Vastwood Zendikon MTG Card
2010-02-05 - Number 117
2017-06-16 - Number 77
2020-07-17 - Number 440
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 5 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Enchantment — Aura |
| Abilities | Enchant |
Text of card
Enchant land Enchanted land is a 6/4 green Elemental creature. It's still a land. When enchanted land is put into a graveyard, return that card to its owner's hand.
Cards like Vastwood Zendikon
Vastwood Zendikon serves as a unique spell in the realm of green mana ramp and land animation in Magic: The Gathering. It shares its core concept with cards like Awakener Druid, which also turns lands into potent creatures. However, Vastwood Zendikon has the added benefit of reviving the land if the creature is destroyed, giving players a resilient form of board presence.
Exploring further, we find Earth Surge, which similarly boosts lands but instead gives all lands creature status as long as they’re untapped, changing the dynamics of land-based strategies. Vastwood Zendikon’s versatility allows for a single target approach, which can be optimal in certain scenarios. Moving on, there’s Nissa, Who Shakes the World, which has a more sprawling effect. While Nissa transforms only Forests into creatures, the permanence and the bonus mana production are significant advantages.
Assessing the landscape of land animation within the game, Vastwood Zendikon presents a harmonious balance between aggressive play and defensive utility, carving out its niche effectively amongst its peers in green’s enchantment options.
Cards similar to Vastwood Zendikon by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Vastwood Zendikon brings a unique twist to card advantage by transforming a land into a creature, efficiently utilizing one card for two roles. This can be especially potent when you bring a land back from your graveyard to the battlefield, effectively negating an opponent’s previous removal effort.
Resource Acceleration: While not directly producing mana, Vastwood Zendikon offers resource acceleration by returning a land to play when it leaves the battlefield. This synergizes well with landfall abilities and gives you an additional opportunity to play effects that trigger when lands enter the battlefield or are played.
Instant Speed: Despite being an enchantment, the benefit of this card arises when considering the instant speed interactions it enables. For example, by turning a land into a creature, you can swiftly block an unexpected assault, potentially surprising an opponent who didn’t consider your land a potential defender.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While Vastwood Zendikon doesn’t require you to discard a card, it does return to your hand if the land it enchants is destroyed. This can equate to a loss of tempo, especially if you’ve invested mana in other spells or creatures assuming the enchanted land’s stability as a creature on the battlefield.
Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Vastwood Zendikon is specific to green mana sources. This necessity for a singular color can restrict deck-building options, primarily if your strategy involves a multi-color deck where green mana may not always be readily available, thus hampering its utility across various deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a cost of one green and one generic mana, Vastwood Zendikon’s mana investment is pertinent for turning a land into a 4/2 green Elemental creature. However, this does come at the expense of not developing your board with other potentially more impactful creatures or spells for the same or lower mana investment.
Reasons to Include Vastwood Zendikon in Your Collection
Versatility: Vastwood Zendikon’s ability to turn any land into a 6/4 creature allows for defensive or offensive strategies, fitting into a variety of green decks that value surprise blockers or sudden swings in board presence.
Combo Potential: Its land transformation synergizes well with effects that benefit from creature ETBs or landfall triggers, enabling powerful plays within those mechanics.
Meta-Relevance: In environments where land destruction isn’t prevalent, Vastwood Zendikon offers resilience and unexpected lines of attack, adapting well against various opposing strategies.
How to beat
Vastwood Zendikon is a unique card that turns land into a formidable creature, presenting an ability that can surprise opponents and shift the tide of the game in Magic: The Gathering. Beating this card often hinges on timing and disruption. One effective strategy is to focus on removal spells that can dispatch the land creature before it gets to unleash its full potential on the battlefield. Cards like Path to Exile offer a permanent solution by exiling the creature, thus reverting the land to its original state without the threat of becoming a creature again.
Another approach is to utilize instant-speed combat tricks to weaken or eliminate the land creature during combat. Practiced players often keep their mana open, ready to unleash spells like Shock or Fatal Push during the opponent’s turn. This not only derails the Zendikon’s attack but maintains pressure by disrupting the opponent’s careful planning. It’s essential to clock these spells effectively, considering that resources were invested into animating the land. Denying the Zendikon’s impact is a key tactical move in controlling the game’s pace and maintaining your advantage.
Mindful resource management and a strategic mindset can make Vastwood Zendikon a manageable obstacle rather than a dominating force. By prioritizing its immediate removal or utilizing combat strategies that neutralize its threat, players can maintain an upper hand and continue to command the game’s flow.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Vastwood Zendikon MTG card by a specific set like Worldwake and Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, 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 Zendikon and other MTG cards:
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- Card Market
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Printings
The Vastwood Zendikon Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2010-02-05 and 2020-07-17. Illustrated by Rob Alexander.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010-02-05 | Worldwake | WWK | 117 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Rob Alexander | |
| 2 | 2017-06-16 | Archenemy: Nicol Bolas | E01 | 77 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Rob Alexander | |
| 3 | 2020-07-17 | Jumpstart | JMP | 440 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Rob Alexander |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Vastwood Zendikon has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Vastwood Zendikon card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2010-03-01 | An ability that turns a land into a creature also sets that creature’s power and toughness. If the land was already a creature, this will overwrite the previous effect that set its power and toughness. Effects that modify its power or toughness, such as the effects of Disfigure or Glorious Anthem, will continue to apply, no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change its power or toughness (such as +1/+1 counters) and effects that switch its power and toughness. |
| 2010-03-01 | An attacking or blocking creature that stops being a creature is removed from combat. This can happen if a Zendikon enchanting an attacking or blocking creature leaves the battlefield, for example. The permanent that was removed from combat neither deals nor is dealt combat damage. Any attacking creature that the land creature was blocking remains blocked, however. |
| 2010-03-01 | If a Zendikon and the land it’s enchanting are destroyed at the same time (due to Akroma’s Vengeance, for example), the Zendikon’s last ability will still trigger. |
| 2010-03-01 | If a Zendikon’s last ability triggers, but the land card it refers to leaves the graveyard before it resolves, it will resolve but do nothing. |
| 2010-03-01 | The enchanted permanent will be both a land and a creature and can be affected by anything that affects either a land or a creature. |
| 2010-03-01 | When a land becomes a creature, that doesn’t count as having a creature enter the battlefield. The permanent was already on the battlefield; it only changed its types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won’t trigger. |