Vivisection MTG Card
2011-02-04 - Number 38
2021-09-24 - Number 83
2022-01-28 - Number 83
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Sorcery |
Text of card
As an additional cost to cast Vivisection, sacrifice a creature. Draw three cards.
Phyrexians research with the grace of surgeons and the finesse of butchers.
Cards like Vivisection
Vivisection offers a unique tactical angle within the blue card draw options in Magic: The Gathering. With a comparison to another similar sorcery, Concentrate, each spell lets you draw three cards, catering to players’ thirst for new options. Vivisection, however, necessitates an additional sacrifice — a creature must be offered for the card’s effect to take place, adding a layer of strategic depth to its use.
Peering into the same family of blue spells, we encounter Compulsive Research, a card that allows you to draw cards with more flexibility. You can select whether to discard a card or a land, giving you control over preserving your non-land resources. Vivisection’s requirement for a creature sacrifice might seem restrictive, but it pairs smoothly with decks that benefit from having creatures in the graveyard or manage token generation efficiently.
Finally, it’s worth noting that while other spells like Inspiration are instant and can be used reactively, Vivisection’s sorcery speed encourages a more premeditated approach. When evaluating similar draw cards and their potential impact on gameplay, Vivisection’s design favors players who craft their decks around the synergy of card draw and creatures, offering a compelling reason to consider it amongst sorcery-based draw spells, despite its sacrifice condition.
Cards similar to Vivisection by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Vivisection presents an opportunity to draw three cards, significantly bolstering a player’s hand and options, particularly when in need of a late-game surge or maintaining pressure on an opponent.
Resource Acceleration: It offers a strategic advantage by potentially transforming a single creature, that may be of less use at the moment, into a trio of new cards, keeping the game’s momentum in your favor.
Instant Speed: While Vivisection is a sorcery, this actually plays into its strength in a more deliberate, planned approach; it supports carefully timed sacrifices—especially of token creatures or those with dying triggers—to maximize the turn’s potential outcomes.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Vivisection obliges you to sacrifice a creature to cast it, which may deplete your board presence and reduce your capacity to respond to threats.
Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost demands one blue mana, making it incompatible for decks that don’t run blue or have a reliable mana base to support such requirements.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three and a blue, it occupies the more costly tier of card-draw spells, which could be an obstacle in fast-paced games where efficiency is vital.
Reasons to Include Vivisection in Your Collection
Versatility: Vivisection offers a blend of card draw and creature sacrifice, adding strategic depth to several deck archetypes. It’s particularly useful where sacrificing creatures triggers other abilities or in decks that can easily recover creatures from the graveyard.
Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with decks that capitalize on death triggers, offering the possibility to chain together effects for a powerful board presence while refilling your hand with options.
Meta-Relevance: In a game state that encourages creature-based strategies or where card advantage is king, Vivisection finds a home. It can disrupt opponent creatures while propelling your game plan through valuable card draw.
How to beat Vivisection
Vivisection represents an intriguing card draw ability for Magic: The Gathering players, offering the potential to draw three cards at the cost of sacrificing a creature. While the influx of cards can be significant, it’s paramount for opponents to understand strategic maneuvers to counteract its effect. One approach could be preemptive creature removal, undercutting the card’s usability by ensuring there isn’t a creature available to sacrifice.
Alternatively, employing counterspells when Vivisection is on the stack can effectively neutralize the threat before it takes effect, a tactic that aligns closely with control decks. Additionally, cards like Krosan Grip, that provide split second opportunities, disrupt the play, offering no window for response. This could shake the opponent’s board presence, especially if they were relying on the sacrifice for a strategic benefit beyond just drawing cards.
Recognizing the balance between preserving your own creatures and undermining the opponents’ card advantage is key. Therefore, maintaining a board state that dissuades opponents from capitalizing on Vivisection, while being ready to react when it’s cast, can be the formula to diluting its potential impact on the game.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Vivisection MTG card by a specific set like Mirrodin Besieged and Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, 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 Vivisection and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
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Printings
The Vivisection Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2011-02-04 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011-02-04 | Mirrodin Besieged | MBS | 38 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Anthony Francisco | |
| 2 | 2021-09-24 | Innistrad: Midnight Hunt | MID | 83 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Aaron Miller | |
| 3 | 2022-01-28 | Innistrad: Double Feature | DBL | 83 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Aaron Miller |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Vivisection has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Vivisection card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2013-04-15 | Players can only respond once this spell has been cast and all its costs have been paid. No one can try to destroy the creature you sacrificed to prevent you from casting this spell. |
| 2013-04-15 | You must sacrifice exactly one creature to cast this spell; you cannot cast it without sacrificing a creature, and you cannot sacrifice additional creatures. |