Vengeful Warchief MTG Card

Strengthens with damage taken, tipping the balance of power through its escalating presence on the board. Demands strategic play; a high mana cost and specific mana requirements may limit deck compatibility. Has potential in adaptive metagames, especially in decks that favor life-total manipulation and aggressive tactics.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Orc Warrior
Released	2019-07-12
Set symbol
Set name	Core Set 2020
Set code	M20
Power	4
Toughness	4
Number	121
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Karl Kopinski

Text of card

Whenever you lose life for the first time each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Vengeful Warchief. (Damage causes loss of life.)

"Try to steal from me and I'll add your skull to my collection."

Cards like Vengeful Warchief

Vengeful Warchief is a noteworthy creature card that finds its place within the array of impactful black creatures in Magic: The Gathering. This Orc Warrior brings a particular tactical advantage with its ability to grow stronger whenever you lose life. A card with a somewhat similar ethos is Bloodthirsty Aerialist, which also gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you gain life, inversely harnessing your lifegain.

Comparably, the renowned Vampire Nighthawk offers a different set of tools, bearing deathtouch and lifelink which makes it a formidable airborne threat, although without the same scaling potential as the Warchief. No less significant is the Sengir Vampire, a classic creature that gains power for each creature it destroys, thus rewarding aggression in a different manner to the Warchief’s growth through personal loss.

Assessing Vengeful Warchief in relation to its peers, its unique ability to turn a potential drawback into a formidable advantage offers a strategic depth that can dynamically alter the state of play. Especially within decks focusing on life payment, this creature can swiftly become a force to be reckoned with.

Bloodthirsty Aerialist - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: When the Vengeful Warchief takes damage, its ability to gain a +1/+1 counter presents an opportunity for the card to grow stronger, potentially outclassing opponent creatures and setting the stage for favorable trades or more impactful attacks.

Resource Acceleration: Even though the Warchief itself does not directly provide mana or resource acceleration, its increasing threat level can force opponents to use resources to deal with it, indirectly shifting the resource balance in your favor.

Instant Speed: While the Vengeful Warchief operates at sorcery speed, being a creature that benefits from instant-speed interaction with your other cards – such as spells that damage your own creatures for value – can maximize the potential of its passive ability, effectively accelerating your board state advantage at unexpected times.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Vengeful Warchief’s ability to get stronger when you lose life may seem appealing, but without a controlled way to lose life or mitigate damage, this ability can be less effective. It demands a strategic setup that might not always be convenient when you’re aiming to maintain a healthy life total.

Specific Mana Cost: Costing both black and generic mana can sometimes be a hurdle, especially in multicolored decks that need to manage a more complex mana base. The need for specific mana types can hinder its early play if the necessary sources aren’t available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an initial mana value of five, Vengeful Warchief sits at a higher curve than some might prefer. Decks looking to stay agile and efficient might find the cost prohibitive, especially when other creatures or spells can offer more immediate impact on the game state.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Vengeful Warchief offers a flexible role in decks that revolve around creature-based strategies or those that utilize +1/+1 counters. Its ability to grow under certain conditions makes it suitable for different game phases.

Combo Potential: This card thrives in synergy with mechanics like proliferate or any strategy inflicting damage to your own life total, effectively turning life-loss into a strength by making the Warchief more formidable.

Meta-Relevance: Given its inherent tendency to become a bigger threat as the game progresses, it meshes well with the pace of current metagames that frequently swing back and forth with creature combat and life total manipulation.

How to beat

Vengeful Warchief is a formidable creature card that can quickly escalate in power within the realm of Magic: The Gathering. With its ability to grow stronger whenever damage is dealt to you, the key to countering this threat lies in preemption and removal. Tackling the Warchief before it accumulates too many +1/+1 counters is crucial, as it can become unmanageable if left unchecked.

Effective strategies include using instant-speed removal spells such as Murder or Path to Exile to dispatch the Warchief before the opponent’s turn begins. This disrupts their plans to benefit from the Warchief’s power growth. Additionally, employing countermeasures that prevent damage to yourself, like life gain spells or Fog effects, can stifle the Warchief’s potential to become a powerhouse. Another avenue is to prioritize cards that neutralize creature abilities, ensuring the Warchief’s conditional strength becomes a non-factor.

Ultimately, swift removal, damage prevention, and ability disruption are your allies in ensuring the Vengeful Warchief doesn’t take over the game. Addressing it early will keep your strategy on track and maintain control over the battleground.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vengeful Warchief MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2020, 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 Vengeful Warchief and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vengeful Warchief has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2019-07-12	A player loses life if they pay life.
2019-07-12	If Vengeful Warchief comes under your control after you’ve already lost life in a turn, its ability can’t trigger during that turn.
2019-07-12	If you pay life to cast a spell or activate an ability, you don’t put a +1/+1 counter on Vengeful Warchief until after you’ve finished casting that spell or activating that ability. You put the counter on Vengeful Warchief before that spell or ability resolves.
2019-07-12	You put only one +1/+1 counter on Vengeful Warchief, no matter how much life you lost.