Vish Kal wants a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn. It also suits a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life.
Mana cost
White, Black ()
Power / toughness5 / 5
RarityRare
Flying, lifelink
Sacrifice a creature: Put X +1/+1 counters on Vish Kal, where X is the sacrificed creature's power.
Remove all +1/+1 counters from Vish Kal: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn for each +1/+1 counter removed this way.
Picked for what they do in Vish Kal's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Vish Kal'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.Open the full glossary
explain how Vish Kal 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 Coast7 Aug 2020
Use the sacrificed creature's power as it last existed on the battlefield to determine how many +1/+1 counters to put on Vish Kal.
Wizards of the Coast7 Aug 2020
Vish Kal's last ability doesn't deal damage. It doesn't cause you to gain any life from its lifelink ability.
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 glossaryWBPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, B for black.+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters page-X/-X RemovalRemoves a creature by giving it -X/-X, which lowers its toughness. A creature with 0 or less toughness goes to the graveyard. Like damage, it can miss a big creature: -3/-3 kills a 3/3 but not a 30/30. Unlike damage, it also kills a creature that can't be destroyed (indestructible), because the game's rules put a creature with 0 toughness into the graveyard without destroying it. Dismember Grasp of DarknessOpen the -X/-X Removal pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine pageCounter ManipulationAdds, moves or multiplies counters already on permanents. It works on any kind (+1/+1, loyalty, charge), so the same card can serve very different decks. Karn's Bastion, Doubling SeasonOpen the Counter Manipulation pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats pageSacrifice OutletA permanent that lets you sacrifice your own creatures or artifacts whenever you want, usually for free. Every Aristocrats deck needs one, because cards that reward a creature dying only help if you choose when it dies. Ashnod's Altar, Viscera SeerOpen the Sacrifice Outlet pageLife GainGains you life, once or over and over. Soul Warden, The Great Henge. In Commander life is something to spend, not just a cushion, and many of these cards also set off others that reward gaining life.Open the Life Gain pageSacrificeSacrifice decks give up their own creatures, Treasures and other cards on purpose and get something back each time. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you want, is the heart of the deck.Open the Sacrifice pageEvasionAn ability that makes a creature hard to block, so its attacks reach the player. Flying, menace, landwalk and plain 'can't be blocked' are the common kinds.Open the Evasion page
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