Vapor Snag

Instant

Return target creature to its owner's hand. Its controller loses 1 life.

Combos

• Snapcaster Mage + Vapor Snag

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

JustJohn97 on Mono Blue Delving Terror

10 months ago

Balaam__ I agree Lorien Revealed is good for a ramp shell or for color fixing. The thought process here is that I am pseudo ramping towards my goal of casting creatures like Tolarian Terror, especially since I often don't have a 1 drop. I can spend mana to cycle Lorien Revealed and put a sorcery in the graveyard and have effectively reduced the cost of my creatures while also securing a land drop. Perhaps running Thought Scour may be better, which would add to your argument of running more Island, but I can't say for certain. It does have the upside of flipping Delver of Secrets  ^Flip, shuffling Brainstorm, and filling the graveyard while also still being good late game. I don't have a lot of T1 plays, so I'm ok with sinking mana at the beginning for later plays when I'm in top deck mode.

I love having interaction and would love to run more bounce spells, I just don't know how I would fit them in haha! This is actually my honest attempt of shoving in as much interaction while still having something to execute my gameplan with. Typically my game plan is to stall and use interaction until I can throw down a Tolarian Terror. That's actually where the Desert lands come in. I can use them as repeatable interaction without spending a card. It also allows me to cast all my sorcery spells, a third of my instants, and my big creatures if my graveyard isn't large enough. Again it's very match dependent, but sometimes I view holding up the colorless mana as basically holding up something like Vapor Snag. If I were to replace them with interaction, I don't think the mana would be there, so this was my compromise of opportunity for mana and interaction. I'm sure there's a build where Vapor Snag or Unsummon fit in, but I'm not sure what to cut for them after replacing Desert with Island.

Thanks again for the suggestions! Definitely something for me to think about. I'm looking forward to more future games and figuring out what works well and what needs to change.

Balaam__ on Mono Blue Delving Terror

10 months ago

Fair enough. I do like the core functionality of the deck, but don’t give up trying to streamline it. I think there’s still opportunity for refinement, and the more games you get under your belt the more valuable info you’ll have to be able to determine what to cut/add.

A card like Lorien Revealed coming in at {3}{U}{U}, for instance, is really only playable in a ramp shell or in an excessively grindy matchup. Using it for Islandcycling early on is nowhere near as efficient as just replacing it with an actual Island, as you’re paying {1} to search for an Island that now gets you back the one mana you just spent that turn (and bear in mind if you just played a land, it can’t even be played until next turn). In other words it has a place, but I don’t think it belongs in the current iteration of what you have here.

As far as the Deserts are concerned, it’s sound logic to want to deal with pingers but there are other options. Bounce spells might be something to look into. A Vapor Snag or even an Unsummon will mess with your opponent’s tempo, temporarily removing the threat. This is not as good as killing it with a Desert true, but that {C} mana doesn’t do you any favors. I’d still advocate for replacing them with basic Islands but ultimately the choice is yours. And that’s really what it’s all about here: you can build whatever you want, and no deck is ever “finished”. It’s a game of constant analysis and refinement. If this is performing to your standards, don’t fix what isn’t broke. If you think you can squeeze some more efficiency out of it, try some new approaches.

giovannini on What happens when Vapor Snag …

11 months ago

Thank you very much Rhadamanthus!

(Vapor Snag really kills the vibe then, cool)

Rhadamanthus on What happens when Vapor Snag …

11 months ago

The land will be returned to your hand, you will lose 1 life, and Harmonious Emergence will go to your graveyard. Here's why:

• Because Harmonious emergence turns the land into a creature, that makes the land a legal target for Vapor Snag
• Harmonious Emergence's last ability only applies if something would actually "destroy" the enchanted land, meaning an effect that specifically says "destroy" (Murder, etc.) or a lethal amount of damage being dealt to it (the rules of the game say lethal damage "destroys" a creature). That isn't what's happening here
• If an Aura is on the battlefield but somehow not attached to a legal object as defined by its "Enchant [something]" ability, then it's put into its owner's graveyard

giovannini on What happens when Vapor Snag …

11 months ago

Hi folks, I need some help to understand the mechanics of two cards together.

Imagine i have successfully cast Harmonious Emergence on a land, turning it into a 4/5 creature, which is sitll a land.

What happens when my opponent casts a Vapor Snag on it?

I have considered some options:

1. The land returns to be a land with indestructible. No cards goes back to my hand. Harmonious Emergence stays in the field. (It can be used again in another land? With mana cost, without mana cost?).

2. The land card return to my hand and Harmonious Emergence stays in the field.

3. Both the land card and Harmonious Emergence card return to my hand.

4. [More on a lore-design level] You turn the field into a creature (LoTR like, Fangorn and stuff...or Snow White tripping). It is not an entity you can 'cast out', there is no specific range, it is the entire place...so when you try a creature removal nothing happens (you use removal in one single tree, during the process another tree hits you from behind).

It seems that Harmonious Emergence was designed only thinking about destroying the creature...but what about other removals?

Thank you for your attention.

Azoth2099 on Chun - li countless tokens

1 year ago

DreadKhan

Ohh yeah man, Crystal Shard is great here for sure. As many economically feasible ways to reset Chun-Li as possible is a must here, certainly. Unsummon, Vapor Snag, Fading Hope, Rescue, Curfew, Chain of Vapor, Alchemist's Retrieval, Unsubstantiate, Familiar's Ruse, Geistwave, Call to Heel, Snapback & of course Capsize (so much utility here) are all worth a thought here imo, seeing as how they are also instants that can easily be recurred via the Commander's ability.

Other less synergistic synergies like Vedalken Mastermind, Waterfront Bouncer, Trusted advisors, Shrieking Drake, Faerie Impostor, Seal of Removal, Turbulent Dreams, Aether Spellbomb, Otawara, Soaring City & Sanctum of Eternity could potentially help the deck push through to victory as well!

And then there's Intuition, which is obviously just insane lol.

wallisface on 10$ Merfolks

1 year ago

Very well done for the price restriction.

Vapor Snag > Unsummon, though not sure if it puts the deck over budget. Witness Protection might be another good option for a more permanent answer to a problem.

Balaam__ on Balaam__

1 year ago

@Daikodubs Alright, so here’s what I cobbled together. It isn’t quite Sultai, and I’d actually very much recommend abandoning a tri color mana base in favor of {B}{U} instead, but if you’re dead set on Sultai it’s easily adaptable.

4 Vapor Snag 10 Swamp 4 Spell Pierce 4 Mana Leak 6 Island 4 Hedron Alignment 4 Gurmag Angler 4 Counterspell 4 Cling to Dust 4 Choked Estuary 4 Cabal Therapy 4 Cabal Therapist 4 Bojuka Bog

You’ve got enough mana to reliably cast Hedron Alignment from your hand.

You’ve got 8 cards that will get a copy from your hand into your graveyard, namely Cabal Therapy and Cabal Therapist. Just name yourself as the target player and dump from your own hand.

You’ve got 8 cards that let you exile a copy from your graveyard, playsets of Bojuka Bog and Cling to Dust. That last one will let you recover lost life too in case you’re dangerously close to death.

You’ve got a boatload of countermagic to fizzle a lot of what your opponent may try, either to stop you or else to bolster their own strategy.

Lastly, I threw in Gurmag Angler because you mentioned you like Delve and it’s also a fine card to block with if necessary or even to win with should Hedron Alignment somehow not be a viable wincon for whatever reason.

Prices fluctuate depending on where and how you buy, but this rings it at around $20 or less depending on the set of card you’re looking at. Like I said, this is but one way to try building around Hedron Alignment and there are many others. But the idea is to fully commit to it while ignoring anything that’ll only distract from it. Take it, adjust it as you see fit, make changes etc.

Hope this helps.