Vraska, Betrayal's Sting MTG Card
2023-02-03 - Number 115
2023-02-03 - Number 337
2023-02-03 - Number 115s
2023-02-03 - Number 442
2023-02-03 - Number 361
2023-02-03 - Number 115p
2023-02-03 - Number 443
2023-02-03 - Number 326
2023-02-03 - Number 72
| Card sets | Released in 9 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Mythic |
| Type | Legendary Planeswalker — Vraska |
| Abilities | Compleated,Proliferate |
| Loyalty | 6 |
Key Takeaways
- Card advantage gained via proliferate and draw amplifies value-focused deck strategies.
- Resource acceleration through bounty counters and treasure tokens enhances mana availability.
- Flexible use of generated treasures at instant speed can be pivotal in-game.
Text of card
Compleated ({PB} can be paid with or 2 life. If life was paid, this planeswalker enters with two fewer loyalty counters.) 0: You draw a card and you lose 1 life. Proliferate. −2: Target creature becomes a Treasure artifact with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color" and loses all other card types and abilities. −9: If target player has fewer than nine poison counters, they get a number of poison counters equal to the difference.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting offers a unique avenue for card advantage by allowing you to proliferate and then draw a card whenever a creature you control with a bounty counter on it dies. This feeds into strategies that look to outvalue opponents over the course of a match.
Resource Acceleration: This planeswalker can also add to your resource pool by placing bounty counters on opponent’s creatures. When those creatures perish, you’re rewarded with treasure tokens, providing a boost in mana resources which can be a game-changer for ramping into larger threats or fueling demanding mana spells.
Instant Speed: Although Vraska herself doesn’t operate at instant speed, her created treasures do. This gives you the flexibility to react to an opponent’s actions by utilizing the treasures for instant speed spells or abilities, ensuring that you’re always maximizing your mana efficiency and responsiveness in the heat of the battle.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting necessitates a strategic discard to unlock its full potential. This can be particularly taxing during late-game scenarios when hand resources are already dwindling and every card counts.
Specific Mana Cost: The activation of Vraska’s abilities is locked behind a specifically colored mana cost. This requirement can sometimes prove challenging in multi-colored decks and may require a more tailored mana base to consistently cast her on curve.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Vraska brings a lot of value and flexibility to the table, her casting cost is on the higher end of the spectrum. This makes her less accessible in the early game where speed is often crucial, potentially giving faster-paced decks an advantage in the interim.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting lends itself to a broad array of deck strategies. As a planeswalker, it can flexibly control the board through its creature removal ability, contributing to both aggressive and controlling decks.
Combo Potential: With its ability to generate assassin tokens that can instantly defeat an opponent, Vraska elevates decks designed around token proliferation and planeswalker synergies, offering unexpected win conditions.
Meta-Relevance: In a game state where planeswalkers play a pivotal role, Vraska holds its ground by offering both offense and defense, adapting to a dynamic meta with the potential to disrupt common strategies and archetypes.
How to beat
Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting brings unique challenges to the battlefield with her versatile abilities. To tackle this formidable planeswalker, you’ll need a strategy that disrupts her loyalty abilities. Creature removal spells are effective tools to clear the path of blockers and attackers that could protect or leverage her abilities. Instant-speed removals have the advantage here, allowing you to respond before Vraska can amass too many loyalty counters or create a critical mass of Assassin tokens.
Counterspells also serve as a strong line of defense. By countering Vraska as she’s cast, you can prevent her from influencing the game state altogether. Look for efficient spells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto that can target planeswalkers specifically. Additionally, direct damage spells or abilities that can target planeswalkers can whittle down her loyalty, forcing your opponent to play defensively.
Ultimately, the key is to remain proactive. Keep pressure on your opponent, control the board, and use your disruption wisely. Effective timing and anticipation of your opponent’s plays can ensure Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting doesn’t turn the tide of the game against you.
Cards like Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting stands out in the arsenal of planeswalker cards within the Magic: The Gathering universe. When compared to other planeswalkers such as Liliana of the Veil, Vraska offers a unique combination of abilities, with a focus on creature control and manipulating enemy resources. Liliana, while iconic for her ability to force discard and control the board, does not provide the artifact and enchantment removal that Vraska does.
Assassin’s Trophy is another card that shares some of Vraska’s versatility, offering a swift solution to any problematic permanent at a low mana cost. Nonetheless, Vraska goes a step further by bringing recurring removal options across multiple turns while being a resilient presence on the battlefield. There’s also Casualties of War which, like Vraska, allows you to target an array of different permanents. But yet again, Vraska takes the upper hand with a potential to repeatedly affect the field round after round.
Comparing these alternatives spotlights Vraska’s value – she is not just a spot removal spell but a persistent threat with a suite of abilities that cater to various strategic needs in a game of Magic: The Gathering. Her versatility in handling threats and providing ongoing advantages makes her a formidable choice for any deck including her.
Cards similar to Vraska, Betrayal's Sting by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Vraska, Betrayal's Sting // Vraska, Betrayal's Sting MTG card by a specific set like Phyrexia: All Will Be One Art Series and Phyrexia: All Will Be One, 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 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting // Vraska, Betrayal's Sting and other MTG cards:
- eBay
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Printings
The Vraska, Betrayal's Sting // Vraska, Betrayal's Sting Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2023-02-03 and 2023-02-03. Illustrated by 3 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One Art Series | AONE | 72 | 2015 | Art series | Borderless | |||
| 2 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One | ONE | 115 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Chase Stone | |
| 3 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One | ONE | 337 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Sansyu | |
| 4 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One Promos | PONE | 115s | 2015 | Normal | Black | Chase Stone | |
| 5 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One | ONE | 442 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Sansyu | |
| 6 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One | ONE | 361 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Scott M. Fischer | |
| 7 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One Promos | PONE | 115p | 2015 | Normal | Black | Chase Stone | |
| 8 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One | ONE | 443 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Chase Stone | |
| 9 | 2023-02-03 | Phyrexia: All Will Be One | ONE | 326 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Chase Stone |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Vraska, Betrayal's Sting has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Vraska, Betrayal's Sting card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-02-04 | A Phyrexian mana symbol contributes 1 toward the mana value of a card, even if life is paid for it. Specifically, Vraska's mana value is always 6. |
| 2023-02-04 | In most cases, the target of Vraska's last loyalty ability will end up with nine poison counters. However, once you calculate what the difference is, replacement effects can change how many poison counters the player actually gets. For example, if the player controls Melira, the Living Cure, they will end up getting one poison counter if they had eight or fewer to begin with. |
| 2023-02-04 | Other replacement effects that would change the number of loyalty counters Vraska enters with will apply as normal. |
| 2023-02-04 | The compleated ability looks only at whether a player chose to pay 2 life for a Phyrexian mana symbol as they were casting the spell. If a player paid life for some other reason while casting the spell, that will not reduce the number of loyalty counters the planeswalker enters the battlefield with. |
| 2023-02-04 | The target of Vraska's second loyalty ability will lose any other subtypes and card types it previously had and will be only a Treasure artifact. It will retain any supertypes it had. |