Voodoo Doll MTG Card

Legends (LEG)
1994-06-01 - Number 298

Chronicles (CHR)
1995-07-01 - Number 111

Masters Edition III (ME3)
2009-09-07 - Number 203

Card sets	Released in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Rare
Type	Artifact

Key Takeaways

Combines threat removal and card advantage to influence the game’s pace and player advantage.
Despite its versatility, Voodoo Doll requires careful mana management and comes with a higher cost.
Its strategic value can adjust to various metagames, especially against creature-heavy decks.

Text of card

Put one counter on Voodoo Doll during your upkeep. If Voodoo Doll is not tapped at end of your turn, it does X damage to you and is destroyed. X equals the number of counters on Voodoo Doll. o Xo Xoc T: Voodoo Doll does X damage to any one target.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Voodoo Doll card offers a multifaceted approach to gaining card advantage. By potentially removing key threats from your opponent’s board, Voodoo Doll allows you to maintain pressure while setting the stage for dictating the game’s pace.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly providing mana or tokens, Voodoo Doll can contribute to resource acceleration by disrupting your opponent’s board state. This indirect advantage can pave the way for faster development of your strategy without expending additional resources.

Instant Speed: The Voodoo Doll’s abilities, tied to an instant speed timing window, can be pivotal in MTG by providing flexibility in response to opponent’s actions. This ensures you can maximize the efficacy of the card while keeping up the element of surprise and adaptability during a match.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Voodoo Doll card demands a discard from your hand to unleash its potential. This can be a steep price in gameplay, especially when you’re trying to maintain a strategic reserve of cards for future turns.

Specific Mana Cost: Its activation requires a precise combination of mana types, which might not seamlessly fit into every deck’s mana base. This can lead to scenarios where the card remains dormant in your hand due to unmet mana requirements.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment to get Voodoo Doll on the battlefield and activate its abilities is significant. Within the same mana range, other cards may provide immediate impact or advantages without the conditional requirements posed by the Voodoo Doll.

Reasons to Include Voodoo Doll in Your Collection

Versatility: Voodoo Doll adapts well to various play styles, fitting into control decks that can manipulate or stall the game until this card’s powers can be fully utilized.

Combo Potential: With the right setup, this artifact creature can become a focal point of tactics that allow you to control the board by pinpointing which creatures to damage, aligning with sacrifice or destroy strategies.

Meta-Relevance: Given that MTG’s meta often ebbs and flows with creature-heavy decks, having Voodoo Doll in your arsenal ensures that you have a ready response to such threats, increasing its value in your collection.

How to beat

The Voodoo Doll, a mystical artifact in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, presents a curious challenge on the battlefield. To dismantle the threat it poses, savvy players often turn to removal spells that can swiftly deal with the artifact before it accumulates too many pin counters, which at a critical point can become increasingly troublesome to manage.

Artifact destruction tools like Naturalize or Disenchant are straightforward solutions, targeting the Voodoo Doll directly to send it packing to the graveyard. For those who prefer to stifle the Doll’s ability before it comes online, countermagic such as Negate provides a preemptive strike. On a broader scale, board wipes like Shatterstorm clear out all artifacts, ensuring that the Voodoo Doll won’t stick around long enough to become a thorn in your side.

In summary, confronting the Voodoo Doll requires strategic planning and timely responses. Employing early removal, using counter spells, or setting up wide-reaching artifact destruction will help keep the Doll from becoming an unstoppable force and allow you to maintain control of the match.

Cards like Voodoo Doll

The Voodoo Doll card conjures up its own unique position in the landscape of Magic: The Gathering’s intriguing artifacts. When placed alongside its kin, one might draw parallels with the likes of Stuffy Doll, a creature that similarly dishes out damage to opponents based on harm directed to itself. Voodoo Doll, distinct in its gradual build-up of counters leading to a destructive crescendo, requires a more strategic and patient approach, whereas Stuffy Doll immediately reflects damage.

Examining another relative, the Creepy Doll offers an indestructible quality that Voodoo Doll lacks but doesn’t provide the player with the same level of direct control over damage. This makes Voodoo Doll a card that invites more nuanced play. We also see the classic Iron Maiden, which, like Voodoo Doll, punishes opponents under certain conditions each turn but operates on a different damage-triggering criterion tied to the opponent’s hand size.

The allure of Voodoo Doll in MTG ultimately lies in its potential for orchestrated vengeance, tapping into a daring playstyle that rewards forethought and timing. Each of these artifacts presents magical dilemmas, but the Voodoo Doll stands out for those who delight in carefully plotted retribution.

Cards similar to Voodoo Doll by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Voodoo Doll MTG card by a specific set like Legends and Chronicles, 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 Voodoo Doll and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Voodoo Doll Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1994-06-01 and 2009-09-07. Illustrated by Sandra Everingham.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1994-06-01	Legends	LEG	298	1993	Normal	Black	Sandra Everingham
2	1995-07-01	Chronicles	CHR	111	1993	Normal	White	Sandra Everingham
3	2009-09-07	Masters Edition III	ME3	203	1997	Normal	Black	Sandra Everingham

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Voodoo Doll has restrictions

Format	Legality
Oldschool	Legal
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2009-10-01	Each X in the cost of Voodoo Doll’s third ability is the number of pin counters on Voodoo Doll at the time you activate the ability. The X in the ability’s effect is the number of pin counters on Voodoo Doll at the time it resolves, which may not be the same number (if a spell or ability put counters on it or removed counters from it in the meantime). If Voodoo Doll is no longer on the battlefield as the ability resolves, its last existence on the battlefield is checked to see how many pin counters were on it.
2009-10-01	Voodoo Doll’s second ability has an “intervening ‘if’ clause.” That means (1) the ability won’t trigger at all unless Voodoo Doll is untapped, and (2) the ability will do nothing if Voodoo Doll is tapped by the time it resolves. If Voodoo Doll is no longer on the battlefield as the ability resolves, its last existence on the battlefield is checked to see if it was tapped or untapped.
2011-01-01	Voodoo Doll’s second ability causes it to be destroyed regardless of whether it actually deals damage to you or not. Voodoo Doll is destroyed even if all the damage is prevented or redirected.