Vastwood Surge MTG Card

Vastwood Surge allows substantial mana ramp and potential creature boosts with its kicker effect. It synergizes well with landfall decks, enhancing both mana base and combo plays. Countered effectively by disrupting land acceleration and early pressure on the opponent.

Zendikar Rising (ZNR)
2020-09-25 - Number 217

Vastwood Surge - Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)

Neon Dynasty Commander (NEC)
2022-02-18 - Number 133

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Kicker

Text of card

Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) Search your library for up to two basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. If this spell was kicked, put two +1/+1 counters on each creature you control.

Cards like Vastwood Surge

Vastwood Surge is a standout card for scalping mana and expanding your reach within the game. It has a solid kinship with cards like Explosive Vegetation, which similarly allows for the ramping up of lands into play. Vastwood Surge edges ahead with its kicker ability, giving your creatures that much-needed boost in later stages of the game.

Another comparable card is Nissa’s Pilgrimage. Both aim to escalate your land resources, but Nissa’s Pilgrimage has a specific condition requiring a spell mastery to achieve its full potential, which can be restrictive based on your graveyard. Vastwood Surge offers a more straightforward benefit with the flexibility of a kicker option. Then there’s Cultivate, which not only ramps but also smoothens your mana by placing one land into your hand. What sets Vastwood Surge apart is its scalability, making it a versatile option for different phases of the game.

In the landscape of green mana acceleration spells, Vastwood Surge enjoys a commendable position due to its dual utility in land ramp and later game creature enhancement, proving to be a multifaceted tool for players seeking to gain a substantial lead in mana advantage and board presence.

Explosive Vegetation - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Vastwood Surge by color, type and mana cost

Decks using this card

MTG decks using Vastwood Surge. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#	Name	Format	Archetype	Event
	Simic Ramp	Gladiator		Gladiator Proving Grounds: Week 14 2024

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Vastwood Surge not only ramps up your land resources but also has a built-in kicker option that lets you put counters on all creatures you control. This offers both immediate on the field advantage and long-term value by boosting your entire board, often creating an overwhelming situation for your opponents.

Resource Acceleration: Playing this card ensures you can search your library for two basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped. This jump in land count catapults your resource availability, allowing for larger plays in subsequent turns and giving you the capability to cast high-cost spells earlier than usual.

Instant Speed: While Vastwood Surge does not operate at instant speed, its powerful ramp effect compensates for its sorcery speed. The ability to significantly advance your mana base in a single turn can be game-changing, setting you up for a powerful late-game where casting multiple spells in a turn can swiftly tilt the game in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Vastwood Surge comes without the burden of a discard requirement, providing clean ramp without immediate drawbacks in card advantage. This trait keeps your hand intact, arguably offsetting some mana investment.

Specific Mana Cost: As a spell requiring specific green mana, it fits primarily into green-based or multicolor decks capable of generating this mana type. This restricts its inclusion to deck archetypes that can accommodate its color identity and mana needs.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of four mana, Vastwood Surge demands a significant portion of your total resources in the early to mid-game. While it offers a substantial ramp and later game landfall potential, it competes with numerous other ramp options and card slots — some which may provide more immediate impact or versatility at a lower mana investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Vastwood Surge is an adaptable card that can find a place in an array of green-based decks. The scalability of this spell—thanks to its kicker ability—not only ramps up your mana but also makes it a viable option in the late game to boost your board presence with +1/+1 counters.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with landfall strategies, triggering multiple landfall abilities in a single turn. When used with cards that reward you for playing additional lands or having lands enter the battlefield, Vastwood Surge significantly amplifies those synergies, allowing for powerful combinations.

Meta-Relevance: With many competitive decks focusing on quick development and board superiority, Vastwood Surge helps keep pace with the accelerating tempo of the game. By helping establish your mana base early, or by bolstering your creatures in the later stages, it remains a pertinent choice for anyone battling within a mid-range or ramp-centric meta.

How to beat

Vastwood Surge is a dynamic spell in Magic: The Gathering that can quickly tip the scales in favor of ramping players. The key to dismantling the advantage provided by this card is to anticipate and disrupt the land acceleration it grants. Counter strategies involve land destruction, countering the spell directly, or applying pressure to force the ramping player to answer threats to their life total instead of focusing on their mana base development.

Maintaining a hand that can react to the spells and creatures your opponent might play by using instant speed removal or thoughtfully timing sorcery speed spells that disrupt their game plan is crucial. Cards like Ghost Quarter can disrupt the mana base Vastwood Surge aims to boost, while instant counterplay like Negate can halt it before the additional lands ever hit the battlefield. Furthermore, presenting a significant threat early on can demand answers from the ramping player, reducing the likelihood they’ll have the resources or time to leverage the full potential of Vastwood Surge.

Ultimately, staying nimble and proactively managing the opponent’s resources through efficient play can neutralize the impressive acceleration Vastwood Surge brings to the table in Magic: The Gathering.

BurnMana Recommendations

Crafting a winning MTG strategy involves understanding the versatility of cards like Vastwood Surge. Ramp up your gameplay by integrating this mana-accelerating marvel into your deck. Utilize its kicker ability to not only surge ahead in resources but to also elevate your creatures’ power, ensuring your late-game turns are as impactful as possible. Whether you’re a ramp enthusiast or a fan of dynamic play, embracing the dual utility of Vastwood Surge can bolster your deck’s performance across various metas. Discover more strategic insights and enhance your collection with us, taking your gameplay to unparalleled heights.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vastwood Surge MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar Rising and Neon Dynasty Commander, 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 Vastwood Surge and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Vastwood Surge Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2020-09-25 and 2022-02-18. Illustrated by Jason Rainville.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2020-09-25	Zendikar Rising	ZNR		217	2015	Normal	Black	Jason Rainville
2	2022-02-18	Neon Dynasty Commander	NEC		133	2015	Normal	Black	Jason Rainville

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vastwood Surge has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Commander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2020-09-25	An ability that triggers when a player casts a kicked spell resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger, but after targets have been chosen for that spell. It resolves even if that spell is countered.
2020-09-25	If any abilities trigger when the lands are put onto the battlefield and Vastwood Surge was kicked, those abilities won't resolve until after you've put two +1/+1 counters on creatures you control.
2020-09-25	If you copy a kicked spell, the copy is also kicked. If a card or token enters the battlefield as a copy of a permanent that's already on the battlefield, the new permanent isn't kicked, even if the original was.
2020-09-25	If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can't kick it.
2020-09-25	Kicker represents an optional additional cost that you may choose to pay as you cast the spell. A spell cast with that additional cost paid is “kicked.”
2020-09-25	Some instant or sorcery spells require alternative or additional targets if they're kicked. You ignore these targeting requirements if those spells aren't kicked, and you can't kick those spells unless you can choose the appropriate targets. On the other hand, you can kick a permanent spell even if you won't be able to choose targets for an enters-the-battlefield ability of that permanent once the spell resolves.
2020-09-25	To determine a spell's total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card's effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2020-09-25	You can't pay a kicker cost more than once.