Can I Exile My Commander with Mimic Vat?
Direct Answer: Yes, you can exile your commander with Mimic Vat, but it’s not a straightforward process. We’ll delve into the intricacies of Mimic Vat and explain how to successfully exile your commander using this card.
How Does Mimic Vat Work?
Mimic Vat is a simple, yet powerful, card that allows you to imprint a creature onto it from your graveyard. This means that if you have a creature die, you can pay 3 mana to make a copy of it. This replacement effect happens on the stack, before the creature is actually put into your graveyard. This is important to keep in mind when considering how to exile your commander with Mimic Vat.
Can You Exile Your Commander with Mimic Vat?
So, to answer the original question: Yes, you can exile your commander with Mimic Vat. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- Make sure your commander is in your graveyard: The most obvious requirement is that your commander needs to be in your graveyard for this to work. This means that if you sacrifice or kill your commander in response to an ability or attack, you won’t be able to exile it.
- Cast Mimic Vat: Once your commander is in the graveyard, you need to cast Mimic Vat. This can be done before or after the commander’s trigger has resolved. Since the commander’s ability resolves before Mimic Vat is cast, you can’t cast Mimic Vat as a response to the commander’s ability.
- Pay 3 mana: When you cast Mimic Vat, you’ll need to pay 3 mana. This mana can come from anywhere: You can pay it from your main hand, from your mana pool, or even from the commander’s ability.
- Choose the commander to imprint: Once you’ve paid the 3 mana, you’ll be prompted to choose which creature from your graveyard to imprint onto Mimic Vat. You’ll need to choose your commander here: Make sure you select the commander you want to exile.
What Happens If I Destroy Mimic Vat?
What happens if you destroy Mimic Vat after you’ve imprinted your commander onto it? The good news is that you’ve already paid the 3 mana and imprinted the commander, so you can still exile your commander even if the Mimic Vat is destroyed.
Additional Tips and Considerations
- You can only exile a single creature with Mimic Vat: So, if you have multiple creatures in your graveyard, you can only imprint one of them onto Mimic Vat.
- Mimic Vat won’t prevent summoning sickness: Since the commander is being exiled, it won’t trigger any summoning sickness. However, keep in mind that any abilities that trigger "whenever you cast [commander’s name]" will not resolve.
- Commander tokens and exile: If you exile a commander with Mimic Vat and create a commander token, the token is also exiled: When you exile the commander, you also exile any tokens created by it.
- Recursion and loops: Keep in mind that recursing Mimic Vat and creating multiple copies of your commander can lead to game-ending loops. Make sure you’re not creating infinite recursion: Otherwise, your opponent will take control of the game.
In Conclusion
Exiling your commander with Mimic Vat is a complex process, but it’s definitely possible. Keep in mind the rules and exceptions: Understand how Mimic Vat works, and how you can use it to exile your commander while avoiding common pitfalls. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to master the art of exiling your commander with Mimic Vat and gain a strategic edge over your opponents.
| Mimic Vat Basics | Additional Notes |
|---|---|
| * Can be cast before or after commander’s ability resolves | * Commanders are exiled individually |
| * 3 mana is paid | * Tokens are exiled when the commander is exiled |
| * Replacement effect happens on the stack | * Be careful not to create infinite recursion |
| * You can’t exile multiple creatures | * Understand how summoning sickness and triggers work |
Note: You can modify the table and bullet points according to your requirement.