Alms of the Vein MTG Card

Alms of the Vein - Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)

Shadows over Innistrad (SOI)
2016-04-08 - Number 98

Alms of the Vein - Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR)

Shadows over Innistrad Remastered (SIR)
2023-03-21 - Number 98

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Madness

Key Takeaways

Alms of the Vein offers a pseudo card advantage via madness-triggered discards, impacting board state and tempo.
Its instant speed flexibility can swing games, surprising opponents with unexpected life total changes.
Alms of the Vein’s specific mana cost might restrict its inclusion to certain black-centric deck strategies.

Text of card

Target opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3 life. Madness (If you discard this card, discard it into exile. When you do, cast it for its madness cost or put it into your graveyard.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: While Alms of the Vein doesn’t directly let you draw cards, it can be a key piece in strategies focused on discarding or madness. When discarded as part of the cost or effect of another card, it gives you an edge by allowing you to cast it for its alternative madness cost, effectively turning a discard into damage and life gain. This synergy provides a form of virtual card advantage by maximizing the utility of cards in your hand.

Resource Acceleration: Alms of the Vein doesn’t offer traditional mana acceleration. However, it can have a significant impact on tempo. By draining your opponent of life while simultaneously bolstering your own, it can accelerate your game plan towards victory. It essentially provides a six-point life swing for a low cost, pushing you ahead in the race, especially in aggressive strategies where every point of life matters.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Alms of the Vein at instant speed is a tactical advantage. It allows you to keep mana open for other actions and use it as a surprise finisher or a disruption tool during your opponent’s turn. This unpredictability can lead to favorable exchanges and missteps from your opponent, providing psychological and board advantage.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Alms of the Vein necessitates a card discard if casting through its madness cost, potentially depleting your hand when you might need those cards for later plays.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s mana cost is exclusively black, which may not fit into decks that aren’t centered around black mana, limiting its versatility across various deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of three mana, particularly one black and two generic, some players argue that its life swing effect, though beneficial, isn’t the most mana-efficient for aggressive strategies that favor cheaper spells.

Reasons to Include Alms of the Vein in Your Collection

Versatility: Alms of the Vein is known for its flexibility within black decks, particularly those that center around life-draining strategies. It shines in both aggressive decks that aim to quickly lower the opponent’s life total and in longer game strategies where consistent life swings matter.

Combo Potential: Alms of the Vein gains additional value when combined with cards that capitalize on discard mechanics. It makes for an excellent choice when utilizing madness, allowing you to leverage its effect for a reduced cost, thereby integrating well within synergistic combo decks.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where racing to deplete an opponent’s life is key, Alms of the Vein can be a decisive card. Its presence in sideboards or main decks can help tilt the balance in your favor, especially in a meta that sees an abundance of creature-based strategies, against which direct life loss may offer an alternate and effective path to victory.

How to beat

Alms of the Vein is a formidable card in MTG, known for its ability to swiftly deplete an opponent’s life total while giving a decent life cushion to the player casting it. Tackling this sorcery can be a nuanced challenge. A direct approach involves utilizing counterspells as proactive defense, nullifying the damage and life gain before it ever has a chance to affect the battlefield. Cards such as Negate or Dispel are perfect for this task, efficiently stopping Alms of the Vein in its tracks for a minimal mana cost.

Another strategy is to devalue the impact of life loss by incorporating robust life gain mechanics into your deck. This could translate into including creatures with lifelink or utilizing spells like Rest for the Weary, which can often reverse the damage done by Alms of the Vein and maintain equilibrium in your life total. Moreover, hand disruption tactics can force your opponent to discard this threat before they have the opportunity to cast it. Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize can effectively strip this card from the grip of an unsuspecting adversary.

Managing your life total carefully and considering potential threats like Alms of the Vein is critical in any MTG matchup. With thoughtful deck construction and playing a tight game, overcoming cards like Alms of the Vein is entirely within reach, preserving your path to victory.

Cards like Alms of the Vein

In Magic: The Gathering, Alms of the Vein shines in its role within the array of life-draining spells. One might compare it to cards like Sovereign’s Bite, which also serves as a means of changing life totals by three but at a low cost and without the requirement of discarding a card. However, Alms of the Vein boasts the flexibility of Madness, allowing it to be cast for a different effect if it were discarded from the hand, making it versatile in strategies focused around discarding.

Further analysis brings Essence Extraction into the fray, trading instant speed and life loss for direct creature removal and a fixed life gain. Alternatively, there’s also Fiery Temper, which emphasizes direct damage rather than life-draining but shares the advantageous Madness mechanic with Alms of the Vein. Although it targets creatures or players, it doesn’t impact life totals as significantly unless utilized as part of a damage-based finish.

Assessing these choices, Alms of the Vein holds its ground in the realm of MTG due to the tactical edge Madness offers and its direct hit to the opponent’s life total, paramount in aggressive strategies seeking to close out games swiftly.

Cards similar to Alms of the Vein by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Alms of the Vein MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered, 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 Alms of the Vein and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Alms of the Vein Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by David Gaillet.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2016-04-08	Shadows over Innistrad	SOI		98	2015	Normal	Black	David Gaillet
2	2023-03-21	Shadows over Innistrad Remastered	SIR		98	2015	Normal	Black	David Gaillet

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Alms of the Vein has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2016-04-08	A spell cast for its madness cost is put onto the stack like any other spell. It can be countered, copied, and so on. As it resolves, it’s put onto the battlefield if it’s a permanent card or into its owner’s graveyard if it’s an instant or sorcery card.
2016-04-08	Cards are discarded in a Magic game only from a player’s hand. Effects that put cards from a player’s library into that player’s graveyard do not cause those cards to be discarded.
2016-04-08	Casting a spell for its madness cost doesn’t change its mana cost or its mana value. You just pay the madness cost instead.
2016-04-08	Effects that cause you to pay more or less for a spell will cause you to pay that much more or less for its madness cost, too.
2016-04-08	If you choose not to cast a card with madness when the madness triggered ability resolves, it’s put into your graveyard. You don’t get another chance to cast it later.
2016-04-08	If you discard a card with madness to pay the cost of a spell or activated ability, that card’s madness trigger (and the spell that card becomes, if you choose to cast it) will resolve before the spell or ability the discard paid for.
2016-04-08	If you discard a card with madness while resolving a spell or ability, it moves immediately to exile. Continue resolving that spell or ability—the card is not in your graveyard at this time. Its madness trigger will be placed onto the stack once that spell or ability has completely resolved.
2016-04-08	Madness works independently of why you’re discarding the card. You could discard it to pay a cost, because a spell or ability tells you to, or even because you have too many cards in your hand at the end of your turn. You can’t discard a card with madness just because you want to, though.
2016-04-08	When you cast a card with madness, it was still discarded. If it was discarded to pay a cost, that cost is still paid. Abilities that trigger when a card is discarded will still trigger.