Vengeful Pharaoh MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Rare
Type	Creature — Zombie
Abilities	Deathtouch
Released	2011-07-15
Set symbol
Set name	Magic 2012
Set code	M12
Power	5
Toughness	4
Number	116
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Igor Kieryluk

Key Takeaways

Vengeful Pharaoh serves as a powerful deterrent, offering recurring removal from the graveyard to library.
Discard mechanisms are essential to leverage the Pharaoh’s abilities but can limit your strategy.
Its unilateral nature and combo potential make it a solid addition to graveyard-centric decks.

Text of card

Deathtouch (Any amount of damage this deals to a creature is enough to destroy it.) Whenever combat damage is dealt to you or a planeswalker you control, if Vengeful Pharaoh is in your graveyard, destroy target attacking creature, then put Vengeful Pharaoh on top of your library.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Vengeful Pharaoh provides an automatic deterrent against attacking, potentially deterring opponents from swinging with their creatures. When the Pharaoh deals with an attacker from the graveyard, it cunningly recycles itself back into the library, culminating in a recurring cycle of creature removal.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating resources, its presence can slow down opponents, effectively giving you more time to develop your board and utilize your resources more efficiently.

Instant Speed: The strength of Vengeful Pharaoh’s ability lies in its instant-speed trigger from the graveyard. This surprise factor can shift the game’s dynamics in your favor and does not require you to commit mana for its trigger, enabling you to cast other spells while posing a constant threat from the graveyard.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: To fully utilize Vengeful Pharaoh’s ability, the card must be in your graveyard, which means you’re reliant on discard mechanisms. This can be a double-edged sword, especially if your strategy doesn’t naturally lead to discarding cards or if you’re forced to discard more valuable cards from your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Vengeful Pharaoh comes with a restrictive mana cost of one black and two generic mana. This specific cost can be a challenge in multicolored decks, potentially causing it to sit in your hand longer than desired.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost of three mana to cast, including one black, Vengeful Pharaoh’s reanimation effect may not be as mana-efficient compared to other options available, particularly when you need to maintain tempo or face decks that can bypass creature destruction.

Reasons to Include Vengeful Pharaoh in Your Collection

Versatility: Vengeful Pharaoh is not bound by deck types, making it an excellent choice for a wide array of black-centered builds. It excels in graveyard-focused strategies and provides a reliable form of recurring creature control.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with self-milling tactics and dredge mechanics, potentially turning any graveyard stockpiling into a defensive advantage. Players can set up their own defenses while controlling opponent creatures.

Meta-Relevance: With many aggressive creature decks in circulation, Vengeful Pharaoh serves as a persistent threat that can dissuade opponents from attacking. It remains a relevant choice in metas where creature-based strategies are dominant.

How to beat

Vengeful Pharaoh presents a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering, primarily due to its graveyard-triggered ability that destroys attacking creatures. Getting past this daunting defender requires a careful strategy as it can recur and disrupt combat plans. The key is to limit its interaction with your creatures – using exile effects can permanently remove Vengeful Pharaoh from the game, preventing any further surprises from the graveyard.

Another tactic is to manipulate the top card of your deck since Vengeful Pharaoh’s ability triggers only when it’s the top card in the graveyard. Cards that allow you to rearrange your graveyard or draw from it help avoid triggering the Pharaoh’s destructive ability. Additionally, including graveyard hate cards such as Tormod’s Crypt or Rest in Peace in your deck can suppress the Pharaoh and other similar graveyard-based strategies. Planeswalkers with exile abilities can also offer a solution, bypassing the automatic damage to your creatures.

Ultimately, it’s a combination of timing, graveyard control, and strategic exile that will keep Vengeful Pharaoh at bay. Ensuring it doesn’t become the top card of the graveyard or stays off the battlefield altogether is paramount in beating this tenacious card.

Cards like Vengeful Pharaoh

Vengeful Pharaoh is a unique element in the MTG universe, providing a blend of creature deterrent and graveyard recursion. When compared to other graveyard interaction cards like Bloodghast, which offers persistent board presence without directly deterring attacks, Vengeful Pharaoh stands out. Unlike Bloodghast, Vengeful Pharaoh sidesteps traditional combat by threatening to destroy any creature that dares to deal damage to its owner while it lies in the graveyard.

Another card worth mentioning is Withered Wretch, which allows players to selectively exile cards from graveyards, being a more proactive graveyard control tool as opposed to the reactive nature of Vengeful Pharaoh. Nonetheless, Vengeful Pharaoh’s strength lies not in pre-emptive control but in its ability to reshape the dynamics of combat and punish aggressive opponents post-mortem.

While considering cards with similar control effects, No Mercy must be discussed. It provides a blanket statement against attackers, destroying any creature that deals damage to its controller. Both No Mercy and Vengeful Pharaoh have a deterrent effect, but No Mercy lacks the Pharaoh’s ability to return to the deck, offering long-term value as the game progresses.

Cards similar to Vengeful Pharaoh by color, type and mana cost

Predatory Nightstalker - MTG Card versions

Wei Elite Companions - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Vengeful Pharaoh MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2012, 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 Vengeful Pharaoh and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Vengeful Pharaoh has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2011-09-22	If Vengeful Pharaoh is no longer in your graveyard when the triggered ability would resolve, the triggered ability won’t do anything.
2011-09-22	If multiple creatures deal combat damage to you and to a planeswalker you control simultaneously, Vengeful Pharaoh will trigger twice. The first trigger will cause Vengeful Pharaoh to be put on top of your library. The second trigger will then do nothing, as Vengeful Pharaoh is no longer in your graveyard when it tries to resolve. Note that the second trigger will do nothing even if Vengeful Pharaoh is put back into your graveyard before it tries to resolve, as it’s a different Vengeful Pharaoh than the one that was there before.
2011-09-22	If multiple creatures deal combat damage to you simultaneously, Vengeful Pharaoh will only trigger once.
2011-09-22	If the attacking creature is an illegal target when the triggered ability tries to resolve, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. Vengeful Pharaoh will remain in your graveyard.
2011-09-22	If your own attacking creatures deal combat damage to you or a planeswalker you control (perhaps because combat damage was redirected), Vengeful Pharaoh will still trigger. You must target and destroy one of your own attacking creatures.
2011-09-22	Vengeful Pharaoh must be in your graveyard when combat damage is dealt to you or a planeswalker you control in order for its ability to trigger. That is, it can’t die and trigger from your graveyard during the same combat damage step.