Card Spotlight
Valgavoth, Terror Eater
A {6}{B}{B}{B} 9/9 with flying, lifelink and ward (sacrifice three nonland permanents). Cards your opponents would put into their graveyards are exiled instead, and during your turn you can play them, paying life equal to mana value instead of mana.
Commander Spotlight
Valgavoth, Terror Eater ↗
A {6}{B}{B}{B} 9/9 with flying, lifelink and ward (sacrifice three nonland permanents). Cards your opponents would put into their graveyards are exiled instead, and during your turn you can play them, paying life equal to mana value instead of mana.
See Valgavoth, Terror Eater's full stats and printings →
Strategies it goes well with
- Mono-black big mana. Nine mana is a lot, and Cabal Coffers and Crypt Ghast are how a Swamp-heavy deck gets there.
- Forced discard and mill. Every card an opponent discards or mills becomes a card you can play, so effects like Bottomless Pit turn Valgavoth into a card engine.
- Life as a resource. Lifelink on a 9/9 gains 9 life each time it deals combat damage, which pays for several stolen spells.
How it does in Commander
As the commander
As a mono-black commander it's a large flying threat that also turns the table's graveyards into your hand. The cost is nine mana, so the deck needs mana doublers and ramp, and every recast after removal adds commander tax to a cost that's already high.
In the 99
In the 99 it's a top-end finisher for a black deck with enough mana to cast it. It also works as graveyard hate against opponents' recursion, since their cards are exiled instead.
Formats it's strong in
- Mono-black big-mana decks. Swamp-based mana doublers make a nine-mana card castable by the middle of the game.
- Pods with graveyard decks. Opponents relying on reanimation or recursion lose their graveyard while Valgavoth is out, and you get their cards instead.
Formats it's weak in
- Fast, high-power pods. Nine mana is too slow when tables are trying to win by turn five.
- Low-life situations. Playing exiled spells costs life, so the engine is weak when your life total is already low.
Synergistic cards
Cabal Coffers ↗
Taps for {B} per Swamp you control, which makes nine mana realistic in mono-black.
Crypt Ghast ↗
Each Swamp taps for an extra {B}, roughly doubling a mono-black deck's mana.
Bottomless Pit ↗
Each player discards at random every upkeep, and the cards your opponents discard are exiled for you to play.
Tinybones, Pocket Nuisance ↗
Makes each opponent discard when it enters and deals damage on every discard, feeding cards into Valgavoth's exile.
Is it worth the price?
Valgavoth is a Duskmourn mythic and one of the more expensive cards from that set. It hasn't been reprinted outside Duskmourn and its promos, so the price is mid-priced to expensive for a single card.
Frequently asked questions
What cards does Valgavoth, Terror Eater exile?
Any card you didn't control that would go to an opponent's graveyard from anywhere. That includes cards they discard or mill, their permanents that die or are destroyed, and their instants and sorceries after they resolve.
How do you pay for cards exiled with Valgavoth?
During your turn you may play them. Spells cost life equal to their mana value instead of their mana cost, and lands use your normal land drop. Valgavoth's lifelink helps you earn that life back.
How hard is Valgavoth to remove?
Its ward makes any spell or ability an opponent aims at it cost three nonland permanents to sacrifice, or the spell is countered. Board wipes and edicts don't target, so ward doesn't stop them.