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Volrath, the Shapestealer

Volrath, the Shapestealer

Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Shapeshifter

mythic

At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature. : Until your next turn, Volrath becomes a copy of target creature with a counter on it, except it's 7/5 and it has this ability.

7/5

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Semantic Tags

Copy / Clonemechanical

Creates copies of creatures, permanents, or spells.

Cares about +1/+1 counters — places, moves, doubles, or benefits from counters on creatures.

Mana Sinkmechanical

A permanent with a repeatable activated ability that converts excess mana into value.

Permanentmechanical

A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”

Format Legality

commanderlegal
oathbreakerlegal
modernnot legal
pioneernot legal
standardnot legal
legacylegal
vintagelegal
paupernot legal
historicnot legal
explorernot legal
alchemynot legal

Price history

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Printings (1)

SetRarityTCGplayerCard KingdomCardmarket
Commander 2019#51mythic···

Related Rules

106.5

If an ability would produce one or more mana of an undefined type, it produces no mana instead.

106.7

Some abilities produce mana based on the type of mana another permanent or permanents “could produce.” The type of mana a permanent could produce at any time includes any type of mana that an ability of that permanent would produce if the ability were to resolve at that time, taking into account any applicable replacement effects in any possible order. Ignore whether any costs of the ability could or could not be paid. If that permanent wouldn’t produce any mana under these conditions, or no type of mana can be defined this way, there’s no type of mana it could produce.

106.12

To “tap [a permanent] for mana” is to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the {T} symbol in its activation cost. See rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”

106.12a

An ability that triggers whenever a permanent “is tapped for mana” or is tapped for mana of a specified type triggers whenever such a mana ability resolves and produces mana or the specified type of mana.

106.12b

A replacement effect that applies if a permanent “is tapped for mana” or tapped for mana of a specific type and/or amount modifies the mana production event while such an ability is resolving and producing mana or the specified type and/or amount of mana.

107.3m

If an object’s enters-the-battlefield triggered ability or replacement effect refers to X, and the spell that became that object as it resolved had a value of X chosen for any of its costs, the value of X for that ability is the same as the value of X for that spell, although the value of X for that permanent is 0. This is an exception to rule 107.3i.

107.5

The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

107.6

The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

Rulings

2019-08-23

If Volrath copies a creature that's copying something else, it will become whatever the target is copying.

2019-08-23

If another object becomes a copy of Volrath, it has the ability to become a copy of something else and it's 7/5.

2019-08-23

If a creature has +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it, state-based actions remove the same number of each so that it has only one of those kinds of counters on it. This may cause the creature to no longer have any counters on it.

2019-08-23

If an effect begins to apply to Volrath before it becomes a copy of another creature, that effect will continue to apply.

2019-08-23

Activating Volrath's last ability causes it to lose its first ability until your next turn, so if you activate it before the beginning of combat step, it won't trigger during that turn. Players can cast instant spells and activate abilities (such as the second ability) during the beginning of combat step after that first ability has triggered or resolved but before attackers are chosen in the declare attackers step.

2019-08-23

If the target creature is a token, Volrath copies the original characteristics of that token as stated by the effect that created the token. Volrath doesn't become a token in this case.

2019-08-23

If Volrath copies a creature with an ability that can be activated only once each turn (such as Chainer, Nightmare Adept), you can activate that ability once. If Volrath then becomes a copy of that same creature, you can activate that ability another time, and so on.

2019-08-23

If Volrath copies a creature the same turn Volrath enters the battlefield, you can't attack with it or use any of its {T} abilities (if it gains any) unless the copied creature has haste.

2019-08-23

Volrath copies the printed values of the target creature, plus any copy effects that have been applied to it. It won't copy counters on that creature. It also won't copy any effects that have changed its power, toughness, types, color, or so on. Notably, it won't copy effects that made the target become a creature if it's not normally a creature.

2019-08-23

If Volrath becomes a copy of a legendary creature you control, you'll put one of them into your graveyard.

2019-08-23

If Volrath becomes a copy of a face-down creature, Volrath becomes a 7/5 creature with no color, cost, or creature type. Volrath is still face up.

2019-08-23

If Volrath becomes a copy of a creature whose power and toughness are defined by an ability (usually printed as */* or similar), Volrath doesn't copy the ability that defines its power and toughness. Volrath remains a 7/5 creature.