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Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor

Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor

Legendary Creature — Human Knight

Varchild wants a deck that steals its opponents' creatures and spells. It also suits a deck that makes attacking it too costly, so opponents fight each other.

  • Mana cost2 genericred
  • Red ()
  • Power / toughness3 / 3
  • RarityRare

Whenever Varchild deals combat damage to a player, that player creates that many 1/1 red Survivor creature tokens.

Survivors your opponents control can't block, and they can't attack you or planeswalkers you control.

When Varchild leaves the battlefield, gain control of all Survivors.

Build a deck with Varchild Find it in the app

Themes

Cards That Fit Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor

Picked for what they do in Varchild's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Varchild's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor

explain how Varchild works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 13 Jul 2018

Survivor is a creature type. Varchild's second ability affects any creatures your opponents control that happen to be Survivors, not just the Survivor tokens it creates. Similarly, its third ability affects all creatures that happen to be Survivors. A creature that's all creature types is a Survivor.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Jul 2018

The player who creates the Survivor tokens owns them, not Varchild's controller.

Wizards of the Coast 13 Jul 2018

Varchild's second ability isn't locked in as Survivor tokens are created. For example, if a player gains control of Varchild, that player's Survivor tokens may attack Varchild's former controller.

3 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Varchild, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryRPlayers write colors as letters: R for red.TheftTheft decks take control of opponents' creatures and other cards, or cast spells from their decks, and use them against them. Some steals last one turn so you can attack with the borrowed creature; others are permanent.Open the Theft pageTheftTakes something that belongs to an opponent: a creature, another permanent, or even a spell cast straight off the top of their deck. Act of Treason, Hellkite TyrantOpen the Theft pageMass TheftTakes many permanents at once rather than one. It often takes the whole table's creatures for a turn, which frequently ends the game on the spot. Insurrection, Hellkite TyrantOpen the Mass Theft pageSaboteurTriggers when a creature deals combat damage to a player, so the reward comes from connecting rather than from the damage itself. Evasion makes these far more reliable. Ragavan, Nimble PilfererOpen the Saboteur pagePillowfortPillowfort decks make attacking you so costly or unappealing that opponents attack each other instead. Cards like Ghostly Prison make a player pay mana for every creature that attacks you, buying time for your own plan.Open the Pillowfort pageAttack TaxCharges opponents mana to attack you, or stops them attacking at all. Because it sits on a permanent, it keeps working every turn rather than answering one attack. Propaganda, Ghostly PrisonOpen the Attack Tax pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageHatebearsHatebears decks play cheap creatures that each carry a rule making life harder for opponents, such as spells costing more. Each one is small, but together they slow the whole table down while they attack.Open the Hatebears pageHatebearA cheap creature, costing 3 mana or less, with a rule that slows everyone else down. Spells cost more, things enter tapped, or players cannot do something. It is the community's word for it, and a deck of them is a Hatebears deck. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Drannith Magistrate, Collector OupheOpen the Hatebear page