Pointed Discussion

Eh, I think I'd go with Doom Blade myself, especially since Rise is all about "slowing the game down". 1 extra mana without the damage effect wouldn't hurt too much, especially since people rarely play amazing creatures on the first turn.

I already have around 8 cards of this one ,non-RotE version.

Extremely interesting in Rise.

I like it when they go with the theme of a set by specifically printing something that goes against the theme of the set.
Thematically relevant reprints FTW

They reprinted this card for one reason. They don't want the stupid almighty eldrazi to die to a wimpy Doom Bladeor Terminate. So they reprinted a card that causes a huge set back if targeting an eldrazi, plain and simple. Because as much as Wizards my not have wanted removal in this set, you just gotta have some.

This card is awesome. Here is what Mark Rosewater has to say about it:

This was one of the first cards Brian put into the file once the idea of "battlecruiser Magic" was decided upon. Brian loved how the card was good at killing creatures but much painful when used against the giant creatures of the set. The card never left the file.

The best part is that nobody ever sees this coming at a Ball Lightning

yeah, this destroys any red deck wins

It sucked in Masks, and it sucks now. If I'm paying life for removal, it better be reusable.

Maybe It was good in Mercadian Masques, but now it's just a joke (damn you path to exile !).

Death's Shadow is happy to see this make its return to Standard, at least.

This really needed to lose the non-black clause.

Pay 8 life to get rid of Ulamog's Crusher? Still worth it.

If you don't vendetta the crusher it's prolly gonna end up killing you in a couple turns anyways. Some people have very limited perspectives. 8 life or unanswered 8/8 with annihilator 2? hmm... 4.5/5 in limited 3.5/5 in constructed.

Tournament winner, and possibly the best removal in Roe limited, as Florian Koch proved in his recent PT win. Would probably have been blacks best removal ever if it didnt have the non-black clause restriction but just the life loss (which can be mitigated with correct play, much like Vendetta's distant cousin Swords to Plowshares), due to its sleek 1cmc cost and instant speed.

I use this in my Near-Death Experience deck. Combine it with Wall of Faith to lose exactly the right amount of life.

If it lost the non-black restriction itd be wonderous but as it is i still run four alongside some nighthawks to counter the loss of life

one of my favorite black cards. hello death's shadow

Why couldn't this be Devour in Shadow?

This card has it ups and downs...

the 1 black mana + instant for destroying a creature can be way more intresting than the 2 mana Doomblade or Smother. If you are playing a fast agro deck, that need its maximum mana in casting its creatures. and can't afford to spend more than 1 at the start.

I actually prefere this card over Doomblade/Smother in a deck that is build around Kalastria Highborn and the cheap vampires. where I use it mainly to destroy the 1 or maximum 2 toughness creatures, and have enough mana for the Gatekeeper of Malakir + Kicker Cost. I dont use too much lands in the deck and all possible fetch lands. so the chance to get 4 or more mana is low. and I compensate it with this card.
yes it cost me some life, but I get that back with the Kalastria Highborn ability. and the lifelink creatures.

If your deck can afford the 2 mana for the doomblades, because your deck is slower. dont bother with this card. This card is build for speed and gives you the possibility for more actions in one turn, at the cost of life.

so its a good card 4/5 for the aggro black decks in T2 (28/11/2010). and maybe for the infect deck's too (didnt test it with an infect deck yet)

1/5 for non-black decks, 2/5 for the mono-black controle.

I wish it didn't have the damn non-black clause

Bleh. Just to stop people from crushing Eldrazi? There are better options. Oh, wait, I just read the othercomments. I love death's shadow. I'm running 4.

Could be really good in current constructed format, kills Inkmoth Nexus and many other manlands without asking questions.

Terror was out of print for a long time, while Dark Banishing with its 3 cmc is overcosted. So this card was somewhat usable, especially against greenish, 1 cmc creatures.

I am fond of this card in EDH. A format where you start with 40 and usually stand to gain life will gobble cheap removal like this.

Devour in Shadow hits more and eliminates regeneration, but this costs one less, which can mean everything in the world at certain times. Personally, I'd run both if I ran suicide black. Because Death's Shadow says life loss is a good thing.

The closest comparisons are Dark Banishing and Slaughter, since the card buries the creature it targets. This card fills a different niche though, for early removal while leaving mana to play cards or for breaking early combos.

If we're going with 1 mana comparisons, I'd mostly rather have paralyze, which is not an instant, but serves the same purpose early and lets you take a few more hits.

If you're already running death watch in your deck, this card becomes much stronger, as you're more likely to have life to spare.

Contains strictly less murder of Nicolas Cage lookalikes than the Masques version.

This card is terribly underrated. Is it rated this low due to haterate? How could 1 CMC regeneration-preventing removal be rated so low? Losing the life is no big deal in 90% of cases. It's a great card.