Vraska, Golgari QueenHow it works & interactions with other cards

Sacrifice for Superiority

Vraska's first loyalty ability allows you to sacrifice another permanent to gain 1 life and draw a card. Unlike many abilities that require a cost upfront, you choose whether to sacrifice a permanent—and which one—during the resolution of the ability. If you choose not to sacrifice anything, you still get the +2 loyalty counters, but you won't get the life or the card.

Pinpoint Destruction

The -3 ability targets a nonland permanent with mana value 3 or less. Remember that tokens usually have a mana value of 0, making them easy targets. If a permanent has {X} in its mana cost, X is treated as 0 when calculating mana value on the battlefield. This ability is perfect for clearing away early-game blockers or problematic utility artifacts and enchantments.

The Ultimate Sentence

Reaching -9 loyalty grants you an emblem that transforms every creature you control into a lethal threat. Once the emblem is active, any amount of combat damage dealt to a player by one of your creatures results in that player losing the game immediately. This ability does not care about the amount of damage; even 1 point of damage is enough to trigger the loss.

When to Play Vraska

Deploy Vraska when you have expendable permanents like Treasure tokens, extra lands, or cheap creatures to fuel her +2 ability. She is also an excellent answer to aggressive decks, as her -3 ability can instantly remove most two- or three-drop threats. Save her ultimate for when you have a wide board or creatures with evasion to ensure the combat damage connects.

Interaction examples

Evaluating Tokens and Mana Value

Nissa, Who Shakes the World

If your opponent uses Nissa, Who Shakes the World to turn a land into a 0/0 Elemental creature, that creature is still a land. Because Vraska's -3 ability specifies 'nonland permanent,' she cannot target those Elemental lands, even though they are creatures.

Lethal Combat Damage

Vraska, Golgari Queen Emblem

Once you have activated Vraska's -9 ability and gained the Vraska, Golgari Queen Emblem, any creature you control becomes a game-ender. If you attack with a small creature and it is not blocked, the moment it deals combat damage to your opponent, the emblem's triggered ability goes on the stack. When that trigger resolves, the opponent loses the game regardless of their life total.

Resolving the Sacrifice

Tezzeret, Cruel Captain

If you have both planeswalkers out, you can use Vraska's +2 ability to sacrifice a permanent. You don't have to name the permanent when you activate the ability. As it resolves, you decide to sacrifice an artifact. If you also control Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, note that his passive ability only triggers when an artifact 'enters,' not when it leaves, so sacrificing an artifact to Vraska won't trigger Tezzeret's loyalty gain.