A tournament legal clone of The Cheese Stands Alone.
Elysiume
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(9 votes)
This can make Kaervek's Spite almost playable. Man that card sucks.
Dumpis
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(7 votes)
It CAN make Karvek's Spite playable. Good spotting, man. Think about it: If you have Academy Rector out, you can use the Rector to pull the Barren Glory, and you win. See Also: Dimensional Breach.
Card of the Day - Monday, August 03, 2009 The "future-shifted" cards from Future Sight came from possible futures for Magic. But Barren Glory came from the silver-bordered past. It's actually a new version of the Unglued rareThe Cheese Stands Alone!
Pilin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Made a pretty decent (and standard legal, at the time) White-Red deck with this, Greater Gargadon, Restore Balance, Skullmead Cauldron, that sort of thing. Named it "The Cheese", for obvious reasons. Most of the times it actually won were based on Restore Balance very early in the game, and surviving with Claws of Gix, Lightning Helix and Skullmead Cauldron until a Gargadon came into play and the opponent was left with no creatures, no lands, and no cards in hand. Since it's no longer standard-legal, I added Renounce and other things, and works even better. Now almost every win it gets is thanks to the Barren Glory. Love this card!
The problem is that most of these cards that are being suggested to combo with Barren Glory destroy ALL permanents (this includes Barren Glory) and causes you to discard your hand (including Barren Glory).
jdvue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
WOw.. oblivion ring saves the day again
Silverware
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Also try Renounce. Idealy play it right before your upkeep so the opponents have no time to react and make sure its the last card in your hand.
darkfury
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Devas, the last true shred of civilization on Dominaria after the apocalypse.
r-e-meatyard
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I totally fantasized about this card being made long before it was (without being aware of The Cheese Stands Alone) no joke! except the version in my head cost and was called "Renunciation". Ridiculously hard to actually make it work, but I LOVE the concept and feeling behind it.
Edit: nice posting of combos everyone! I love the idea of this + Academy Rector + Apocalypse. As for Academy Rector v. Oblivion Ring, not having to spend a turn playing Barren Glory beforehand speaks well for the Rector. But your opponent is more likely to have instant-speed creature destruction (than enchantment) to ruin your day in response to apocalypse. Oh well, no reason one deck can't have both.
Apocalypse does not work with Academy Rector. Academy Rector must go to the graveyard, and Apocalypse exiles all permenants.
achilleselbow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
You can also just cast Barren Glory and play Kaervek's Spite in response while it's on the stack. You'd need 9 mana, but that shouldn't be too hard with some Dark Rituals or Bubbling Muck.
bijart_dauth
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@Flaming0; If you use decree of annihilation, then you dont need oblivion ring, in fact, if you do use oblivion ring, you wont win. Look closely, it says 'Exile all artifacts, creatures, and lands from the battlefield, all cards from all graveyards, and all cards from all hands.' it says nothing about enchantments.
@r-e-meatyard; If you are planing on using academy rector, than find something other than apocalypse, the rector says 'When Academy Rector is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may exile it. If you do, search your library for an enchantment card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.'. Apocalypse exiles it right off the bat, so its ability never trigers.
I think the best part of playing this card is how people react:
Opponent: ''I end my turn'' You: ''Wait! At end of turn, tap swamp, Dark Ritual, Kaervek's Spite. Exile my Academy Rector and fetch Barren Glory. During my upkeep I win =D'' Opponent: ''...''
Of course, if somebody bounces it, you're pretty much screwed.
Need more functional reprints of un-cards! It really wouldn't be at all difficult for them to print a creature with super-haste. They basically did that for the Pacts, extending it to a creature is, with apologies to Spock, logical.
jdietz43
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Works as a great alternate win condition when you run Hellcarver Demon. Swing with the Demon with a few of these and removal spells (like Akroma's Vengeance, or anything that destroys at least the Demon, though getting rid of the opponent's stuff would help you not lose in the interlude between turns). Cast the removal to wipe Hellcarver when it comes up, then plop down Barren Glory. If you're doing it right and running enough removal, the opponent won't have enough to kill you between now and when Barren Glory activates after you finish using the other 4 free cards Hellcarver Demon pulls for you.
gongshowninja
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Exile this and an aura (which won't come back) with Karn Liberated. Using Karn, restart the game, starting with this in play. Mulligan to zero at the restart of the game. Untap, upkeep... you win before your draw.
BAM.
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Technically worse than The Cheese Stands Alone, which has a static ability; this has one that triggers on your upkeep.
Gareth32
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run a deck based around this. I use renounce and chain of acid to wipe my field, everything else is damage prevention and mana ramp. It usually wins in game one only.
IMO a lot of stalling will be required on your part if you want to pull this win off This will come down as early as turn 6 (Not accounting for mana-ramp or being cheated on to the battlefield) After which you'll need a way to destroy that minimum of 6 mana you have on the field and the 7 cards you'll most likely have in your hand due to not wanting to add to your permanents.
The vast majority of spells that nuke the whole field (including your hand) are either red or black with average CMC of 6, which will require a color splash and mana fixing. Even spells with "Nuke X" in the cost will require you to pay for everything you need destroyed with will most likely end up being a minimum of 6.
This is not an impossible win to achieve (Johnnys I'm lookin at you) Just observe the combos in the above comments
My suggestion is to run this with no other permanents that wont either tutor you the card or allow you to exile it so it's the only thing that comes back. After that your looking at "field/hand nukes" and "prevent damage/counter spells"
Happy Brewing!
infernox10
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
All nifty combos aside, That flavor text is amazing, Especially since it's the magus of utter destruction saying it.
XTwistedsoulX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Elysiume, you were on to it. Kaervek's spite with academy rector in play. Dark ritual and lotus petal to turn 2 it. There you go. Enjoy guys.
EDIT: All this chat, no one has noticed my little old comment. What a shame.
brockdjwest
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ah Barren Glory. My friend runs this, and I run Ray of Revelation. You should see his face.
Absolutely breathtaking. Victory in such a manner makes me think of the white mana oriented sect of Phyrexia....... all shall be one with nothing.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is just silly. If you like different ways to win go for it.... Playing this and then using oblivion ring on your own card is a horribly inefficient way to play.
I've won a couple of multiplayer games with this, Claws of Gix, Simian Spirit Guide, and a bunch of self-sacrificing creatures like Bottle Gnomes. Only a couple of times though, since the Glory was easy enough to dispatch.
It might be cool to see a variant of this with Hexproof, perhaps in blue. Blue is strangely behind white in alternate win conditions.
I may have to make that deck. Just because it's so cool that white would win by obliterating everything so order is finally restored. Like the philosophy is "Nuke the world to end war", and ironically, it's peaceful afterwards.
@VarteDod - Holy moly! That is fantastic! And you only need 5 mana to win the game with Dark Ritual!
Opening hand: 4 lands, Dark Ritual, Kaervek's Spite and Academy Rector. You're bound to draw another land. Win on Turn 5 pretty much every time. Win a bit later if you have card search in case you don't have one of the three above.
And the best part? I fits right into my Orzhov EDH deck! Sure, Barren Glory could be a dead draw if you're under the pump without the other parts of the puzzle, but being able to win the game at near instant speed for only a minimal amount of mana… wow.
Comments (49)
The "future-shifted" cards from Future Sight came from possible futures for Magic. But Barren Glory came from the silver-bordered past. It's actually a new version of the Unglued rare The Cheese Stands Alone!
Edit: nice posting of combos everyone! I love the idea of this + Academy Rector + Apocalypse. As for Academy Rector v. Oblivion Ring, not having to spend a turn playing Barren Glory beforehand speaks well for the Rector. But your opponent is more likely to have instant-speed creature destruction (than enchantment) to ruin your day in response to apocalypse. Oh well, no reason one deck can't have both.
@r-e-meatyard; If you are planing on using academy rector, than find something other than apocalypse, the rector says 'When Academy Rector is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may exile it. If you do, search your library for an enchantment card, put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.'. Apocalypse exiles it right off the bat, so its ability never trigers.
Opponent: ''I end my turn''
You: ''Wait! At end of turn, tap swamp, Dark Ritual, Kaervek's Spite. Exile my Academy Rector and fetch Barren Glory. During my upkeep I win =D''
Opponent: ''...''
Of course, if somebody bounces it, you're pretty much screwed.
BAM.
Worldslayer
This will come down as early as turn 6
(Not accounting for mana-ramp or being cheated on to the battlefield)
After which you'll need a way to destroy that minimum of 6 mana you have on the field and the 7 cards you'll most likely have in your hand due to not wanting to add to your permanents.
The vast majority of spells that nuke the whole field (including your hand) are either red or black with average CMC of 6, which will require a color splash and mana fixing.
Even spells with "Nuke X" in the cost will require you to pay for everything you need destroyed with will most likely end up being a minimum of 6.
This is not an impossible win to achieve (Johnnys I'm lookin at you)
Just observe the combos in the above comments
My suggestion is to run this with no other permanents that wont either tutor you the card or allow you to exile it so it's the only thing that comes back. After that your looking at "field/hand nukes" and "prevent damage/counter spells"
Happy Brewing!
That flavor text is amazing,
Especially since it's the magus of utter destruction saying it.
EDIT: All this chat, no one has noticed my little old comment. What a shame.
Activate Apocalypse Chime at the end of your opponent's turn.
Win.
Playing this and then using oblivion ring on your own card is a horribly inefficient way to play.
The Flavor is Awesome. Get them BOTH to trigger at the same time with WORLDFIRE! + Karn, Liberated! :D
It might be cool to see a variant of this with Hexproof, perhaps in blue. Blue is strangely behind white in alternate win conditions.
I may have to make that deck. Just because it's so cool that white would win by obliterating everything so order is finally restored. Like the philosophy is "Nuke the world to end war", and ironically, it's peaceful afterwards.
Really neat for a themed deck I think.
-Swag_Crow
Opening hand: 4 lands, Dark Ritual, Kaervek's Spite and Academy Rector. You're bound to draw another land. Win on Turn 5 pretty much every time. Win a bit later if you have card search in case you don't have one of the three above.
And the best part? I fits right into my Orzhov EDH deck! Sure, Barren Glory could be a dead draw if you're under the pump without the other parts of the puzzle, but being able to win the game at near instant speed for only a minimal amount of mana… wow.