Dusk Legion Dreadnought MTG Card


Dusk Legion Dreadnought - Ixalan
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact — Vehicle
Abilities Crew, Vigilance
Released2017-09-29
Set symbol
Set nameIxalan
Set codeXLN
Power 4
Toughness 6
Number236
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byTitus Lunter

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers board presence and card efficiency as a recurring, sizeable vehicle threat.
  2. Demands creatures for crewing, potentially limiting defensive options during play.
  3. Can adapt to different deck types, leveraging synergy and meta relevancy.
Vigilance card art

Guide to Vigilance card ability

In the strategic universe of Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the vigilance ability stands out as a powerful tool for players. This potent keyword allows creatures to attack without tapping, keeping them ready and alert to defend against incoming threats. It represents a perfect balance between aggression and defense, offering a dynamic approach to gameplay. Lets dive deeper into how vigilance shapes the battlefield.

Text of card

Vigilance Crew 2 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)

It loomed up over the horizon, silent and dark as a grave.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Dusk Legion Dreadnought offers a significant advantage in the form of a reliable vehicle that can provide recurring board presence. When crewed, it can make each draw more impactful, paving the way for potential card efficiency as you leverage a single card for ongoing threats.

Resource Acceleration: This vessel charges onto the battlefield with an efficient mana cost for its size. Deploying a 4/6 vehicle for just three mana represents a quick escalation on the power curve, enabling you to allocate resources elsewhere and maintain tempo advantage.

Instant Speed: While Dusk Legion Dreadnought itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, its crew mechanic aligns perfectly with instant-speed tricks. It allows you to keep creatures untapped on your turn for strategic plays and then crew the Dreadnought in response to an opponent’s move or at the end of their turn for an unexpected blocker or aggressor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Dusk Legion Dreadnought brings impressive stats to the board, it does require a creature to be tapped and attacking to operate. This can be disadvantageous if you find yourself in a situation where your creatures need to be kept on defense or when you’re facing removal-heavy decks, keeping your battlefield clear of potential crew members.

Specific Mana Cost: Dusk Legion Dreadnought’s colorless mana cost can be deceptively challenging, given it often slots into multicolor decks which might prioritize colored mana for other plays. This can lead to awkward mana distributions and delay your game plan.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While a 4/6 vehicle for three mana is sturdy, it’s important to consider the overall cost which includes both the mana and the resource of another creature to become operative. In environments where the board state fluctuates rapidly, there could be better, more immediately impactful plays at the same mana cost.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Dusk Legion Dreadnought stands out with its ability to adapt to various deck archetypes. Its low casting cost and sizable presence as a vehicle make it a potential fit for both aggressive strategies that require swift attackers and defensive strategies that need robust blockers.

Combo Potential: As a vehicle, the Dreadnought synergizes well with creatures that have tap abilities but are also vulnerable to enemy spells. Crewing the Dreadnought can effectively maximize their abilities while protecting key creatures from being targeted. Additionally, with artifacts and vehicles being central to several combos in the game, it creates dynamic pairing options.

Meta-Relevance: With a constantly evolving game environment, the Dusk Legion Dreadnought maintains relevance through its ability to impact the battlefield without being overly costly. It fits nicely in a world where efficiency and flexibility rule, providing a looming threat that must be addressed by opponents, lest they find themselves outpaced.


How to Beat

Overcoming the Dusk Legion Dreadnought in MTG is a tactical challenge, given its potential as a formidable vehicle. With its low crew cost and reasonable mana value, this card can become an offensive force on the battlefield rather quickly. However, there are strategies to dismantle its impact. Artifact removal spells like Naturalize or Abrade can directly target the Dusk Legion Dreadnought, nullifying its threat before it becomes a vehicle for damage.

Another tactic involves controlling the board, preventing creatures from crewing the dreadnought. Cards like Pacifism restrict your opponent’s creatures without destroying them, ensuring the dreadnought remains stationary. Additionally, countermagic should not be overlooked. By countering the Dreadnought upon casting, you halt the problem before it starts, maintaining your hold on the game.

Players seeking to neutralize the power of the Dusk Legion Dreadnought must keep these strategies in mind. Effective removal, board control, and timely countering can ensure the vehicle does not lead to your downfall, preserving your dominance over the game of MTG.


Cards like Dusk Legion Dreadnought

Dusk Legion Dreadnought stands as a noteworthy vehicle card among its counterparts in MTG, akin to the likes of Fleetwheel Cruiser. Both cards require a crew to become creatures; however, Dusk Legion Dreadnought demands one less power from the crew, making it easier to activate. The Cruiser, though, has trample and haste, promoting immediate impact upon entering the battlefield.

A card like Sky Skiff also deserves a mention in this class of vehicle cards due to its low mana cost and crew requirement. Yet, its lower stats reflect these reductions, making Dusk Legion Dreadnought the more robust choice for a defensive stance. Conversely, Untethered Express showcases incrementing power upon attacking, which can grow to become a significant threat over time. However, its higher crew cost of two might place a slight delay on its offensive abilities compared to the Dreadnought.

Evaluating the intricate balance of cost, crew requirements, and combat capabilities, Dusk Legion Dreadnought presents itself as a reliable option for players seeking a durable vehicle card with the ease of activation in their MTG deck strategies.

Fleetwheel Cruiser - MTG Card versions
Sky Skiff - MTG Card versions
Untethered Express - MTG Card versions
Fleetwheel Cruiser - Kaladesh (KLD)
Sky Skiff - Kaladesh (KLD)
Untethered Express - Aether Revolt (AER)

Cards similar to Dusk Legion Dreadnought by color, type and mana cost

Ring of Renewal - MTG Card versions
Clockwork Avian - MTG Card versions
Gauntlets of Chaos - MTG Card versions
Soldevi Steam Beast - MTG Card versions
Sand Golem - MTG Card versions
Pandora's Box - MTG Card versions
Belbe's Portal - MTG Card versions
Mind's Eye - MTG Card versions
Horizon Stone - MTG Card versions
Clockwork Vorrac - MTG Card versions
Timesifter - MTG Card versions
Myr Matrix - MTG Card versions
Dross Golem - MTG Card versions
Razormane Masticore - MTG Card versions
Thran Golem - MTG Card versions
Clockwork Hydra - MTG Card versions
Illuminated Folio - MTG Card versions
Mirari - MTG Card versions
Coat of Arms - MTG Card versions
Myr Turbine - MTG Card versions
Ring of Renewal - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Clockwork Avian - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Gauntlets of Chaos - Legends (LEG)
Soldevi Steam Beast - Alliances (ALL)
Sand Golem - Mirage (MIR)
Pandora's Box - Astral Cards (PAST)
Belbe's Portal - Nemesis (NEM)
Mind's Eye - The Brothers' War Retro Artifacts (BRR)
Horizon Stone - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Clockwork Vorrac - Mirrodin (MRD)
Timesifter - Mirrodin (MRD)
Myr Matrix - Darksteel (DST)
Dross Golem - Darksteel (DST)
Razormane Masticore - Fifth Dawn (5DN)
Thran Golem - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Clockwork Hydra - Time Spiral (TSP)
Illuminated Folio - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Mirari - From the Vault: Relics (V10)
Coat of Arms - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Myr Turbine - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dusk Legion Dreadnought MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan, 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 Dusk Legion Dreadnought and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dusk Legion Dreadnought has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-09-29 Any untapped creature you control can be tapped to pay a crew cost, even one that just came under your control.
2017-09-29 Creatures that crew a Vehicle aren’t attached to it or related in any other way. Effects that affect the Vehicle, such as by destroying it or giving it a +1/+1 counter, don’t affect the creatures that crewed it.
2017-09-29 Each Vehicle is printed with a power and toughness, but it’s not a creature. If it becomes a creature (most likely through its crew ability), it will have that power and toughness.
2017-09-29 For a Vehicle to be able to attack, it must be a creature as the declare attackers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to attack with it is during the beginning of combat step. For a Vehicle to be able to block, it must be a creature as the declare blockers step begins, so the latest you can activate its crew ability to block with it is during the declare attackers step. In either case, players may take actions after the crew ability resolves but before the Vehicle has been declared as an attacking or blocking creature.
2017-09-29 If a permanent becomes a copy of a Vehicle, the copy won’t be a creature, even if the Vehicle it’s copying has become an artifact creature.
2017-09-29 If an effect causes a Vehicle to become an artifact creature with a specified power and toughness, that effect overwrites the Vehicle’s printed power and toughness.
2017-09-29 Once a Vehicle becomes a creature, it behaves exactly like any other artifact creature. It can’t attack unless you’ve controlled it continuously since your turn began, it can block if it’s untapped, it can be tapped to pay a Vehicle’s crew cost, and so on.
2017-09-29 Once a player announces that they are activating a crew ability, no player may take other actions until the ability has been paid for. Notably, players can’t try to stop the ability by changing a creature’s power or by removing or tapping a creature.
2017-09-29 Vehicle is an artifact type, not a creature type. A Vehicle that’s crewed won’t normally have any creature type.
2017-09-29 When a Vehicle becomes a creature, that doesn’t count as having a creature enter the battlefield. The permanent was already on the battlefield; it only changed its types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won’t trigger.
2017-09-29 You may activate a crew ability of a Vehicle even if it’s already an artifact creature. Doing so has no effect on the Vehicle. It doesn’t change its power and toughness.
2017-09-29 You may tap more creatures than necessary to activate a crew ability.

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