Mimic Vat MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeArtifact
Abilities Imprint

Key Takeaways

  1. Generates card advantage by creating tokens from imprinted creatures at a low resource cost.
  2. Instant speed activation allows surprising plays and disrupts opponents’ strategies effectively.
  3. Despite its cost and requirements, Mimic Vat’s versatility justifies its inclusion in diverse decks.

Text of card

Imprint — Whenever a nontoken creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may exile that card. If you do, return each other card exiled with Mimic Vat to its owner's graveyard. , : Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of the exiled card. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mimic Vat offers a unique way to generate card advantage by effectively reusing creatures. When a creature dies, you can imprint it on Mimic Vat, and later create a token copy that brings all the utility of the original creature back to the battlefield without dipping into your hand or library.

Resource Acceleration: The power of Mimic Vat can translate into a form of resource acceleration. It doesn’t ramp you in the traditional sense of providing additional mana, but by providing a stream of creatures for a single investment of three mana, you’re freeing up resources to be spent elsewhere each turn.

Instant Speed: The ability to create a token at instant speed gives Mimic Vat flexibility during the game. You can activate it at the end of your opponent’s turn to present a surprise blocker or perhaps to trigger an enter-the-battlefield effect just in time to disrupt your opponent’s strategy, making it a versatile tool in any game situation.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Mimic Vat necessitates an imprinted creature to leverage its cloning ability, meaning you need a creature card to hit the graveyard which can be restrictive if your strategy does not naturally put creatures in there.

Specific Mana Cost: Activating Mimic Vat requires three mana, including at least one generic. This cost must be paid each time you wish to use its ability, which could compete with other demands for your mana during the game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the initial investment in Mimic Vat is moderate at three mana, consistently using its ability can add up over time. This reoccurring cost can be cumbersome compared to other artifact options that provide passive benefits without further investment.


Reasons to Include Mimic Vat in Your Collection

Versatility: Mimic Vat offers unparalleled flexibility in deck building. Its capacity to copy creatures from any battlefield brings dynamic play options, making it a fit for numerous archetypes from control to combo decks.

Combo Potential: This artifact shines when paired with creatures that have enter-the-battlefield or death triggers. Integrating Mimic Vat into such strategies can lead to powerful recurring effects each turn, potentially swinging games in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: As the battlefield often shifts with powerful creatures, Mimic Vat remains consistently relevant. It can disrupt opponents’ plans by denying them their key creatures while simultaneously bolstering your board state with copies of the most impactful minions in play.


How to beat

Mimic Vat represents a unique challenge on the battlefield, becoming a real game-changer in Magic: The Gathering matches. This artifact excels in reusing creature abilities by imprinting them and later creating token copies. Facing a Mimic Vat requires a strategy that disrupts this mechanism effectively. Removing the card with targeted artifact destruction is direct and efficient. Cards such as Nature’s Claim or Disenchant can swiftly remove Mimic Vat from play before it becomes a recurring threat.

Altering your approach also impacts the Vat’s effectiveness. If possible, avoid sending your most valuable creatures into combat to prevent giving your opponent potent targets to imprint. Instead, presenting less impactful creatures can mitigate the damage done by the token copies. Another tactic involves graveyard interaction. Utilizing cards that exile cards from graveyards, like Relic of Progenitus, can essentially nullify the Vat’s imprint ability. Working around Mimic Vat requires adaptable playstyles and key removal spells, ensuring that you regain control and neutralize its advantage.

To sum up, prevailing over a Mimic Vat in Magic: The Gathering is about preparation and reaction. Include artifact removal in your deck and adapt your combat strategy to limit its imprint options, applying pressure to your opponent and rendering the Vat ineffective.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding how Mimic Vat tips the scales in MTG can be the difference between a win and a loss. This unique artifact offers diverse tactical advantages that, when mastered, can unleash devastating effects on the battlefield. Combining instant speed activation with the ability to harness key creatures from any graveyard, it represents a toolbox of possibilities for savvy players. If you’re looking to outmaneuver opponents with smart graveyard play, or simply love the idea of turning the tide with token creatures, Mimic Vat is a must-have. Dive deeper with us and discover strategies to optimize this dynamic card in your deck configurations.


Cards like Mimic Vat

Mimic Vat stands out in MTG as a unique artifact with the ability to clone creatures. Its affinity to Sculpting Steel is noticeable, which also copies artifacts; however, Mimic Vat’s specialization in creatures provides it a distinct tactical advantage. Unlike Sculpting Steel, Mimic Vat’s imprinted creature token option comes with a temporal presence, emphasizing strategy over permanence.

Moving to Phyrexian Processor, which requires life investment to create tokens, Mimic Vat shines by utilizing opponents’ graveyard fodder, making creature deaths a tool rather than a setback. Yet, the Processor can produce a fleet of identical, hefty tokens, whereas Mimic Vat’s versatility is in its ability to imprint any creature that meets its demise.

Looking at the broader MTG landscape, Mimic Vat’s imprint and token generation mechanic subtly echoes Soul Foundry. The Foundry demands a higher initial setup cost with its imprint, but in the long run, it creates tokens without further expenditure. Mimic Vat, alternatively, offers instant-speed creature replication, a boon for circumventing sorcery-speed restrictions.

In essence, Mimic Vat deserves recognition for its dynamic playstyle among MTG artifact cards, tactically catapulting off enemy losses and offering instant adaptability on the battlefield.

Sculpting Steel - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Processor - MTG Card versions
Soul Foundry - MTG Card versions
Sculpting Steel - Mirrodin (MRD)
Phyrexian Processor - Urza's Saga (USG)
Soul Foundry - Mirrodin (MRD)

Cards similar to Mimic Vat by color, type and mana cost

Runed Arch - MTG Card versions
Clay Pigeon - MTG Card versions
Ashnod's Altar - MTG Card versions
Jalum Tome - MTG Card versions
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The Stasis Coffin - MTG Card versions
Captain's Hook - MTG Card versions
Spellweaver Helix - MTG Card versions
Scale of Chiss-Goria - MTG Card versions
Lightning Coils - MTG Card versions
Loxodon Warhammer - MTG Card versions
Sword of Feast and Famine - MTG Card versions
Training Drone - MTG Card versions
Pristine Talisman - MTG Card versions
Alloy Myr - MTG Card versions
Guardians of Meletis - MTG Card versions
Vedalken Shackles - MTG Card versions
Herald's Horn - MTG Card versions
Manalith - MTG Card versions
Sword of Vengeance - MTG Card versions
Runed Arch - Ice Age (ICE)
Clay Pigeon - Unglued (UGL)
Ashnod's Altar - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Jalum Tome - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Patchwork Gnomes - Odyssey (ODY)
The Stasis Coffin - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Captain's Hook - Rivals of Ixalan Promos (PRIX)
Spellweaver Helix - Mirrodin (MRD)
Scale of Chiss-Goria - Mirrodin (MRD)
Lightning Coils - Mirrodin (MRD)
Loxodon Warhammer - Tenth Edition (10E)
Sword of Feast and Famine - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Training Drone - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Pristine Talisman - New Phyrexia Promos (PNPH)
Alloy Myr - Jumpstart (JMP)
Guardians of Meletis - Magic Origins (ORI)
Vedalken Shackles - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Herald's Horn - Treasure Chest (PZ2)
Manalith - Hour of Devastation (HOU)
Sword of Vengeance - Commander 2017 (C17)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mimic Vat MTG card by a specific set like Scars of Mirrodin and Commander 2018, 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 Mimic Vat and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Mimic Vat Magic the Gathering card was released in 8 different sets between 2010-10-01 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-10-01Scars of MirrodinSOM 1752003normalblackMatt Cavotta
22018-08-09Commander 2018C18 2092015normalblackMatt Cavotta
32019-08-23Commander 2019C19 2192015normalblackDonato Giancola
42019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 16082015normalblackDonato Giancola
52020-04-17Commander 2020C20 2462015normalblackDonato Giancola
62020-09-26The ListPLST C19-2192015normalblackDonato Giancola
72022-04-29New Capenna CommanderNCC 3722015normalblackDonato Giancola
82023-11-17The Lost Caverns of Ixalan CommanderLCC 1152015normalborderlessChris Seaman

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mimic Vat has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2011-01-01 Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the exiled card will trigger when the token is put onto the battlefield. Any "as
-his permanent] enters the battlefield" or "
-his permanent] enters the battlefield with" abilities of the exiled card will also work.
2011-01-01 Exiling the card as the first ability resolves is optional. If you choose not to exile it, or you can't exile it because the card has somehow left the graveyard before the ability resolves, the ability simply doesn't do anything as it resolves. Any card currently exiled by Mimic Vat remains exiled.
2011-01-01 If Mimic Vat's second ability is activated during a turn's end step, the token will be exiled at the beginning of the following turn's end step.
2011-01-01 If multiple nontoken creatures are put into their owners' graveyards from the battlefield at the same time, the imprint ability will trigger that many times. You put the triggered abilities on the stack in any order, so you'll determine in which order they resolve. However, since exiling those cards is optional, and choosing to exile a card this way causes the previously exiled cards to return to their owners' graveyards, the order generally doesn't matter: You'll wind up with at most one of those cards exiled, and the rest will be in the appropriate graveyards.
2011-01-01 If the exiled card has in its mana cost (such as Protean Hydra), X is considered to be 0.
2011-01-01 If the token is a copy of a noncreature card, it will still have haste, though that won't matter unless that token somehow becomes a creature.
2011-01-01 If the token isn't exiled when the delayed triggered ability resolves (due to Stifle, perhaps), it remains on the battlefield indefinitely. It continues to have haste.
2011-01-01 The imprint ability will trigger whenever a nontoken creature is put into any graveyard from the battlefield, not just your graveyard.
2011-01-01 The token created by the second ability will be a copy of whatever card is exiled with Mimic Vat at the time the ability resolves. This might not be the same card that was exiled with Mimic Vat at the time the ability was activated. It also might not be a creature card.
2011-01-01 The token is exiled at the beginning of the next end step regardless of who controls it at that time, whether the exiled card is still exiled at that time, or whether Mimic Vat is still on the battlefield at that time.
2011-01-01 You may activate the second ability even if no card has been exiled with Mimic Vat. If no card has been exiled with Mimic Vat by the time the ability resolves, no token will be created.
2011-01-01 You may exile a noncreature card with Mimic Vat's first ability. For example, if a nontoken artifact that's become a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, Mimic Vat's first ability triggers and you may exile that card.
2016-07-13 If a melded permanent dies and triggers Mimic Vat's triggered ability, both of its component cards are exiled. As Mimic Vat's second ability resolves, its controller chooses one of those cards to make a token copy of.
2018-07-13 If the creature that dies is an instant or sorcery card that's been manifested, Mimic Vat may have a nonpermanent card exiled. You can't create a token that's a copy of a nonpermanent card. No token is created in this case.

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