Masked Vandal MTG Card


Masked Vandal offers targeted removal of artifacts or enchantments by exiling a creature card. Changeling trait enhances tribal synergies and indirectly accelerates resource gain. Entry-triggered ability provides swift disruption, potentially altering opponent strategies.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Shapeshifter
Abilities Changeling
Power 1
Toughness 3

Text of card

Changeling (This card is every creature type.) When Masked Vandal enters the battlefield, you may exile a creature card from your graveyard. If you do, exile target artifact or enchantment an opponent controls.


Cards like Masked Vandal

Masked Vandal is a unique creature in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, finding its niche within decks that aim to control or interact with opponents’ artifacts and enchantments. It brings to the table a Changeling ability, which means it can slide into various tribal decks, making it flexible and comparable to other utility creatures like Reclamation Sage. Whereas Reclamation Sage destroys an artifact or enchantment upon entering the battlefield with no further conditions, Masked Vandal requires the exile of a creature card from your graveyard to disrupt an opponent’s strategy.

Another card akin to Masked Vandal is Caustic Caterpillar, which can also destroy an artifact or enchantment. However, Caustic Caterpillar needs an additional mana to activate its ability, while Masked Vandal’s effect is on cast, which means it happens even if Masked Vandal never enters the battlefield due to a countered spell. Herein lies its advantage in environments where spell-counters are common.

Given these points, Masked Vandal earns its place as a relevant choice for MTG players looking to weave in versatile disruption tools into their decks. It stands out not just for its tribal component but also for its cost-effective and proactive enchantment or artifact removal strategy.

Reclamation Sage - MTG Card versions
Caustic Caterpillar - MTG Card versions
Reclamation Sage - MTG Card versions
Caustic Caterpillar - MTG Card versions

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Genesis Hydra - MTG Card versions
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Heir of the Wilds - MTG Card versions
Mayor of Avabruck // Howlpack Alpha - MTG Card versions
Wren's Run Vanquisher - MTG Card versions
Muscle Sliver - MTG Card versions
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Decks using this card

MTG decks using Masked Vandal. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#NameFormatArchetypeEvent
ElvesElves PauperElvesPauper Challenge 32 2024-04-13
GoblinsGoblins LegacyGoblinsLegacy Preliminary 2024-04-08 (1)
URGURG PauperPauper Showcase Challenge 2024-04-20
WBRGWBRG PauperPauper Showcase Challenge 2024-04-20
Jund GoblinsJund Goblins ModernGoblinsPachanga Trial ACUP Domingo

Card Pros

Card Advantage: When Masked Vandal enters the battlefield, if you exile a creature card from your graveyard, you gain the ability to destroy an artifact or enchantment an opponent controls, effectively dealing with opponents’ key cards and potentially turning the tide of the game.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly impacting your mana pool, the choice to use the changeling trait of Masked Vandal can lead to tribal synergies which can accelerate your resource state indirectly, offering incredible value within specific deck archetypes.

Instant Speed: While Masked Vandal itself is a creature card and doesn’t operate at instant speed, its disruptive ability is triggered when it enters the battlefield. This offers strategic flexibility, allowing you to respond promptly to threats by casting it through various flash-enabling effects, disrupting your opponent’s plans on their turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Masked Vandal can demand that you exile a creature card from your graveyard, which could potentially deplete a valuable resource or disrupt your graveyard strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: While the primary cost of the Masked Vandal is a single green mana, the changeling nature of the card could mislead into thinking it’s easily splashed in any deck, which isn’t always the case without proper mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering its 1/3 body, the requirement to exile another card to utilize its ability can make its casting cost feel steep relative to the immediate impact it has on the board state compared to other low-drop creatures or removal options.


Reasons to Include Masked Vandal in Your Collection

Versatility: Masked Vandal offers a flexible solution for decks that face enchantment or artifact threats by providing an opportunity to exile them when it enters the battlefield.

Combo Potential: As a Changeling, this creature fits seamlessly into tribal strategies and can contribute to combos by sharing creature types with other synergistic cards.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment rich in powerful artifacts and enchantments, Masked Vandal serves as an important toolbox card to disrupt opponents’ strategies efficiently.


How to beat

Masked Vandal is a crafty creature card that can disrupt strategies relying heavily on artifacts and enchantments. With its Changeling ability, it blends well into various deck themes, making it a versatile problem for opponents. The moment it enters the battlefield, if you’ve exercised the option to exile a creature card from your graveyard, you may destroy an opponent’s artifact or enchantment.

Countering this shapeshifter begins in building a deck that minimizes crucial artifacts or enchantments, or that has ample ways to recover them. Instant-speed removal spells are also a player’s ally, dispatching the Vandal before it unleashes its targeted destruction. A strategic player may also bait the exile ability, saving more valuable cards for later. Additionally, leveraging graveyard manipulation either diminishes its entry impact or nullifies it completely by stripping your graveyard of creatures.

To sum up, overcoming Masked Vandal requires thoughtful deck construction and gameplay that either circumnavigates or dilutes the potency of its one-time removal capability, ensuring that the versatility of this changeling doesn’t become an obstacle that costs you the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the intricate dynamics of MTG can often resemble a well-played game of chess. With cards like Masked Vandal, strategy takes precedence, and knowledge becomes power. As you scan the battlefield, consider how the disruptive entry of Masked Vandal could be the linchpin in your arsenal. Its ability to subtly shift the balance in your favor is what makes it an unsung hero in matchups. If controlling the board with clever trickery entices you, deepen your repertoire and trim your deck’s edges using Masked Vandal’s versatility. Strengthen your MTG strategies by learning more with us; it could be the difference between a loss and an epic win.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Masked Vandal MTG card by a specific set like The List and Kaldheim, 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 Masked Vandal and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Masked Vandal Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2021-02-05 and 2021-02-05. Illustrated by Jason A. Engle.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12020-09-26The ListPLST KHM-1842015NormalBlackJason A. Engle
22021-02-05KaldheimKHM 1842015NormalBlackJason A. Engle
32021-02-05Kaldheim Art SeriesAKHM 492015Art seriesBorderlessJason A. Engle
42021-02-05KaldheimKHM 4052015NormalBlackJason A. Engle

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Masked Vandal has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2021-02-05 Changeling is a characteristic-defining ability. It functions in all zones, not only while a card that has it is on the battlefield.
2021-02-05 If an effect causes a creature with changeling to become a new creature type, it will be only that new creature type. It will still have changeling; the effect making it all creature types will simply be overwritten.
2021-02-05 If an effect causes a creature with changeling to lose all abilities, it will remain all creature types, even though it will no longer have changeling. This is because changeling applies before the effect that removes it.
2021-02-05 The subtype Shapeshifter that appears on the type line is mostly there to reinforce the flavor. A creature card with changeling is just as much an Elf, a Dwarf, a Sliver, a Goat, a Coward, and a Zombie as it is a Shapeshifter.
2021-02-05 You choose the target artifact or enchantment an opponent controls as you put the triggered ability on the stack. Once the ability starts resolving, you choose which creature card to exile from your graveyard, if any. At that point, no one can respond to your choice or take any actions until the ability is finished resolving.