V.A.T.S.
Instant
Split second (As long as this spell is on the stack, players can't cast spells or activate abilities that aren't mana abilities.)
Choose any number of target creatures with equal toughness. Destroy the chosen creatures.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Fallout
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4193
V.A.T.S. turns every attacking creature into a targeted removal spell with a coin-flip payoff — deal combat damage, and you exile a nonland permanent for free if the flip goes your way. Caesar, Legion's Emperor decks run it because the token flood makes every swing a removal lottery at no extra mana cost.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Caesar, Legion's Emperor
Caesar, Legion's Emperor produces Soldier tokens every time you swing at opponents, which means V.A.T.S. triggers multiply across a wide board — each combat step becomes both a damage source and a removal engine against high-value permanents.
Maha, Its Feathers Night
Maha, Its Feathers Night rewards you for attacking with large creatures, and V.A.T.S. stacks a coin-flip removal trigger on top of that combat pressure, turning each successful hit into a potential free exile of whatever's threatening the board.
Agent Frank Horrigan
Agent Frank Horrigan is a damage-dealing machine by design, and V.A.T.S. converts every successful hit into a shot at exiling a nonland permanent, squeezing extra value out of the combat damage the deck is already forcing through.
King of the Oathbreakers
King of the Oathbreakers cares about Rogue creatures dealing damage, and V.A.T.S. layers removal odds onto those same attacks — every Rogue that connects gives you a free roll at clearing an opponent's best permanent.
Toshiro Umezawa
Toshiro Umezawa cares about instants being cast when creatures die, and V.A.T.S. feeds that loop by threatening opponents' creatures mid-combat, creating the right environment for Toshiro to recur removal spells off the creatures that don't survive the exchange.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where V.A.T.S. does its real work — the multiplayer environment means more opponents, more high-value permanents to exile, and more creatures swinging every turn to generate triggers. The coin-flip variance that would be disqualifying in a tight two-player format becomes acceptable across a long Commander game where you'll flip it many times. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but irrelevant; those formats are far too fast for a three-mana enchantment that asks you to connect with combat damage. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home if your planeswalker commander supports an aggressive attacking strategy.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for V.A.T.S. isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the latest number. Given its niche application in combat-heavy Commander decks and the coin-flip variance that limits competitive demand, it tends to sit in the affordable range.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.