Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed MTG Card

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)

Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
1999-05-01 - Number 92

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Masters Edition III (ME3)

Masters Edition III (ME3)
2009-09-07 - Number 83

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Legendary Creature — Human Soldier
Abilities	Horsemanship
Power	3
Toughness	2

Key Takeaways

Xiahou Dun provides sustainable card advantage by reclaiming black spells from the graveyard when sacrificed.
The card enables resource optimization with its unique ability, effectively enhancing mana-generation strategies.
Flexibility is key, as activating Xiahou Dun’s ability at the end of an opponent’s turn maximizes its potential.

Text of card

Horsemanship On your turn, before you attack, you may put Xiahou Dun into your graveyard to return a black card from your graveyard to your hand.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed can be sacrificed to return a black card from your graveyard to your hand, providing a sustainable source of card advantage by recurring key spells or creatures.

Resource Acceleration: This legendary creature can contribute to resource acceleration by enabling the reuse of powerful mana-generating abilities from the graveyard, effectively doubling their impact in the course of a game.

Instant Speed: Although Xiahou Dun himself doesn’t operate at instant speed, his ability can be used at the end of your opponent’s turn, maximizing your flexibility by allowing you to decide the best time to act based on your opponent’s moves.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: This legendary creature demands a significant sacrifice, as you must discard another card upon using Xiahou Dun’s ability. For players whose hands are already stretched thin managing resources, this requirement may prove to be a considerable drawback, essentially forcing a choice between maintaining card advantage and leveraging the power of Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed.

Specific Mana Cost: Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed commands a precise mana cost that is heavily weighted towards black. Requiring three black mana, this card is highly restrictive and fits primarily into mono-black or heavily black-focused decks, limiting its overall flexibility in a diverse spread of deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value of four, one of which must be paid with two life if using the Phyrexian mana symbol, Xiahou Dun’s cost is substantial. In the vast and ever-evolving landscape of the game, many alternatives present themselves which may offer more utility or more impactful effects for the same, if not lower, investment. When deck-building, players might opt for these options seeking efficiency in their mana curve.

Reasons to Include Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed in Your Collection

Versatility: Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed is a flexible add to many deck builds due to its ability to recur black cards from your graveyard. This can be incredibly powerful in decks that capitalize on various graveyard strategies.

Combo Potential: As a legendary creature, Xiahou Dun enables numerous combo possibilities. It can act as a crucial component in loops that continually bring back key spells from the grave, offering new levels of depth to combo plays.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where control and recursive strategies prevail, Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed’s unique skill set becomes even more influential. Its impact on the battlefield can shape games by recovering valuable resources and giving players repeated access to their most impactful spells.

How to beat

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed presents a unique challenge within the world of Magic: The Gathering. This legendary creature stands out with its ability to recur black cards from your graveyard, making it a resilient threat that can repeatedly leverage powerful spells and effects. What can you do against such relentless recursion?

Dealing with Xiahou Dun effectively requires interruption of graveyard strategies. Graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can nullify Xiahou Dun’s ability by removing the option to access the graveyard. Strategies that include exiling cards over traditional destruction methods offer an edge, as they prevent recurring opportunities. Additionally, employing instant-speed removal in response to the activation of Xiahou Dun’s ability can disrupt the intended combination of plays. Cards like Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares are solid choices to exile Xiahou Dun before its ability can be exploited.

Remember, maintaining control over the flow of your opponent’s graveyard will be key in mitigating the strength of Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed. By preemptively addressing the core of this card’s power, you can secure a better standing in your game. With precise timing and the right answers, you can overcome the challenge this one-eyed strategist poses.

Cards like Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed is a legendary creature that stands out in the realm of Magic: The Gathering. This card is akin to other legendary creatures like Reassembling Skeleton in its ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield. Whereas, Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed requires a sacrifice but brings the added benefit of potentially retrieving a black card from the graveyard to your hand, offering a strategic advantage and more control over your options.

Similarly, Ophiomancer provides ongoing utility in black-centric decks but serves a different purpose. It repeatedly generates creature tokens, which can be used defensively or synergistically with other card effects. However, it doesn’t offer direct graveyard interaction like Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed. Bloodghast provides a self-recurring creature presence as well, coming back from the graveyard to the battlefield whenever a land enters under your control, yet it doesn’t allow for the retrieval of other cards, focusing solely on self-revival.

Despite the unique features of these comparative cards, Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed’s ability to recur black spells gives it a coveted position within black control and combo strategies for players who value recursion and tactical manipulation of the graveyard.

Reassembling Skeleton - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed MTG card by a specific set like Portal Three Kingdoms and Masters Edition III, 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 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1999-05-01 and 2009-09-07. Illustrated by Junko Taguchi.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1999-05-01	Portal Three Kingdoms	PTK		92	1997	Normal	White	Junko Taguchi
2	2009-09-07	Masters Edition III	ME3		83	1997	Normal	Black	Junko Taguchi

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2009-10-01	Despite the similarities between horsemanship and flying, horsemanship doesn’t interact with flying or reach.
2009-10-01	You can’t activate Xiahou Dun’s ability to return Xiahou Dun itself to your hand. You must choose a target before you sacrifice Xiahou Dun, so it’s not a black card in your graveyard yet.
2013-09-20	If a turn has multiple combat phases, the ability can only be activated before the beginning of the declare attackers step of the first combat phase in that turn.