Mental Vapors MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Cipher
Released	2013-02-01
Set symbol
Set name	Gatecrash
Set code	GTC
Number	72
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Mark Winters

Key Takeaways

Mental Vapors can provide card advantage by disrupting an opponent’s game plan through forced discards.
Cipher allows Mental Vapors to be recast for resource conservation and repeated opponent hindrance.
Combining Mental Vapors with instant speed spells creates proactive advantages by anticipating opponent moves.

Text of card

Target player discards a card. Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Mental Vapors guarantees that you disrupt your opponent’s hand while also allowing you to peek into their strategy. This disruption translates into a form of card advantage as it can potentially remove key pieces from your opponent’s game plan.

Resource Acceleration: After casting Mental Vapors, if you have the cipher mechanic at your disposal and a creature deals combat damage to a player, it lets you recast the spell without using extra mana from your hand. This repeated casting can hinder your opponent’s resources over several turns while conserving yours.

Instant Speed: While Mental Vapors itself is a sorcery, it synergizes well with cards that can be played at instant speed. By knowing your opponent’s hand, you can plan your instant spells more effectively, ensuring you’re always a step ahead.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Mental Vapors forces an opponent to discard a card, it also obligates the caster to have sufficient hand size. If you’re playing a strategy with a lower hand count, its usefulness diminishes significantly.

Specific Mana Cost: Mental Vapors comes with a specific mana requirement, demanding both black and general mana. This need for black mana can restrict its integration into multi-colored decks that might not always have the right mana available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At four mana, this card’s casting cost is on the higher side for its effect. Considering that other cards can cause opponents to discard at a lower cost or offer additional benefits, the mana investment for Mental Vapors might not always justify its impact.

Reasons to Include Mental Vapors in Your Collection

Versatility: Mental Vapors offers flexibility in its ability to disrupt your opponent’s hand. It slots well into decks that aim to control the pace of the game by removing key cards from the opposition’s grip.

Combo Potential: This card has synergy with other discard mechanisms, amplifying the strain on your opponent’s resources. When combined with cards that benefit from the discard, or those that punish the opponent for an empty hand, Mental Vapors becomes a cog in a potent denial strategy.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where players rely heavily on combo decks or specific hand-crafted strategies, forcing a discard can be pivotal. Mental Vapors’ place in your deck ensures readiness against opponents who meticulously build their hand for a game-winning sequence.

How to beat

Mental Vapors, in the world of Magic: The Gathering, is a nuanced card that prompts your opponent to discard upon casting. This disrupts their hand, potentially removing key strategies and answers. To effectively counteract Mental Vapors, consider cards that either benefit from or are impervious to discard effects. Cards with madness allow for advantageous casting when discarded, turning a perceived setback into a strategic opportunity. Moreover, utilizing cards with flashback or jump-start abilities that can be played from the graveyard can nullify the impact of Mental Vapors. Additionally, having a healthy hand size can cushion the blow of this discard spell. Strategies like card draw or those that recycle cards from the graveyard back to your hand ensure you maintain a robust selection of actions despite the forced discard.

Remember, Mental Vapors can be circumvented by instantaneous interplay. Instant-speed spells that draw cards or creatures that regenerate resources when discarded can thwart the temporary advantage Mental Vapors provides. In short, by incorporating cards that adapt to, benefit from, or neutralize discard effects, you can maintain control and momentum—even when facing the daunting vapors that threaten to cloud your mental game board.

Cards like Mental Vapors

Mental Vapors from Magic: The Gathering introduces a unique twist to the discard dynamics of black spells. It bears resemblance to cards like Distress, which also target an opponent’s hand, yet Mental Vapors allows the targeted player to choose which card they discard. Distress, however, lets the caster choose the card to be purged, offering more control over the game’s flow.

Another similar card, Mind Rot, involves forcing a player to discard two cards but lacks the cipher ability that Mental Vapors possesses. Cipher enables a player to cast the spell again when their creature deals combat damage to a player, potentially disrupting the opponent’s hand multiple times. Though Mind Rot is more immediate in its effect, Mental Vapors offers a more prolonged strategic advantage.

Finally, considering Whispering Madness, which shares the cipher ability with Mental Vapors, it has the potential for a more dramatic impact by causing all players to discard their hands and draw cards equal to the highest number discarded this way. While it doesn’t target opponents selectively, its ability to disrupt symmetrically can change the state of play abruptly.

In summary, while Mental Vapors may not provide the immediacy of control other discard spells do, its cipher ability presents a sustained tactical edge, demonstrating a solid standing within the MTG library of discard effects.

Cards similar to Mental Vapors by color, type and mana cost

Terisiare's Devastation - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Mental Vapors MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash, 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 Mental Vapors and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Mental Vapors has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-04-15	If a creature with an encoded card deals combat damage to more than one player simultaneously (perhaps because some of the combat damage was redirected), the triggered ability will trigger once for each player it deals combat damage to. Each ability will create a copy of the exiled card and allow you to cast it.
2013-04-15	If another player gains control of the creature, that player will control the triggered ability. That player will create a copy of the encoded card and may cast it.
2013-04-15	If the creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card will no longer be encoded on any creature. It will stay exiled.
2013-04-15	If the spell with cipher doesn’t resolve, none of its effects will happen, including cipher. The card will go to its owner’s graveyard and won’t be encoded on a creature.
2013-04-15	If you choose not to cast the copy, or you can’t cast it (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the copy will cease to exist the next time state-based actions are performed. You won’t get a chance to cast the copy at a later time.
2013-04-15	If you want to encode the card with cipher onto a noncreature permanent such as a Keyrune that can turn into a creature, that permanent has to be a creature before the spell with cipher starts resolving. You can choose only a creature to encode the card onto.
2013-04-15	The copy of the card with cipher is created in and cast from exile.
2013-04-15	The exiled card with cipher grants a triggered ability to the creature it’s encoded on. If that creature loses that ability and subsequently deals combat damage to a player, the triggered ability won’t trigger. However, the exiled card will continue to be encoded on that creature.
2013-04-15	The spell with cipher is encoded on the creature as part of that spell’s resolution, just after the spell’s other effects. That card goes directly from the stack to exile. It never goes to the graveyard.
2013-04-15	You cast the copy of the card with cipher during the resolution of the triggered ability. Ignore timing restrictions based on the card’s type.
2013-04-15	You choose the creature as the spell resolves. The cipher ability doesn’t target that creature, although the spell with cipher may target that creature (or a different creature) because of its other abilities.