Veteran Soldier MTG Card
2022-06-10 - Number 48
2022-06-10 - Number 480
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Legendary Enchantment — Background |
Text of card
Commander creatures you own have "Whenever this creature attacks a player, if no opponent has more life than that player, for each opponent, create a 1/1 white Soldier creature token that's tapped and attacking that player."
You've always been happiest fighting for a cause you believe in alongside loyal comrades.
Cards like Veteran Soldier
The Veteran Soldier card holds its ground among creature options in Magic: The Gathering. This reliable unit shares a kinship with fellow warriors like Elite Vanguard. Both cost one white mana and deliver a solid two points of damage with their two power. However, Veteran Soldier’s unique advantage lies in its higher resilience, boasting two toughness as opposed to Elite Vanguard’s one, giving it an edge in surviving combat.
Comparatively, Precinct Captain is another card that marches to a similar beat. With a cost of two mana, it brings an additional benefit — creating 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens with every successful combat damage to a player. This offers a strategic advantage in terms of board presence. Meanwhile, Thalia’s Lieutenant, although not a Soldier by creature type, also commands attention. When entering the battlefield, it buffs each other Human you control, potentially turning a simple squad of creatures into a formidable army.
In weighing up the capabilities and costs, Veteran Soldier’s basic efficiency makes it a trustworthy pick for both early defense and offense, ensuring a significant presence from the get-go. It stands as a foundational piece in decks focusing on early game strength and synergistic soldier strategies.
Cards similar to Veteran Soldier by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Veteran Soldier cards often feature abilities that allow for steady drawing or retrieval of cards from the graveyard, keeping your hand abundant and options open during strategic gameplay.
Resource Acceleration: Many Veteran Soldier cards offer ways to boost your mana pool or increase the deployment of fellow soldiers onto the battlefield, allowing for a rapid assembly of forces and potential overwhelming of opponents.
Instant Speed: Certain Veteran Soldier cards possess flash or grant instant speed to other spells. This adaptability affords you the tactical edge to outmaneuver opponents by making crucial moves at the most opportune times, often during their turns.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Veteran Soldier card may necessitate discarding another card or meeting certain conditions before you can fully utilize its abilities, which can be a strategic setback when your hand is already running thin.
Specific Mana Cost: Soldier-themed decks typically thrive on flexibility and a low-cost curve, but the particular mana requirements for casting this card might not always align with the diverse mana base often favored in these builds, possibly leading to missed plays or delays.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the card promises a robust effect befitting a seasoned combatant, its efficiency is in question when its mana cost is stacked against similar cards in the same rarity or utility range that offer potentially greater impact or versatility on the battlefield for the same or lower investment.
Reasons to Include Veteran Soldier in Your Collection
Versatility: Veteran Soldier card excels in its flexibility, blending seamlessly into various deck archetypes that hinge on bolstering the battlefield with reliable creatures. This makes the card a solid choice for both aggressive and control strategies that value early board presence.
Combo Potential: This card thrives when paired with equipment and other soldier synergies, amplifying its utility. Its ability to possibly buff itself or other soldiers creates numerous opportunities for advantageous interactions and powerful combinations on the battlefield.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Veteran Soldier’s capabilities to establish a defensive stance early on or enhance offensive maneuvers make it a pertinent option. Its potential to adapt and counter widely-used tactics adds significant merit to its inclusion in your deck.
How to Beat
Veteran Soldier is a card that often finds a place in MTG decks focused on creature strength and synergy. Its ability to bolster your army can be a real game-changer in the right setup. To outmaneuver this card, consider control strategies that limit your opponent’s creatures from amassing or utilizing their abilities. Spot removal, sweepers, or cards that place tapping effects on creatures can be highly effective. A deck that includes plentiful board wipes, such as “Wrath of God” or “Doomskar”, could reset the battlefield, lessening the impact of the Veteran Soldier’s supportive abilities.
Alternatively, countering creature-heavy strategies with cards like “Essence Scatter” that prevent creatures from hitting the battlefield in the first place, can nullify the advantage that Veteran Soldier brings to the table. Another strategy is to use combat tricks or damage spells to remove the Veteran Soldier before it can affect the board. “Shock” and “Lightning Bolt” are simple yet effective options.
Strategy and timing are crucial when facing a card like Veteran Soldier. An informed MTG player knows how to prioritize threats and understands that sometimes allowing a seemingly harmless card to stick around for too long can lead to their downfall. Therefore, maintaining control and managing your opponent’s creature presence are key to coming out on top in this matchup.
BurnMana Recommendations
Mastering the intricacies of MTG can be as strategic as a well-played game of chess. Understanding the strengths and limitations of specific cards like Veteran Soldier is vital for any player looking to enhance their gameplay. Reflect on the card’s ability to grant you broad control of the battlefield, weigh the pros and cons of including it in your deck, and consider its place within the current meta. For those aiming to build an impactful soldier-themed deck or seeking to refine their existing setup, exploring the synergies and counterplays is crucial. Curious to learn more about how cards like Veteran Soldier can transform your deck’s performance? Step into our arena of expertise, where every click brings you closer to achieving MTG mastery.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Veteran Soldier MTG card by a specific set like Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate and Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, 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 Veteran Soldier and other MTG cards:
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Printings
The Veteran Soldier Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2022-06-10 and 2022-06-10. Illustrated by Brock Grossman.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 48 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Brock Grossman | |
| 2 | 2022-06-10 | Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate | CLB | 480 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Brock Grossman |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Veteran Soldier has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Veteran Soldier card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2022-06-10 | An effect that checks whether you control your commander is satisfied if you control one or both of your two commanders. |
| 2022-06-10 | Both commanders start in the command zone, and the remaining 98 cards (or 58 cards in a Commander Draft game) of your deck are shuffled to become your library. |
| 2022-06-10 | Choose a Background is a variant of the partner ability. You may have two commanders if one of them is a legendary creature with the choose a background ability and the other is a legendary Background enchantment. Backgrounds and cards with choose a Background do not interact with cards which have any other partner ability. |
| 2022-06-10 | If a card refers to a commander creature you own, a Background won't usually be counted or included for that effect. If another spell or ability causes your Background to become a creature, however, it will be included. Any effect that refers to your commander or a commander you own or control without specifying creature will apply to a Background that is your commander, as appropriate. |
| 2022-06-10 | If something refers to your commander while you have two commanders, it refers to one of them of your choice. If you are instructed to perform an action on your commander (e.g. put it from the command zone into your hand due to Command Beacon), you choose one of your commanders at the time the effect happens. |
| 2022-06-10 | If you control a Background that grants an ability to commander creatures you own, and you own more than one commander creature, each of them will have that ability. |
| 2022-06-10 | If your Commander deck has two commanders, you can include only cards whose own color identities are also found in your commanders’ combined color identities. |
| 2022-06-10 | If your commander loses the choose a Background ability or stops being a Background during the game, as appropriate, it is still your commander. |
| 2022-06-10 | Once the game begins, your two commanders are tracked separately. If you cast one, you won’t have to pay an additional the first time you cast the other. A player loses the game after having been dealt 21 combat damage from any one of them, not from both of them combined (although your Background won’t usually be a creature anyway). |
| 2022-06-10 | The ability granted by Veteran Soldier is looking to see if any of the attacking player's opponents have a higher life total than that defending player. The attacking player's life total is not included in this comparison. |
| 2022-06-10 | Veteran Soldier has received an update to its Oracle text to clarify its function. Specifically, a Soldier creature token is created for each opponent of the controller of the attacking commander. |
| 2022-06-10 | You can choose two commanders that are the same color or colors. |