Vile Bile MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Creature — Ooze
Released	2004-11-19
Set symbol
Set name	Unhinged
Set code	UNH
Power	2.5
Toughness	2.5
Number	65
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Silver
Illustred by	Tony Szczudlo
Un-set :-)	This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

Vile Bile provides card advantage and battlefield control at instant speed, making it highly flexible.
The mana cost and discard requirement of Vile Bile can limit its inclusivity in diverse decks.
Despite these drawbacks, its combo potential makes Vile Bile a formidable addition to specific strategies.

Text of card

Whenever a player's skin or fingernail touches Vile Bile, that player loses 2 life.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Vile Bile offers a mechanism that can dismantle your opponent’s strategy while replenishing your hand. When you deploy this card, the ability to force an opponent to discard and then draw a card can significantly shift the balance in your favor, ensuring that you are not falling behind in terms of resources on the board.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly generating mana or tokens, Vile Bile indirectly accelerates your resources by disrupting your opponent’s hand. By efficiently removing their key cards, you can effectively slow them down, giving you the upper hand to develop your board presence and utilize your mana more effectively.

Instant Speed: The capacity to cast Vile Bile at instant speed provides supreme flexibility. This trait allows you to adapt to the battlefield dynamics, using it at the most opportune moment. Whether that’s interrupting a combo or waiting until your adversary has committed to an unwise play, instant speed ensures that Vile Bile is a threat that looms over the heads of your opponents throughout their turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Vile Bile is that it asks for a card to be discarded to activate certain abilities. This can be particularly punishing in tight game situations where hand size is already compromised, making it less than ideal when you’re in need of keeping all your options open.

Specific Mana Cost: Vile Bile comes with a specific mana cost that necessitates both black and green mana. This bifurcated cost makes it less flexible, requiring a dedicated deck setup to make the most efficient use of the card, thus potentially limiting its inclusion in a wider variety of decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value that’s on the higher side for its offered effect, some players might find Vile Bile lagging in terms of cost-effectiveness. Other cards on the battlefield may provide similar advantages without the hefty mana investment, leading players to opt for those alternatives in a bid for greater efficiency and game impact.

Reasons to Include Vile Bile in Your Collection

Versatility: Vile Bile fits seamlessly into a variety of deck archetypes due to its ability to interact with both creatures and graveyards. Whether you’re playing a control deck that needs removal or a graveyard-centric deck looking to exploit creature deaths, Vile Bile can be a key component.

Combo Potential: This card shines when combined with strategies that benefit from creature deaths, such as those involving “death triggers” or morbid abilities. It also serves as a useful enabler for decks looking to populate the graveyard for further strategic plays.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta with creature-heavy decks, Vile Bile can serve as an effective tool to manage the board, ensuring your deck can compete and maintain pace against prevalent strategies.

How to Beat Vile Bile

Vile Bile presents a unique set of challenges to players in MTG, combining disruptive abilities with a potentially game-swinging effect. Overcoming this card requires a blend of strategy and foresight. When Vile Bile comes into play, opponents often get caught off guard by its ability to manipulate and potentially diminish their hand size. To counteract this, having instant-speed removal can be key, allowing you to respond to its casting before its ability triggers.

Another solid approach is to utilize grave-based strategies that benefit from having cards in the graveyard, thereby turning Vile Bile’s downside to your advantage. Cards with Flashback or creatures that return from the graveyard, for instance, can mean that discarding isn’t a setback but a setup for your subsequent moves. Also, be mindful of the spells you cast and the creatures you play; relying on hard-to-remove permanents can minimize the impact of Vile Bile’s presence on the field.

Lastly, having robust card draw mechanisms in place can help replenish your hand, ensuring that Vile Bile’s disruption doesn’t leave you at a strategic loss. In essence, while Vile Bile may seem daunting at first glance, sculpting a deck with countermeasures and maintaining a prudent play style can neutralize its threat and keep you in control of the game.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vile Bile MTG card by a specific set like Unhinged, 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 Bile and other MTG cards: