Varchild's War-Riders
Varchild's War-Riders: Creature - Human Warrior, Alliances. Cumulative upkeep-Have an opponent create a 1/1 red Survivor creature token. On Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {1}{R}
- Mana value
- 2
- Type
- Creature - Human Warrior
- Colour identity
- Red (R)
- Power / toughness
- 3/4
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Alliances (ALL)
- Released
- 1996-06-10
- Collector number
- 83
- Artist
- Susan Van Camp
- Keywords
- Trample, Rampage, Cumulative upkeep
- Reserved List
- Yes
Build around this card with Grover
About Varchild's War-Riders
Varchild's War-Riders is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare red creature from Alliances (ALL), an expansion set released in June 1996. It is collector number 83 in that set, with art by Susan Van Camp. It costs {1}{R} (one generic and one red mana) to cast, for a mana value of 2. It is a 3/4 creature. Its colour identity is red. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Premodern, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker and PreDH. It has been printed in 2 sets, from Alliances (1996) to Masters Edition (2007). It is on the Reserved List. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $5.03 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Cumulative upkeep-Have an opponent create a 1/1 red Survivor creature token. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Trample; rampage 1 (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first.)
"What tries to crush our spirit only strengthens our resolve." -Lovisa Coldeyes, Balduvian Chieftain
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $5.03 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Varchild's War-Riders by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Legacy | Legal |
|---|---|
| Vintage | Legal |
| Premodern | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| PreDH | Legal |
Other printings of Varchild's War-Riders
Varchild's War-Riders has been printed in 2 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Masters Edition (ME1) #110 | Rare | 2007 |
Official rulings
Three official rulings apply to Varchild's War-Riders, newest first.
- Paying cumulative upkeep is always optional. If it's not paid, the permanent with cumulative upkeep is sacrificed. Partial payments of the total cumulative upkeep cost can't be made. For example, if a permanent with "cumulative upkeep {1}" has three age counters on it when its cumulative upkeep ability triggers, it gets another age counter and then its controller chooses to either pay {4} or sacrifice the permanent.
- The rampage bonus is calculated only once per combat, when the triggered ability resolves. Adding or removing blockers later in combat won't change the bonus.
- In a multiplayer game, you can put the Survivor tokens onto the battlefield under the control of different players.
Similar cards
Other creature cards with a red colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.