Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Enchantment
Abilities Transform

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers card draw each turn, helping to maintain hand advantage and consistency in your plays.
  2. Transforms into Spitfire Bastion for a powerful land that can impact the board state negatively for opponents.
  3. Demands strategic play to balance its transforming condition without depleting your hand too quickly.

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, exile the top card of your library. If it's a nonland card, you may cast that card this turn. Whenever you cast your third spell in a turn, you may transform Vance's Blasting Cannons.

With a broadside assault, Captain Vance carved the cliffs to form her new home.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Vance’s Blasting Cannons offers a repeptative method to sift through your deck each turn, granting you access to additional cards and ensuring you’re not missing out on crucial draws.

Resource Acceleration: Upon transformation into Spitfire Bastion, it doesn’t just provide a land drop but adds a mana source that taps for red, helping you deploy your threats quicker and keeping the pressure on your opponent.

Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Vance’s Blasting Cannons can help you hit those instant speed spells more consistently. The added card access each turn lets you dig for options to react to your opponent’s moves on their time.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Vance’s Blasting Cannons doesn’t force you to discard, it does require a certain threshold of cards to be played to transform. You need to cast three spells in a turn, which can strain your hand and deplete your resources quickly if you’re aiming for its transformative ability.

Specific Mana Cost: Vance’s Blasting Cannons comes with a specific mana demand, requiring three red and one of any color to be played. This can be restrictive, limiting its utility to decks heavily invested in red mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its four mana investment, this card is on the pricier side, particularly since its immediate impact does not affect the board state. Other cards at a similar cost can offer more immediate and versatile benefits, making Vance’s Blasting Cannons less efficient in certain strategic scenarios.


Reasons to Include Vance’s Blasting Cannons in Your Collection

Versatility: Vance’s Blasting Cannons offers a unique blend of deck manipulation and potential for damage output. It can be included in a variety of red-centric decks, from burn-focused to those seeking to maximize spell casting.

Combo Potential: When transformed into Spitfire Bastion, this card not only gives you a land that can tap for red mana but also becomes a repeatable source of direct damage, combining well with strategies that aim to control the board while dealing consistent damage.

Meta-Relevance: In formats where the late game is key, having an enchantment like Vance’s Blasting Cannons can be a game-changer. It helps dig for essential spells each turn and can turn into a formidable threat that must be answered by opponents entrenched in a control or attrition-based meta.


How to beat

Vance’s Blasting Cannons is an intriguing transformative card in MTG that flips into a powerful land, offering a significant advantage to the player controlling it. When facing this card, it’s essential to understand that your opponent aims to cast as many spells as possible to transition it into Spitfire Bastion. To effectively counter Vance’s Blasting Cannons, disrupt their spell-casting rhythm. Employ instant speed removal like Abrupt Decay or counter spells such as Counterspell to deal with the immediate threat. Additionally, hand disruption through Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek can preemptively remove key pieces from your opponent’s hand, undercutting their strategy.

Bounce spells such as Cyclonic Rift provide a temporary answer, returning Vance’s Blasting Cannons to the owner’s hand and effectively resetting their progress. Vandalblast and other artifact removal spells also directly address Vance’s Blasting Cannons, although it’s more challenging once it transforms into a land. Winning the race against the card’s transformation is critical. Applying pressure through aggressive strategies or establishing a board state that can quickly adapt to the transformed land will enhance your chance of success against this unique challenge in MTG.


BurnMana Recommendations

Delving into the intricacies of MTG deckbuilding can unearth powerful synergies and strategies. With Vance’s Blasting Cannons, you get a card that promises both anticipation and payoff. This enchantment beckons to players who relish in the strategic depth of red’s spell-slinging prowess. If you’re keen on exploring ways to tilt the scales in your favor and love the thrill of transformation, Vance’s Blasting Cannons could be an excellent addition to your arsenal. Dive deeper into the world of MTG with us and discover how this versatile card can ignite your path to victory. Take the challenge and unravel the potential of every draw with Vance’s Blasting Cannons.


Cards like Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion

Vance’s Blasting Cannons is a unique card in the Magic: The Gathering universe, offering both utility and a transformative edge. It echoes the functionality of cards like Outpost Siege. Outpost Siege provides incremental advantage by exiling the top card of your library at the beginning of your upkeep, similar to the card-flipping ability of Vance’s Blasting Cannons. However, Vance’s Blasting Cannons stands out with its potential to flip into a land, Spitfire Bastion, which can directly damage creatures or players.

Another parallel card is Experimental Frenzy, which also allows you to look at the top card of your library at any time and play it. The distinction lies in the breadth of cards you can play with Experimental Frenzy, given that it isn’t limited to one card per turn. Yet, Vance’s Blasting Cannons has the added value of not restricting you from playing cards from your hand, unlike Experimental Frenzy, and the flip side presents a lasting threat on the board.

The consideration of Vance’s Blasting Cannons against its counterparts illustrates its diverse role in gameplay. Its adaptability and the latent power of its transformed state offer strategic depth for players looking to leverage their mana and spells towards potent late-game board impact.

Outpost Siege - MTG Card versions
Experimental Frenzy - MTG Card versions
Outpost Siege - Fate Reforged (FRF)
Experimental Frenzy - Guilds of Ravnica Promos (PGRN)

Cards similar to Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion by color, type and mana cost

Manabarbs - MTG Card versions
Orcish Oriflamme - MTG Card versions
An-Zerrin Ruins - MTG Card versions
Lightning Cloud - MTG Card versions
Aether Flash - MTG Card versions
Heart of Bogardan - MTG Card versions
Furnace of Rath - MTG Card versions
No Quarter - MTG Card versions
Shiv's Embrace - MTG Card versions
Antagonism - MTG Card versions
Pyromancy - MTG Card versions
Close Quarters - MTG Card versions
Collapsing Borders - MTG Card versions
Stand or Fall - MTG Card versions
Impulsive Maneuvers - MTG Card versions
Stensia Uprising - MTG Card versions
Visions of Phyrexia - MTG Card versions
Magmatic Core - MTG Card versions
Pyrohemia - MTG Card versions
Uncontrollable Anger - MTG Card versions
Manabarbs - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Orcish Oriflamme - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
An-Zerrin Ruins - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Lightning Cloud - Visions (VIS)
Aether Flash - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Heart of Bogardan - Weatherlight (WTH)
Furnace of Rath - Planechase (HOP)
No Quarter - Tempest (TMP)
Shiv's Embrace - Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons (DDG)
Antagonism - Urza's Saga (USG)
Pyromancy - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Close Quarters - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Collapsing Borders - Invasion (INV)
Stand or Fall - Invasion (INV)
Impulsive Maneuvers - The List (PLST)
Stensia Uprising - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
Visions of Phyrexia - The Brothers' War (BRO)
Magmatic Core - Coldsnap (CSP)
Pyrohemia - Commander Anthology (CMA)
Uncontrollable Anger - Tenth Edition (10E)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan and Ixalan Promos, 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 Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-09-29 and 2017-09-29. Illustrated by Jonas De Ro.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-09-29IxalanXLN 1732015transformblackJonas De Ro
22017-09-29Ixalan PromosPXLN 173s2015transformblackJonas De Ro

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion 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 Vance's Blasting Cannons // Spitfire Bastion 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 Casting the exiled card follows the normal rules for casting that card. You must pay its costs, and you must follow all applicable timing rules. For example, if you exile a creature card this way, you must wait until your main phase to cast it.
2017-09-29 If you don’t cast the exiled card, it remains in exile.
2017-09-29 The card exiled by the first ability of Vance’s Blasting Cannons is exiled face up.
2017-09-29 The second ability of Vance’s Blasting Cannons counts all the spells you’ve cast, including Vance’s Blasting Cannons itself if you cast it this turn. The ability won’t trigger unless Vance’s Blasting Cannons is on the battlefield as you cast your third spell of the turn.
2017-09-29 The second ability of Vance’s Blasting Cannons resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger. The ability will resolve even if that spell is countered.
2018-01-19 For more information on double-faced cards, see the Ixalan mechanics article (http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/ixalan-mechanics).

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