Does anyone remember the decks that were built around this back in the Legends days? They devastated creature-based decks. Legends was a truly great expansion set.
kowrip
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This is an EXTREMELY powerful card. It can crush creature decks. Newer cards with similar abilities either destroy themselves or allow opponents to counter their ability. Cards like this make me always have enchantment destruction in my decks.
theabyss
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
i love playing htis card these days..most newer players always ask :when does it go away?"...NEVER..unless disenchated. Cards today always have some drawback and dont get to be overpowered like back in the day
nammertime
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Why would you play this when you could play Portcullis?
KRALtheSLAYER
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
PORTCULLIS are you kidding me its no match for the abyss. No match at all.
achilleselbow
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(10 votes)
Interesting sidenote: it looks like the Oracle text went out of its way to specifically NOT call it sacrifice. This is important, as The Abyss's destruction is a targeted effect, so if you control any creatures with Shroud or Indestructibility, they're safe. More hilarious is that your Troll Ascetic would NOT be safe, since it's being targeted by something YOU control. This is the only situation I can think of where regular Shroud is better than troll-Shroud :-)
ClockworkSwordfish
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Someone once said "If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." I don't know how this relates to this great card, but I'm pretty sure that, had that man lived today, he would have said "Goatse" instead of "Abyss".
because portcullis has nothing to do with my deck and this is a perfect match, also my deck has no creatures that are in play during my upkeep, or any upkeep for that matter
well not including abyssal gatekeeper... but that's a whole different story....
Feralsymphony
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Whatever happened to World Enchantments anyway?
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
I'm not sure that it's right for Magus of The Abyss to be rated lower than this...after all, it CAN attack. What I AM sure of is that anybody who rated either of them 3.5 or lower needs to get their head checked.
T1: Swamp, Mox Jet, Dark Ritual, I play a black fr*king hole. Have a nice fr*king game, b*tches. >:)
reapersaurus
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I have the Oracle rulings from 1995 and this card USED to force players to sacrifice a creature. The ruling was almost word-for-word the Call to the Grave wording. Back then, there was no consistency or defined term of "target". Wonder when they changed it...?
What is it with Legends and the insanely expensive anti-creature cards. I mean, really, Moat, The Abyss, Tabernacle from Pendrell Vale... at that rate all the creatures may as well just pack their bags and go home :|
Kragash
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"This is an EXTREMELY powerful card. It can crush creature decks. Newer cards with similar abilities either destroy themselves or allow opponents to counter their ability. Cards like this make me always have enchantment destruction in my decks."
But newer cards with similar abilities (Porphyry Nodes for example) also: - don't target creatures (and thus can hit shroud and hexproof creatures), - hit creatures that have most likely just come out of summoning sickness (lower casting cost creatures), - you get to choose the creature when there's a tie, - and, above all, cost 4 times less (and thus creates the eternal debate for the opponent of "should I use this 2cmc enchantment removal on this self-destructing 1cmc enchantment")
Sure, the the newer cards leave play when there are no more targets, but this means it's either going to act like The Abyss if your opponent is aggressive... or it's going to clear whatever is already on the Battlefield and give you three full turns (unless you're being attacked by manlands or creatures with haste). The opponent needs to stop casting creatures for at least one turn in the case of Drop of Honey and Porphyry Nodes for those enchantments to be sacrificed. Then they can cast creatures on the next turn. Then they can attack subsequent turns. You effectively (and in most cases) get 3 turns of peace and quiet for a or a ... or you get a The Abyss-like effect (where the enchantment is always in effect because your opponent is trying to outrace the creature loss) that hits shroud and hexproof creatures for a or a .
Drop of Honey and Porphyry Nodes outclasses The Abyss in almost every situation except when you believe that you need more than 3-4 turns to pull off your game winning combo. Pro tip: if it takes more than 3-4 turns to pull off your combo after Drop of Honey or Porphyry hits the table, the issue is probably not that you should have been using The Abyss instead.
Comments (16)
Also works well with an Esper deck.
Abyssmal Persecutor: Likes!
Masticore: Likes!
well not including abyssal gatekeeper...
but that's a whole different story....
T1: Swamp, Mox Jet, Dark Ritual, I play a black fr*king hole. Have a nice fr*king game, b*tches. >:)
The ruling was almost word-for-word the Call to the Grave wording.
Back then, there was no consistency or defined term of "target".
Wonder when they changed it...?
But newer cards with similar abilities (Porphyry Nodes for example) also:
- don't target creatures (and thus can hit shroud and hexproof creatures),
- hit creatures that have most likely just come out of summoning sickness (lower casting cost creatures),
- you get to choose the creature when there's a tie,
- and, above all, cost 4 times less (and thus creates the eternal debate for the opponent of "should I use this 2cmc enchantment removal on this self-destructing 1cmc enchantment")
Sure, the the newer cards leave play when there are no more targets, but this means it's either going to act like The Abyss if your opponent is aggressive... or it's going to clear whatever is already on the Battlefield and give you three full turns (unless you're being attacked by manlands or creatures with haste). The opponent needs to stop casting creatures for at least one turn in the case of Drop of Honey and Porphyry Nodes for those enchantments to be sacrificed. Then they can cast creatures on the next turn. Then they can attack subsequent turns. You effectively (and in most cases) get 3 turns of peace and quiet for a
Drop of Honey and Porphyry Nodes outclasses The Abyss in almost every situation except when you believe that you need more than 3-4 turns to pull off your game winning combo. Pro tip: if it takes more than 3-4 turns to pull off your combo after Drop of Honey or Porphyry hits the table, the issue is probably not that you should have been using The Abyss instead.