kindred concept, exiling two target artifacts, creatures, or lands you control and then returning them to the battlefield. While not exactly parallel, as its effect is simultaneous for two permanents and lacks the recurring factor of cipher, the temporary evasion or re-triggering of enter-the-battlefield effects is similar. Conversely, Essence Flux preserves a creature’s presence by exiling and then returning the same creature with an additional +1/+1 counter if it’s a spirit—an instantaneous and focused approach differing from Voidwalk’s broader utilitarian cipher prospects.

Ultimately, Voidwalk stands out within the cohort of exile-and-return spells in Magic: The Gathering for its unique cipher capability, offering repeated use and flexibility in delaying opponents’ plans or reusing your own creatures’ abilities.

Cards similar to Voidwalk by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Voidwalk MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash, 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 Voidwalk and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Voidwalk 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 Voidwalk card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2013-04-15	If a creature with an encoded card deals combat damage to more than one player simultaneously (perhaps because some of the combat damage was redirected), the triggered ability will trigger once for each player it deals combat damage to. Each ability will create a copy of the exiled card and allow you to cast it.
2013-04-15	If another player gains control of the creature, that player will control the triggered ability. That player will create a copy of the encoded card and may cast it.
2013-04-15	If the creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card will no longer be encoded on any creature. It will stay exiled.
2013-04-15	If the spell with cipher doesn’t resolve, none of its effects will happen, including cipher. The card will go to its owner’s graveyard and won’t be encoded on a creature.
2013-04-15	If you choose not to cast the copy, or you can’t cast it (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the copy will cease to exist the next time state-based actions are performed. You won’t get a chance to cast the copy at a later time.
2013-04-15	If you want to encode the card with cipher onto a noncreature permanent such as a Keyrune that can turn into a creature, that permanent has to be a creature before the spell with cipher starts resolving. You can choose only a creature to encode the card onto.
2013-04-15	The copy of the card with cipher is created in and cast from exile.
2013-04-15	The exiled card with cipher grants a triggered ability to the creature it’s encoded on. If that creature loses that ability and subsequently deals combat damage to a player, the triggered ability won’t trigger. However, the exiled card will continue to be encoded on that creature.
2013-04-15	The spell with cipher is encoded on the creature as part of that spell’s resolution, just after the spell’s other effects. That card goes directly from the stack to exile. It never goes to the graveyard.
2013-04-15	You cast the copy of the card with cipher during the resolution of the triggered ability. Ignore timing restrictions based on the card’s type.
2013-04-15	You choose the creature as the spell resolves. The cipher ability doesn’t target that creature, although the spell with cipher may target that creature (or a different creature) because of its other abilities.