---
name: "Josu Vess, Lich Knight"
mana_cost: "{2}{B}{B}"
cmc: 4
type_line: "Legendary Creature — Zombie Knight"
colors: []
color_identity: ["B"]
keywords: ["Menace", "Kicker"]
set: "MOC"
set_name: "March of the Machine Commander"
collector_number: "253"
rarity: "rare"
artist: "Tyler Jacobson"
oracle_id: "974a46f9-aa84-4b34-bee5-c635166e5841"
canonical_url: "https://avascry.com/printing/josu-vess-lich-knight-moc"
legalities:
  commander: "legal"
  standard: "not_legal"
  modern: "legal"
  pioneer: "legal"
  legacy: "legal"
  vintage: "legal"
  pauper: "not_legal"
  penny: "legal"
---

# Josu Vess, Lich Knight
- **Mana Cost:** `{2}{B}{B}` (CMC: 4)
- **Type:** Legendary Creature — Zombie Knight
- **Keywords:** Menace, Kicker

## Oracle Text
Kicker {5}{B} (You may pay an additional {5}{B} as you cast this spell.)
Menace
When Josu Vess enters, if it was kicked, create eight 2/2 black Zombie Knight creature tokens with menace.

## Top 4096-Dim Neural Synergies
1. [Nullpriest of Oblivion](/printing/nullpriest-of-oblivion-fdn.md) — Creature — Vampire Cleric
2. [Gatekeeper of Malakir](/printing/gatekeeper-of-malakir-fdn.md) — Creature — Vampire Warrior
3. [Balduvian Atrocity](/printing/balduvian-atrocity-dmu.md) — Creature — Phyrexian Berserker
4. [Stronghold Confessor](/printing/stronghold-confessor-dom.md) — Creature — Human Cleric
5. [Duskwalker](/printing/duskwalker-inv.md) — Creature — Human Minion
6. [Nightscape Battlemage](/printing/nightscape-battlemage-pls.md) — Creature — Zombie Wizard

## Printing Details
- **Set:** March of the Machine Commander (MOC) #253
- **Rarity:** Rare
- **Artist:** Tyler Jacobson

## Format Legalities
Commander: `legal` | Standard: `not_legal` | Modern: `legal` | Pioneer: `legal` | Legacy: `legal` | Vintage: `legal` | Pauper: `not_legal` | Penny: `legal`

## Official Rulings
- *(2024-11-08)* If a card or token enters as a copy of a permanent, the new permanent isn't kicked, even if the original was.
- *(2024-11-08)* If a spell's kicker cost was paid, the spell is "kicked."
- *(2024-11-08)* To determine a spell's total cost, start with the mana cost (or an alternative cost if another card's effect allows you to pay one instead), add any cost increases (such as kicker), then apply any cost reductions. The spell's mana value remains unchanged, no matter what the total cost to cast it was.
- *(2024-11-08)* If you put a permanent with a kicker ability onto the battlefield without casting it, you can't kick it.
- *(2024-11-08)* If you copy a kicked spell on the stack, the copy is also kicked. If the copied spell is a permanent spell, the token the copy of that spell becomes when it enters is also kicked.
- *(2024-11-08)* The kicker ability doesn't let you pay a kicker cost more than once.