White got sacrifice mechanic too?! White isn't stainless anymore, just tainted with black
StoicChampion
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Wing shards has a new buddy.
aba1
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Great destroy for white in the current meta
KyoDarkFire
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
COOL Wing Shards is back, I've missed that card so much, it was on my first magic deck and it was my favorite card
DonRoyale
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Disgusting in Limited.
CeremonialBathory
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(6 votes)
@Frozenwings - White is the new Black, can't you tell? Any black ability that removes a creature can be made totally white by adding the "attacking" restriction. And since it's now a white spell, it has to be better than just plain old "destroy".
brillant in limited , the most reliable removal in the block imo
majinara
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Not bad. Wing Shards is far better, but still this is alright. Beeing dependant on artifacts sucks a bit, so... 4.5 for wing shards and 3 or 3.5 for this.
gromgrom777
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
white needed more removal to get around protection and shroud. sweeet
sarroth
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
@Anyone who is saying this card breaks into Black territory too much, your point is invalid. Notice everyone comparing this to Wing Shards, a card that is from a set released 7 years ago. If you have a problem with white getting a sacrifice effect on a card with the attacking restriction, that's fine, but this isn't anything new, so don't be surprised like it is.
If the opponent is attacking with a single creature, this is better than Divine Verdict or Chastise or similar cards for the ability to go around indestructibility, regenerate, and shroud. However, if the opponent is attacking with multiple creatures, this card seriously loses value if one happens to be the bomb you want to kill and the other is a tiny creature that could take the hit instead. Nonetheless it's a pretty good card.
Rumblin-Slumm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
>:O
Mean
5/5
Test-Subject_217601
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
FOR GREAT JUSTICE!
capoeira503
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Would this work... someone attacks you with 3 creatures, you block there small one and kill it, let the other 2 go through, and then cast this spell and make him sacrifice the other 2 (assuming metal craft)?
zpikduM
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
DEMACIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Gavrilo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ capoeira503
Yeah, you'll be able to cast it during end of combat, forcing enemy to sacrifice those two creatures (they're still considered attacking 'til second main phase begins)
Provided you'll survive the attack.
Carnophage_4ever
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I was played this when attacking my opponent with Putrefax and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon on MTGO. I closed the computer and had to go for a 5 minutes walk and a cigarette. :(
coyotemoon722
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I must be missing something with this. This card is metalcraft-contingent, and even then it forces you to hold 3 mana open. Making someone sacrifice a chump 1/1 while they swing in with Engulfing Slagwurm always makes me wince with this card in my hand. I can see it being decent in my Artifact EDH deck, but that's about as far as it gets with me.
PhyrexianAdvocate
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Nothing beats:
Opponent: I attack with everything, at Elspeth.
Response: Tap 3 plains, dispense justice, pick two.
Opponent: Okay, are you blocking the other four?
Response: Nope. Tap 2 Gold Myr and a Palladium Myr; double Soul Parry. You done?
Opponent: Yeah...
Stray_Dog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Use on corrupt governments when they attack your freedoms. Get metalcraft with The Internet, Wikileaks, and Whispersilk Cloak.
gg
Magnor_Criol
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
coyotemoon, of course you wince when they've got their bases covered and this doesn't work.
When your opponent is attacking with only black creatures, do you wince at the Doom Blade in your hand? When your opponent swings with 4-toughness creatures, do you wince at the Lightning Bolt in your hand? When your opponent casts a bomb spell with more than 3 mana left over, do you wince at the Mana Leak in your hand?
Are any of those bad cards because the opponent is getting to play around them?
Dispense Justice is a way to eliminate creatures that are resistant to other types of removal - it circumvents shroud and prot, for instance. And 3 mana to do so isn't a terrible cost; 3 mana to get rid of two creatures is pretty dang good.
Yeah, you're going to find situations like the one you described where it doesn't help at all, and you're going to find players who know how to play around it - but that doesn't make it a bad card. You just don't cast it then and find a way to make it count.
SeiberTross
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is necessary to deal with infect. Great card.
TheDanish
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Gets around protection by targeting the player. 5/5
Atali
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
You CAN use this after blocks and combat damage are complete.
Creatures retain the characteristic of "attacking" until the Main Phase begins, thus you can block, kill some chumps, then dispense justice to kill the unblocked fatty after it has hit you, during the cleanup step.
Metal Craft is used alot in newer white colored decks. This card is pretty great considering the cheap mana cost for two instantly destroyed creatures (+ it's instant). Overall, it is an awesome card to have in any white deck imo.
Moleland
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
I'm not sure why people are moaning about this isn't white - This is all about White's rule of law and stuff.
"How dare you attack me! Punishment for the evil-doer!"
Seems white to me.
HairlessThoctar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hey, lookey here. It's Kor Kadeen, the Prevailer
kiseki
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I am very picky, and I have low regard for most of the cards in existence. However, there are a few cards that rise head and shoulders above the rest for cards that I loathe. All of the "target player sacrifices an attacking creature" cards are on that list. These aren't answer cards, these aren't strategic cards. They are crazy lame cards that make you second guess attacking with only your best creature EVERY attack of EVERY game. They don't have much power, really, as far as removal goes, but occasionally they gank the attacking player in spectacular fashion. I am not disappointed by counterspells, direct removal, or having my combos spoiled, but this mechanic irks me. They reprint it just often enough that I can't forget it, but you can't play intelligently around this card. Does a good player see three untapped plains and think "I'm going to attack with my dragon, and throw my goblins in as well even though most won't survive just to protect my dragon"? No, because if they did that for every attack of every game they would lose more games than assuming your opponent doesn't have it would. This card adds luck to the game at the expense of skill.
Chosen_of_the_Dark_Sun
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This card has actually proven a pretty effective side-board option in my Tempered Steel deck. Unlike Dispatch it gets around the pro-White of Sword of War and Peace, and I usually have Metalcraft online so even if they attack with a second bird it'll still get both. Plus, when I'm fighting B/W Control they're usually only attack with a single Titan anyway, and I don't have to pay extra for this to hit Frost Titan because it's untargeted. Certainly not main-deck material, and Dispatch is usually better, but it's definitely a viable side-board option.
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Can stop Progenitus, Protection, Shroud, Hexproof, etc.
@ white sacrifice effect: You're absolutely right. This shouldn't be a white ability. Just because it restricts the typical black ability to combat, doesn't make this ability right for the opposite color. They should have rephrased it.
NeedADispenserHere
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Need a dispenser here
Arachobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Random Card Comment
Again, a very good card, with little I can say that has not been said.
On the color pie debate, I can see how this is white. You are 'Dispensing Justice'. Dispense is to "Distribute or provide (a service or information) to a number of people." So the service is justice. You're essentially being some sort of weird policeman and saying to your opponent "look, I can't have your minions beating up people (in chaos you can use this to save someone else). I'm going to have to put them down. But I'll let you choose which one of them is put down if necessary." Of course this may be more 'Texas Justice', but hey... They pull the switch because their guys were misbehaving, as oppsoed to Diabolic Edict where their guy may have just been chilling there doing nothing and suddenly needs to be killed to appease the dark lord.
Definately not a questionable in its color as, say, Dark Ritual (in terms of flavor, not use).
thepillow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sacrifice isn't white? I must have been playing some other card game, Balance, Wing Shards, chastise, etc. couldn't exist as white cards in magic, could they?
EvilCowKing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Works great with Siren's Call. Don't want opponent to sacrifice a 1/1 token instead of their attacking fatty? Tap the token beforehand with Vedalken Certarch. =D Also throw in with Sleep. Thus, you can punish for attacking and you can also remove non-attacking creatures. Works wonderfully. =)
Brushwagg
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Second only to Dispense Cola.
Cazaric
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
And as one, the people of Bant let out a cry, for their union was lost, and their champion felled.
Normally, when white removal specifies that the creature needs to be attacking, it's a drawback.
But here, it can be a tremendous advantage. Diabolic Edict-type effects, while great at getting around toughness, shroud, indestructibility, regeneration and protection, suffer from the fact that an opponent with multiple creatures can usually choose to sacrifice something they don't really need. But Dispense Justice restricts their choice to an attacking creature, making it more likely that you'll eliminate something powerful.
My EDH meta-game is dominated by decks where the win condition is based around attacking with one ridiculously huge creature. The Mimeoplasm, Uril, Rafiq, and Cromat (I laughed too, but he can get crazy with double strike and a Civic Saber) smash face time and again. Against decks like these, Dispense Justice has countless times made the difference between life and death.
Comments (39)
If the opponent is attacking with a single creature, this is better than Divine Verdict or Chastise or similar cards for the ability to go around indestructibility, regenerate, and shroud. However, if the opponent is attacking with multiple creatures, this card seriously loses value if one happens to be the bomb you want to kill and the other is a tiny creature that could take the hit instead. Nonetheless it's a pretty good card.
Mean
5/5
Yeah, you'll be able to cast it during end of combat, forcing enemy to sacrifice those two creatures (they're still considered attacking 'til second main phase begins)
Provided you'll survive the attack.
Opponent: I attack with everything, at Elspeth.
Response: Tap 3 plains, dispense justice, pick two.
Opponent: Okay, are you blocking the other four?
Response: Nope. Tap 2 Gold Myr and a Palladium Myr; double Soul Parry. You done?
Opponent: Yeah...
gg
When your opponent is attacking with only black creatures, do you wince at the Doom Blade in your hand?
When your opponent swings with 4-toughness creatures, do you wince at the Lightning Bolt in your hand?
When your opponent casts a bomb spell with more than 3 mana left over, do you wince at the Mana Leak in your hand?
Are any of those bad cards because the opponent is getting to play around them?
Dispense Justice is a way to eliminate creatures that are resistant to other types of removal - it circumvents shroud and prot, for instance. And 3 mana to do so isn't a terrible cost; 3 mana to get rid of two creatures is pretty dang good.
Yeah, you're going to find situations like the one you described where it doesn't help at all, and you're going to find players who know how to play around it - but that doesn't make it a bad card. You just don't cast it then and find a way to make it count.
Creatures retain the characteristic of "attacking" until the Main Phase begins, thus you can block, kill some chumps, then dispense justice to kill the unblocked fatty after it has hit you, during the cleanup step.
"How dare you attack me! Punishment for the evil-doer!"
Seems white to me.
It's Kor Kadeen, the Prevailer
These aren't answer cards, these aren't strategic cards. They are crazy lame cards that make you second guess attacking with only your best creature EVERY attack of EVERY game. They don't have much power, really, as far as removal goes, but occasionally they gank the attacking player in spectacular fashion.
I am not disappointed by counterspells, direct removal, or having my combos spoiled, but this mechanic irks me. They reprint it just often enough that I can't forget it, but you can't play intelligently around this card. Does a good player see three untapped plains and think "I'm going to attack with my dragon, and throw my goblins in as well even though most won't survive just to protect my dragon"? No, because if they did that for every attack of every game they would lose more games than assuming your opponent doesn't have it would.
This card adds luck to the game at the expense of skill.
@ white sacrifice effect:
You're absolutely right. This shouldn't be a white ability. Just because it restricts the typical black ability to combat, doesn't make this ability right for the opposite color. They should have rephrased it.
Again, a very good card, with little I can say that has not been said.
On the color pie debate, I can see how this is white. You are 'Dispensing Justice'. Dispense is to "Distribute or provide (a service or information) to a number of people." So the service is justice. You're essentially being some sort of weird policeman and saying to your opponent "look, I can't have your minions beating up people (in chaos you can use this to save someone else). I'm going to have to put them down. But I'll let you choose which one of them is put down if necessary." Of course this may be more 'Texas Justice', but hey... They pull the switch because their guys were misbehaving, as oppsoed to Diabolic Edict where their guy may have just been chilling there doing nothing and suddenly needs to be killed to appease the dark lord.
Definately not a questionable in its color as, say, Dark Ritual (in terms of flavor, not use).
But here, it can be a tremendous advantage. Diabolic Edict-type effects, while great at getting around toughness, shroud, indestructibility, regeneration and protection, suffer from the fact that an opponent with multiple creatures can usually choose to sacrifice something they don't really need. But Dispense Justice restricts their choice to an attacking creature, making it more likely that you'll eliminate something powerful.
My EDH meta-game is dominated by decks where the win condition is based around attacking with one ridiculously huge creature. The Mimeoplasm, Uril, Rafiq, and Cromat (I laughed too, but he can get crazy with double strike and a Civic Saber) smash face time and again. Against decks like these, Dispense Justice has countless times made the difference between life and death.