Kills a creature and prevents regeneration at instant speed is a very powerful effect.
StoicChampion
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
My Last Gasp is envious.
Frozenwings
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Impressive destroy spell. Similar to last gasp, agony warp and sudden death but more mana efficent. Maybe not easily casted like last gasp but -4/-4 on instant speed is GOOD
Yo dawg I herd you like disfigure so we put disfigure in yo disfigure so you can disfigure while you disfigure.
jumpenrun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Frozenwings: Destroy spell? If this a destroy spell...hell i wont use this for indestructibles.lol Pretty good mono black removal spell. A great substitute for smother or even urge to feed.
perlex
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Poor, poor pristine angel... who was the insensitive clod who tapped you?!?
chremon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Now Disfigure sucks.
Chrome_Coyote
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Pretty darn good for the mana cost. Good thing it's an instant.
This defines the block format. To be a finisher, a card must be able to survive -4/-4 at instant speed.
StaberFire
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Hmmm... Platinum Angel in the art? -4/-4? Maybe it's hinting towards something?
MasterOfEtherium
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(9 votes)
No Doubt Card Is Awesome But That Flavor text Is Killer
Prince_Ava
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
1 million free internet points for Wraique's post ^^
SorianSadaskan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Instant kill.
SlickDragon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Only Sudden Death trumps it in terms of black -x/-x removal, especially since it was one of the only ways to kill Teferi back in the day. Phenomenal really, 4.5/5
Gavrilo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Long live the mono black!!!
nineyears
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
grasp of darkness, gatekeeper, skinrender, disfigure... thats sounds like a lot control to me
Rushdown
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Can also be Indomitable Archangel. Since she is the only angel from this set and her hair is kinda on fire.
Diachronos
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@chremon: Not quite. Disfigure is just as useful; this is just more efficient card-wise for taking out bigger creatures.
TheSwarm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
it should be killing a platinum angel while a baneslayer gives it the finger
no_body
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
anybody notice that the art is...kinda...suggestive?
I play MBC with Vampires, and even though Urge to Feed is more flavorful and has a tacked-on Vampire mechanic, this card does so much more than Urge does for the same price. That extra -1/-1 make this sucker capable of killing Wall of Omens, Overgrown Battlement... so many annoying things die to this!
Great card.
Selez
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
On constructed: It kills Wall of Omens. It kills just about any utility creature. It... unfortunately doesn't kill titans. But who cares? This should be an auto-include in any mono-black deck.
On limited: Despite its awesomeness, this is never a card you should pick early in a draft (yeah, yeah, unless you're partial to black). The color commitment this card demands, even in an artifact block, is huge. However, once you determine that you're going black, this becomes a very high pick. Usually, that doesn't happen until the second or even third pack in Scars limited, but if it goes really late in the first pack, jump on it and head for black.
GruesomeGoo
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Strictly better then Last Gasp in mono-black. Which is amazing.
ThatGuyYouHate
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
now black has a chance against black. Woot. Something I can replace doomblades with when facing someone running black.
Xhion
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It can be any, or Pristine Angel or Luminous Angel, anyhow it will be amazing as a pyrexian creature!
Shikadi
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
and why is this card mirran?
Mightyass
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
Shikadi: There s nothing Phyrexian about it, why wouldnt it be Mirran? I mean, just because Phyzzies are the bad guys, do you think all Mirrans do is sing and dance in the moonlight? ITS DOUBLE BLACK! Only the most B A D A S S Mirrans use it... and they use it well...
NARFNra
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Wait wait wait
-4/-4 for BB... And they made it an INSTANT? Dayum
It's not Platinum Angel in the art, it's Pristine Angel...
EvilCleavage
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I think this card is sooo underrated! This card is so good. If you think of it in comparison to burn spells, it is a 2 cost Flame Javelin, or Char without the drawback. This card is always drafted, and I think it's extremely good. It's better than Doom Blade in most cases because you can target any creature. Great card! 5/5
CeremonialBathory
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The picture reminds me of an insect trying to escape flypaper.
@Shikadi - Read the flavor text. :\ What plane does it mention? (Hint: It's Mirroden)
ROBRAM89
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Everybody does understand that not every black card in Scars is automatically on the side of Phyrexia, yes?
tcollins
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
But i really liked the artwork on Death Pulse! I just cannot justify paying {2}{B}{B} instead of {B}{B} for a meager {1}{B}{B} cycling ability.... this is a very good card.
Keiya
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
There goes your Platinum Angel. And your chance to stay in the game.
franconbean
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Good when used in tandem with an infect deck for killing off an indestructible that has been already cut down to size with poison counters. Hell, its useful in most situations.
HairlessThoctar
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
That's kind of queer... The art shows what looks like a Pristine Angel eating it. Wouldn't it have made more sense to show a Phyrexian thing dying?
DiasFlac420
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Opponent pays 3 and 2 white to play Serra Angel.
I pay 2 black and neutralise it before it can do anything.
It's a great card. I wonder why they chose to use the Mirrian watermark instead of the Phyrexian though.
ErikLauer
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(18 votes)
Erik's Random card 6/14/2011 The set used to have Terror. That was a reprint of a reprint; it was in Mirrodin, where it was interesting because the drawback of not killing an artifact creature was very significant. However the developers did not find it as interesting the second time around. Mike Turian (the lead developer of Scars of Mirrodin) decided to boot out terror, and choose this one. But why "until end of turn" instead of a bunch of -1/-1 counters?
While many black removal cards in the set generate -1/-1 counters; some don't. While players want the option of building a proliferate deck with -1/-1 counters, putting those counters everywhere takes away an important choice; the choice to not play into that theme. This card is a little more efficient at killing a creature than one a card that generates counters. That way you are giving up something if you do want to play the theme, and there is an interesting trade off.
I like Mike's choice of a clean but powerful removal card.
Sorry Grasp, I've moved on. Dismember treats ALL my decks the right way, not just the monoblack ones, and she does more for her type. I'm just not ready for a committed Common relationship right now; I need my Uncommons. But don't cry, you'll always have a place in my EDH and Pauper decks, my Scars common slots, my comments and my heart.
Qmark
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Where have you been all my life?! Yes, you aren't as freakin' awesome as Dismember, but I want eight or a dozen of this sort of card anyway.
Well, there goes my Last Gasps. I hate the power creep. And don't tell me because it costs 1 more its worth the extra -1/-1 because it's still 2CMC.
4.5/5 for great black removal
Jerec_Onyx
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Dismember is certainly powerful but I would rate the two the same. Grasp's got a bit of a restrictive CMC to it though. BUT! Ever since Lightning Bolt (Alpha), MTG has given a tiny boost to creatures 4+ as they aren't subject to lightning removal. Therefore, I like Grasp.
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Nice flavor text, but not very Mirran.
dhinge
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So Last Gasp wasn't good enough? That's supposed to be played in multi-colored decks while this is for mono-black?
Phelplan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Riddle me this: Red can't make up its mind about two or three "damage" in the core sets for one or two mana, but black gets a -4/-4 instant for two cmc and fairly recently? No, it can't target a player, but it can kill sooooooooooo many creatures for cheap that red can't because of indestructibility and regeneration. This is why lightning bolt has always seemed fair to me. If blue gets crazy card draw and black can obliterate creatures left and right, then red should get some freakin lightning bolts for crying out loud. And green REALLY needs a gimmick, because with things like Phrexian Obliterator and Geist of Saint Traft and countless other non-green mana efficient fatties running around, I think that green's supposed claim to being the color of "creatures" has turned into a big fat broken promise.
Yes. I am a butt-hurt green mage who feels a little sorry for red too. I'll admit it.
Comments (57)
Not quite.
Disfigure is just as useful; this is just more efficient card-wise for taking out bigger creatures.
Great card.
On limited: Despite its awesomeness, this is never a card you should pick early in a draft (yeah, yeah, unless you're partial to black). The color commitment this card demands, even in an artifact block, is huge. However, once you determine that you're going black, this becomes a very high pick. Usually, that doesn't happen until the second or even third pack in Scars limited, but if it goes really late in the first pack, jump on it and head for black.
Which is amazing.
-4/-4 for BB... And they made it an INSTANT? Dayum
It's not Platinum Angel in the art, it's Pristine Angel...
@Shikadi - Read the flavor text. :\ What plane does it mention? (Hint: It's Mirroden)
The art shows what looks like a Pristine Angel eating it.
Wouldn't it have made more sense to show a Phyrexian thing dying?
I pay 2 black and neutralise it before it can do anything.
Love it.
The set used to have Terror. That was a reprint of a reprint; it was in Mirrodin, where it was interesting because the drawback of not killing an artifact creature was very significant. However the developers did not find it as interesting the second time around.
Mike Turian (the lead developer of Scars of Mirrodin) decided to boot out terror, and choose this one. But why "until end of turn" instead of a bunch of -1/-1 counters?
While many black removal cards in the set generate -1/-1 counters; some don't. While players want the option of building a proliferate deck with -1/-1 counters, putting those counters everywhere takes away an important choice; the choice to not play into that theme. This card is a little more efficient at killing a creature than one a card that generates counters. That way you are giving up something if you do want to play the theme, and there is an interesting trade off.
I like Mike's choice of a clean but powerful removal card.
Yes, you aren't as freakin' awesome as Dismember, but I want eight or a dozen of this sort of card anyway.
4.5/5 for great black removal
And green REALLY needs a gimmick, because with things like Phrexian Obliterator and Geist of Saint Traft and countless other non-green mana efficient fatties running around, I think that green's supposed claim to being the color of "creatures" has turned into a big fat broken promise.
Yes. I am a butt-hurt green mage who feels a little sorry for red too. I'll admit it.