Definitely a vicious general. Sure the cost is high, but he can prove useful the moment he comes out.
Splizer
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Don't touch kids, Vish Kal likes to keep his legs open....wait, what?
eak1801
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(7 votes)
This is hilarious with Blade of the Bloodchief. I hope that no one was planning on using any 2/2 or 1/1 creatures.
Atali
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Art looks pure black to me, don't know where the red is coming from, Clockworkswordfish.
Actually, he looks more like a demon than a vampire, with the arching wings.
A3Kitsune
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Is he wearing sunglasses?
Paleopaladin
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
blade of the bloodchief combo mentioned by eak1801 is going to be silly broken.
Wizard-of-the-Toast
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Volrath the fallen and this guy have a nice synergy. They have a similar feel by feeding of others and gaining their power, and you could sacrifice a pumped up Volrath to this guy. I've loved Volrath for years but this guy is better albeit easier to predict.
ClockworkSwordfish
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Art looks black/white/red (look at the wings) Otherwise great. Good general, good underling to Ghave too.
Goatllama
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(11 votes)
Hail to the king, baby.
BlackAlbino
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(8 votes)
I see Tony Montana rocking aviators and fresh pair of wings
Veteripont
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Blade of the Bloodchief is obviously fun, especially if you plan on building around the sacrifice theme.
So are other counter-adding effects like Cradle of Vitality.
Feralsymphony
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Character Bio: The ancient vampire Vish Kal feeds on the wicked, and he judges wickedness by his own personal code of ethics. Those who are exonerated in the eyes of Vish Kal are untouchable, stainless. But for the guilty he acts as both judge and executioner, personally carrying out the blood sentence for his own verdicts.
I fail to see why they had to make this white since lifelink is a black ability as well. (See vampiric link.)
rctoons
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(5 votes)
You know, Nail Biting is a bad habit. (Vish Kal, Bloody Nailbiter?)
Dragon5911
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The reason vampiric link exists is due to the color swap set(s) it is a recolored spirit link.
Eved
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Vampire nighthawks dad. Just relaxing in his chair like "I'm so badass"
CJM2
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Johnny Cage, Vampire.
MasterOfEtherium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
haha corey hart tony montana johnny cage GOOD ONES
Wprundv
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
can you remove 0 counters to give target creature -0/-0 ?
Tsuichoi
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Awesome duality of +1+1 converted into -1-1 counters as a form of removal and certainly true to B/W.
His stats are definitely underrated as well- a 5/5 flyer with Lifelink for 7 isnt anything to laugh about considering of course its ability. Hell, sac any Ol' creature and he survives dismember! :D
KurtX22
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This guy drops right into my Teysa, Orzhov Scion commander deck. Between Teysa and Darkest Hour, Vish can remove the entire board one by one, then become arbitrarily huge and smash face.
starfox444
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Vish Kal looks sad because he eats all his friends and is too expensive to go out to commander parties.
Darkvayne
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
people should be putting this card in graveborn for casual plays....it works quite well.
Okuu-chan
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(9 votes)
Woodland Sleuth: This looks bad. The enemy general was found in the graveyard, covered in -1/-1 counters. Vish Kal: I guess you could...*puts on shades*...count him out.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAH!
JaFaR_Ironclad
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
In commander: Vish Kal, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed for infinite LTB's/ETB's/targeted creature removal.
1. Have both cards in play. 2. sac Vish Kal to its own ability, let undying trigger resolve, he comes back with a +1/+1 counter. 3. Use Vish Kal's second ability to clear counters and hit a creature. If you've already wiped your opponent's boards by now, just debuff himself. 4. Repeat step 2-4.
Dr.Pingas
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I hate this guy; he's the perfect example of how Wizards didn't know what they were doing when it came to EDH/Commander. Anything, ANYTHING could have made him more balanced and less broken; pay 1-2 life to sac, say "sac another creature", tap to use his second ability, ANYTHING. As it stands, he's a Novablast Wurm that never has to worry about being targeted, with flying and lifelink - like they were necessary. I've seen huge cards rendered useless simply because he can just sac around them and then come back the next turn with all the B/W(/G) recursion. You simply throw away your creatures, tokens, and all the stuff that you know you can get back, kill their flyers, and then pump him up to 21 and swing for the win. They try and even TOUCH him? You sac him to his own ability, and bring him back with Unburial Rights. The deck makes itself, and that is NOT the intention/goal of EDH AT ALL.
One note though, I'm not sure where people are getting the idea of -1/-1 counters. He gives them a direct -1/-1 to their stats, until end of turn; there are no counters besides the +1/+1 that he uses himself.
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I feel like tossing this guy into Kaalia of the Vast.
I mean, he's not really an Angel, Demon, or Dragon...but he's a big Gothic, giant awful flying monster. of doom. And he's on colors. How bad a plan could it be to sac Dragons to this guy, really? :)
Zielheim
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I've got a messed up combo involving him, Rune-Scarred Demon , and Karador, Ghost Chieftain . Sac the demon, put 6 +1/+1 counters on Vish Kal, then bring the demon back with Karador and tutor any card out. Expensive, but it basically lets me spend one turn getting the card I need sooner instead of later, and it helps pump Vish for damage & life gain, plus a potential kill with it.
@Dr.Pingas I wouldn't call Vish Kal broken or unbalanced. For one thing, while he CAN sac himself to his own ability, what real gain do you get out of it? You get to avoid certain exile spells, yay? If you use him as the general, sac'ing himself does you NO good since he'd go straight to the command zone again, even if you did want to avoid a Path or a Journey or O-ring. If you try to combo him with dead Mikaeus, the opponent is going to realize it very quickly and then just get rid of Mikaeus. Heck, his first ability is disadvantageous if the opponent has a kill spell ready for him of some sort since if you try to go for the kill with him, they're just going to nuke him when he swings. Not only that, but you have to get rid of ALL of his +1/+1 counters to give one creature that much in terms of -x/-x, meaning if they can come back from his swing, you're down quite a few creatures while they can chump and swing through Vish Kal and widdle you down until they get rid of him. Now, can he be a good card? Yes, but you also have to make sure your field is ready for him to go to town, one false step and you're screwed. Heck, even in my combo that I listed, it can be disrupted fairly easily if Karador gets taken out, or if I'm seriously lacking in revival spells.
ImPico
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Huh, I could have sword Albert Wesker was a zombie...but this works too.
I never faced it, but I saw a guy's EDH deck in which is main combo was having Debtors Knell in play and sacking Angel of Despair to him.
Alsebra
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Thanos42 - That wouldn't work...the scythe requires damage to be dealt; Vish doles out -1/-1 for each counter you remove (this doesn't deal damage).
TheWrathofShane
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Woah cool card.
JohnnyDepth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The "removal-hate" general, lol. I "LOVE" being able to shuffle commanders in their owners' libraries, but can't do that with this guy. He'll just sac himself, and if the player's mana base is strong enough, they'll just bring him out again in a turn or two. Shoot, toss out a Debtor's Knell while you're at it and he'll return every turn if you can keep him in your graveyard, or will keep his tempo up 'cause you'll be able to sac the creatures you get and continue to pump him up. And since his abilities occur at instant speed without a tapping requirement, he can do this as quickly and as often as he's played.
I even tried devising how one could stop his abilities from activating, and I thought, "Well, Azorius Guildmage is the first thing that comes to mind." But if they've got any other creature with at least 2 power, they can sac THAT, add 2 counters to Vish Kal, then remove those, and simply kill the Guildmage before she can nullify his ability. So that means you have to provide either shroud or hexproof onto the Guildmage, or pay another 3 mana for each creature they can do that with. Gaaahh, what a headache.... >_<'
Wulfsten
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Don't really understand why this card is B/W, all its abilities are black and the art and title of the card do nothing to indicate that he's anything other than a regular vampire. Also not worth 7 mana, I think. You should be able to remove the +1/+1 counters one by one, like with Deathbringer Thoctar.
Unseto
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i was looking for something to make Righteousness and Hold the Line more usefull :)
Token maker + sac outlet? Check. Stackable emblems that boost the power of your creatures which in turn puts more +1/+1 counters on Vish Kal? Check. Flexible removal options? Check.
I'm all for more generals, the game needs them. But I have no idea what's keeping this guy from being mono black. It's not like lifelink isn't a black thing cause its not uncommon for vampires to have it. So what makes this guy white?
BlackTranquility
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
If he wasn't so expensive he would be bonkers, but he's still awesome.
DawnofShadows
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Karmic Guide + Reveillark = Total board wipe and an infinitely large Vish Kal...Swing for 9999999999999999 anyone? Add Requiem Angel to the equation and you've got infinite flying 1/1 spirit tokens! Oh what fun! He's also amazing against token decks... Ghave? I see you have some tokens ther.... DIE....
Great card, great artwork, great flavor... It's too bad he costs 7 mana, but he's a 5/5 flyer with lifelink with the ability to make himself bigger AND kill stuff at instant speed....so yeah I'm not complaining. Also you can't condemn him cuz he will just sac himself ;) Did I mention he looks like Wesker? Anyways such an underrated general....Hopefully they come out with a new version of this badass.
Mr.Wimples
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My playgroup has taken to calling him "Shades".
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@BongRipper That's why he only has 1 white mana symbol in his cost, and 2 black symbols. He's more black than he is white. His white probably comes from his 'arbiter' title (a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter). He is kind of like a corrupt judge (his back story indicates so as well). Check out this link for his back story: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/stf/148
I use him as my EDH general in one of my strongest decks. Due to his low commitment to white, I run an almost mono-black style deck using things like cabal coffers and necropotence to fuel the deck. I use his lifelink as well as other sources to gain some of the life back that I spend on suicide black style draw cards. I get all the advantages of mono-black, but also get the power to destroy enchantments and artifacts easily.
Kamishini
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Okay, I see a few people have said that he doesn't seem like a good commander, or a good card for that matter...
And I ask, are you noobs?
Sorry, that was rude, but seriously, Vish here is freakin' ridiculous. A 5/5 Lifelink, Flying itself is worth about five mana with a white and a black. now add his abilities...? Suddenly seven mana seems a little under-costed, really. He's a sac outlet, which lets you get around everything that exiles or sends to deck for creatures, and if you're playing black and white, you have TONS of recursion, so sacing something and having it come back in a turn or less isn't uncommon. That alone makes him awesome. And then you throw on an ability which gives him the possibility to destroying indestructible stuff?
And his abilities don't even cost mana! And activate at instant speed! As is, I personally think he's kinda broken, not that I mind, I love him as my B/W Samsara Commander.
Sabisent
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I was actually introduced to magic with EDH, by a friend who owned all the precons. He told me this was the best card in any of the decks and I didn't believe him.
Then he dropped this with a horde of saprolings, wiped the board, and killed me in one hit.
For this reason, this card will always hold a little bit of awe for me. 5/5
DaLucaray
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Is he... picking his nose?
LordTron
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ BongRipper420
they didn't make him {b} because wizards wanted to make a good {w}/{b} general.
Comments (53)
Actually, he looks more like a demon than a vampire, with the arching wings.
So are other counter-adding effects like Cradle of Vitality.
The ancient vampire Vish Kal feeds on the wicked, and he judges wickedness by his own personal code of ethics. Those who are exonerated in the eyes of Vish Kal are untouchable, stainless. But for the guilty he acts as both judge and executioner, personally carrying out the blood sentence for his own verdicts.
His stats are definitely underrated as well- a 5/5 flyer with Lifelink for 7 isnt anything to laugh about considering of course its ability. Hell, sac any Ol' creature and he survives dismember! :D
Between Teysa and Darkest Hour, Vish can remove the entire board one by one, then become arbitrarily huge and smash face.
Vish Kal: I guess you could...*puts on shades*...count him out.
YEEEEAAAAAAAAH!
1. Have both cards in play.
2. sac Vish Kal to its own ability, let undying trigger resolve, he comes back with a +1/+1 counter.
3. Use Vish Kal's second ability to clear counters and hit a creature. If you've already wiped your opponent's boards by now, just debuff himself.
4. Repeat step 2-4.
You simply throw away your creatures, tokens, and all the stuff that you know you can get back, kill their flyers, and then pump him up to 21 and swing for the win. They try and even TOUCH him? You sac him to his own ability, and bring him back with Unburial Rights. The deck makes itself, and that is NOT the intention/goal of EDH AT ALL.
One note though, I'm not sure where people are getting the idea of -1/-1 counters. He gives them a direct -1/-1 to their stats, until end of turn; there are no counters besides the +1/+1 that he uses himself.
I mean, he's not really an Angel, Demon, or Dragon...but he's a big Gothic, giant awful flying monster. of doom. And he's on colors. How bad a plan could it be to sac Dragons to this guy, really? :)
@Dr.Pingas
I wouldn't call Vish Kal broken or unbalanced. For one thing, while he CAN sac himself to his own ability, what real gain do you get out of it? You get to avoid certain exile spells, yay? If you use him as the general, sac'ing himself does you NO good since he'd go straight to the command zone again, even if you did want to avoid a Path or a Journey or O-ring. If you try to combo him with dead Mikaeus, the opponent is going to realize it very quickly and then just get rid of Mikaeus. Heck, his first ability is disadvantageous if the opponent has a kill spell ready for him of some sort since if you try to go for the kill with him, they're just going to nuke him when he swings. Not only that, but you have to get rid of ALL of his +1/+1 counters to give one creature that much in terms of -x/-x, meaning if they can come back from his swing, you're down quite a few creatures while they can chump and swing through Vish Kal and widdle you down until they get rid of him. Now, can he be a good card? Yes, but you also have to make sure your field is ready for him to go to town, one false step and you're screwed. Heck, even in my combo that I listed, it can be disrupted fairly easily if Karador gets taken out, or if I'm seriously lacking in revival spells.
I kill your creatures and then steal them, rinse and repeat
I even tried devising how one could stop his abilities from activating, and I thought, "Well, Azorius Guildmage is the first thing that comes to mind." But if they've got any other creature with at least 2 power, they can sac THAT, add 2 counters to Vish Kal, then remove those, and simply kill the Guildmage before she can nullify his ability. So that means you have to provide either shroud or hexproof onto the Guildmage, or pay another 3 mana for each creature they can do that with. Gaaahh, what a headache.... >_<'
Token maker + sac outlet?
Check.
Stackable emblems that boost the power of your creatures which in turn puts more +1/+1 counters on Vish Kal?
Check.
Flexible removal options?
Check.
All this team needs is Teysa, Orzhov Scion and it's ready to start terrorizing Commander. Ghost Council of Orzhova and Obzedat, Ghost Council might want in too.
Great card, great artwork, great flavor... It's too bad he costs 7 mana, but he's a 5/5 flyer with lifelink with the ability to make himself bigger AND kill stuff at instant speed....so yeah I'm not complaining. Also you can't condemn him cuz he will just sac himself ;) Did I mention he looks like Wesker? Anyways such an underrated general....Hopefully they come out with a new version of this badass.
That's why he only has 1 white mana symbol in his cost, and 2 black symbols. He's more black than he is white. His white probably comes from his 'arbiter' title (a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter). He is kind of like a corrupt judge (his back story indicates so as well).
Check out this link for his back story: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/stf/148
I use him as my EDH general in one of my strongest decks. Due to his low commitment to white, I run an almost mono-black style deck using things like cabal coffers and necropotence to fuel the deck. I use his lifelink as well as other sources to gain some of the life back that I spend on suicide black style draw cards. I get all the advantages of mono-black, but also get the power to destroy enchantments and artifacts easily.
And I ask, are you noobs?
Sorry, that was rude, but seriously, Vish here is freakin' ridiculous. A 5/5 Lifelink, Flying itself is worth about five mana with a white and a black. now add his abilities...? Suddenly seven mana seems a little under-costed, really. He's a sac outlet, which lets you get around everything that exiles or sends to deck for creatures, and if you're playing black and white, you have TONS of recursion, so sacing something and having it come back in a turn or less isn't uncommon. That alone makes him awesome. And then you throw on an ability which gives him the possibility to destroying indestructible stuff?
And his abilities don't even cost mana! And activate at instant speed! As is, I personally think he's kinda broken, not that I mind, I love him as my B/W Samsara Commander.
Then he dropped this with a horde of saprolings, wiped the board, and killed me in one hit.
For this reason, this card will always hold a little bit of awe for me. 5/5
they didn't make him {b} because wizards wanted to make a good {w}/{b} general.