Vile Redeemer MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Eldrazi
Abilities Devoid, Flash
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Vile Redeemer provides card advantage through potential token generation for maintaining board presence.
  2. Flash ability allows for surprise tactics and versatile end-of-turn plays, enhancing its strategic use.
  3. Integral to decks that capitalize on creature deaths, transforming losses into resource opportunities.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Devoid (This card has no color.) Flash When you cast Vile Redeemer, you may pay . If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Eldrazi Scion creature token onto the battlefield for each nontoken creature that died under your control this turn. Those tokens have "Sacrifice this creature: Add to your mana pool."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Vile Redeemer, you not only get a solid creature on the battlefield but also the potential to create additional creature tokens, ensuring you stay ahead in the numbers game during a match.

Resource Acceleration: When creatures you control have been put into the graveyard the same turn, Vile Redeemer’s ability to generate scion tokens—each of which can be sacrificed for mana—provides a significant boost in resources, helping to ramp up your mana capabilities in critical moments.

Instant Speed: The power of acting at instant speed cannot be overstated; Vile Redeemer allows you to make strategic plays during your opponent’s turn or after an unfavorable combat phase, making it a versatile tool for reaction-based strategies.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the Vile Redeemer can be an asset in creature-focused decks, one of its drawbacks is its dependency on discarding another card for optimal use. This can put players at a disadvantage, particularly if they are already short on cards in hand, making it essential to strategize when to deploy this card for maximum effect without depleting your resources.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Vile Redeemer requires green mana, which can be restrictive for multi-color decks that may have mana sources tied up elsewhere. Due to its color-specific cost, it may not seamlessly fit into a deck without ample green mana accessibility, potentially limiting its flexibility in diverse deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing three mana, including a specific green mana, Vile Redeemer’s cost is on the higher side when compared to other creatures that fill a similar role. Players must weigh the benefits of its abilities against the mana investment, which might be better allocated towards other creatures or spells that provide a greater impact on the game for the same or less mana.


Reasons to Include Vile Redeemer in Your Collection

Versatility: Vile Redeemer shines in its flexibility. As a creature that can be flashed in, it seamlessly fits into green decks looking for surprise blockers or end-of-turn plays. Its ability to bolster your board presence after a wipe or when your creatures are targeted is unmatched.

Combo Potential: This creature offers a unique synergy with sacrifice and death-trigger strategies. The ability to generate additional creatures from the death of your own offers a multiplicative effect, turning every loss into potential gain.

Meta-Relevance: As the MTG meta shifts, creature-based strategies remain constant. Vile Redeemer provides a safeguard against board clears, which are prevalent in many competitive formats. Its capability to disrupt opponent timing and increase your creature count makes it a card to watch and integrate into relevant decks.


How to beat

Vile Redeemer is a creature card that can prove tricky in Magic: The Gathering matchups. Its strength lies in the ability to offer both a considerable body and an instant army through its token generation upon casting. When facing off against Vile Redeemer, timing is everything. To overcome this card, it’s wise to limit the number of creatures your opponent has on the board, especially when they’re low on mana and might capitalize on its Flash ability.

Removal spells are your best friends in this scenario. Keeping a removal spell at the ready for when your opponent casts a spell or uses an ability to gain extra creatures helps to neutralize the threat. Also, counter spells can be particularly effective when dealing with Vile Redeemer since they can prevent it from hitting the battlefield in the first place. Bear in mind that disruption tools can hinder the creature’s value, as Vile Redeemer’s strength arises from playing around your opponent’s creatures dying.

Ultimately, defeating a Vile Redeemer requires a strategic approach to control the flow of the game, carefully timing your removal and counters to keep the advantage firmly in your grasp.


Cards like Vile Redeemer

Vile Redeemer is an intriguing creature card with capabilities that enhance MTG decks focusing on creature-based strategies. Sitting alongside cards like Brood Monitor, a kin in the Eldrazi lineage, Vile Redeemer provides instant speed interaction allowing players to respond to battlefield changes. While Brood Monitor brings Scions upon entering, Vile Redeemer’s ability to flash and bolster ranks with extra creatures post-wrath gives it a distinct edge.

Evaluating it against Matter Reshaper, another Eldrazi offering card value through death-triggered abilities, Vile Redeemer demands a higher mana investment for its instant pay-off, contrasting Matters Reshaper’s lower cost and subsequent draw ability. Despite the differences, both cards excel at maintaining field presence.

A consideration of Fairgrounds Warden is also pertinent, not for mechanic similarities but for the value provided upon entering play. While the Warden offers temporary removal, the Redeemer’s focus is on immediate board-state recovery, signifying its role in swarm strategies. Therefore, Vile Redeemer holds its ground within MTG’s creature-heavy archetypes, favored for its reactive nature and the capacity to turn demise into an opportunity for outmaneuvering opponents.

Brood Monitor - MTG Card versions
Matter Reshaper - MTG Card versions
Fairgrounds Warden - MTG Card versions
Brood Monitor - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Matter Reshaper - Oath of the Gatewatch Promos (POGW)
Fairgrounds Warden - Kaladesh (KLD)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vile Redeemer MTG card by a specific set like Oath of the Gatewatch and Oath of the Gatewatch 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 Vile Redeemer and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Vile Redeemer Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-01-22 and 2016-01-22. Illustrated by Jason Rainville.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-01-22Oath of the GatewatchOGW 1252015normalblackJason Rainville
22016-01-22Oath of the Gatewatch PromosPOGW 125s2015normalblackJason Rainville

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vile Redeemer has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-01-22 Vile Redeemer’s last ability will count any nontoken creature that died while under your control, even if you weren’t the creature’s owner. It doesn’t matter where the card is as the ability resolves. It doesn’t have to still be in a graveyard.
2016-01-22 Vile Redeemer’s last ability won’t count nontoken creatures that didn’t go to a graveyard because of a replacement effect (for example, a creature that was exiled or went to the command zone instead).

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