Wow. This is one of the most brutal commons in Standard. When I get hit by this turn one I get furious. On the other hand, playing it turn one is fantastic :)
VirtueVsVice
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Deserves better than the 4.0 it's rated at now. 4.5 maybe?
UltimaCenturion
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Definitely a 4.5. Maybe a 4.75 because its common.
iNathan
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(6 votes)
wow, i feel really bad for the girl in that picture lol. and the flavor text is superbly awsome. why? becuz it has to do with Liliana Vess of course.
Jamesb8
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(11 votes)
Yes Yes Thats right you did spent $100 on that Jace the mind Sculptor.
Cheza
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
With a new card type, the card gets really strong... could be uncommon. I still miss Encroach though.
thedarkheathen
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Thoughtseize, Duress and Inquisition of Kozilek can be just DEVASTATING against many combo decks. A single one of these on the first turn can turn a great combo hand into a disorganized mess which leaves your opponent frantically hoping to draw the crucial piece of their strategy or at least forces them to waste a turn tutoring for it back. Even in other matchups, with a little luck you can obliterate their strategy.
Selez
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
On constructed: For a common, this card really shines. It's a solid turn-one (which spares it from countermagic) play that nearly always hits home. With the heavy density of planeswalkers in standard, this card has even more targets.
On limited: Less shiny, more meh. Certainly not a very high pick, and only a rather disatisfactory twenty-third card, but if you have it in your sideboard and your opponent has overloaded on spells (or has a couple REALLY good spells), board it in.
Miscellaneous: With my casual playgroup, I far-and-away prefer Inquisition of Kozilek, which ALWAYS has a target in keepable hands.
Diachronos
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I actually kind of like that it can't get rid of creatures and lands. A more limited choice means you won't hold the game up for 5 minutes trying to decide what the worst card (for you) in their hand is.
It also helps when you're not sure whether or not to use a more expensive card like Singe-Mind Ogre or Thought Hemorrhage. Just {B}, and you'll know whether it's worth using the more expensive one.
jakeface94
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I personally enjoy this card way more than I probably should lol. I use it whenever I can. I find it very useful and as a turn one play, it's one of my favourites to play first. It has definately helped out in some drafts.
thegatekeeper
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
show me your hand now get rid of that coat of arms
fateprince
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
lol.. i hate this not because its bad but because its good in most blue decks especially when blue have a lot of noncreature spells.. you could counter it but you will most likely pay 2 or more mana to counter it unless you put a set of dispels and spell pierce haha
DacenOctavio
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
One of the best black cards I've ever seen. Where {U} is the wait-and-see-and-counter color, {B} is the aggressive power securing its dominance. I agree with its usefulness against planeswalkers and enchantments. . . It's especially brutal in the early turns.
potterandrewb
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Does anyone realize how much this common was played at worlds? Every single UB control deck had several copies of Duress or Inquisition of Kozilek in their deck. Some decks played both and most of the time it was in the main not the board. I have been using it recently in a similar UB build but keeping Memoricide in the main deck. By have a first turn look at their hand I know what card to pick when I play a fourth turn Memoricide. I used to board it because I didn’t know what was in their hand or deck until game two. Because of Duress this is no longer an issue!
Keiya
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
One thing (which matters very little in the long run) that makes Duress better than cards like Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize, Encroach and the like is that Duress can't be Redirected back at you, while all the others allow that option. Not that it matters much since the aforementioned spells are best cast in the early game before such worries rise, and you (the owner of the spell) still choose which card is discarded regardless of its target, but I think it's interesting.
PhyrexianAdvocate
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
5/5 for the black common that makes Force of Will cry. Card advantage is still king.
iSlapTrees
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Now play this in a multiplayer game of magic.
Image how naked the person will feel with a turn one duress ;)
BlackAlbino
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
better than despise has way more targets. pure and simple
Best of the 1 mana discards for u/b control. You don't need to worry about creatures a whole lot because you're playing black, and black has more ways to deal with creatures than any other color out there. 5/5.
Crag-Hack
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
That art.....
Kragash
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
"better than despise has way more targets. pure and simple" - BlackAlbino
Nope! It actually has less targets. Have you even added up all the enchantments, sorceries, and instants and compared them to the number of creatures?
It's also much smarter to make someone discard a creature rather than a sorcery or instant since a creature card is a permanent that usually doesn't go straight to the graveyard once it's played.
If you're going to make someone discard a card just for the hell of it, then perhaps Duress is a good card. But if you actually want to do something with the discarded card, Despise is a much better card since there are tons of cards that actually let you go grab creatures from other player's graveyards.
Let's face it, most people would rather stop a creature from hitting the battlefield than stopping an instant or sorcery simply because the creature has more staying-power.
001010011100101110
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@Kragash
You are obviously either a casual player, or a bad tourney player.
RikerBlake
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The reason why Duress is better than despise is because it can stop artifacts and enchantments. Discard is black's ONLY way of taking out enchantments and this lets you choose what to take out all for 1-mana.
scorpiolegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
LEMME FINISH MY COMBO IN PEACE DANG IT!!!!!!!
Kruggles
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Kragash - What you say about more creatures to hit than instants, sorceries, artifacts and enchantments is completely true, but there is a certain thing I pack in my black decks, I like to call it Doom Blade, Murder and Go for the throat. These deal with creatures once they are cast. What does black have to deal with Enchantments, instants, sorceries and artifacts? This is why Duress is better than Despise.
Comments (26)
On limited: Less shiny, more meh. Certainly not a very high pick, and only a rather disatisfactory twenty-third card, but if you have it in your sideboard and your opponent has overloaded on spells (or has a couple REALLY good spells), board it in.
Miscellaneous: With my casual playgroup, I far-and-away prefer Inquisition of Kozilek, which ALWAYS has a target in keepable hands.
It also helps when you're not sure whether or not to use a more expensive card like Singe-Mind Ogre or Thought Hemorrhage. Just {B}, and you'll know whether it's worth using the more expensive one.
Image how naked the person will feel with a turn one duress ;)
Nope! It actually has less targets. Have you even added up all the enchantments, sorceries, and instants and compared them to the number of creatures?
It's also much smarter to make someone discard a creature rather than a sorcery or instant since a creature card is a permanent that usually doesn't go straight to the graveyard once it's played.
If you're going to make someone discard a card just for the hell of it, then perhaps Duress is a good card. But if you actually want to do something with the discarded card, Despise is a much better card since there are tons of cards that actually let you go grab creatures from other player's graveyards.
Let's face it, most people would rather stop a creature from hitting the battlefield than stopping an instant or sorcery simply because the creature has more staying-power.
You are obviously either a casual player, or a bad tourney player.