Combine with Isochron Scepter, One With Nothing, and Hive Mind. Not effective, but you basically won the game if they don't have a dominant field position. No spells to cast every turn due to handlocking, and this card slowly chips away the life total. Only usable if you want to brag that you've beaten players with One With Nothing. Which I totally want to do.
brilliantmumbler
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Will go beautifully in Megrim and Liliana's Caress decks. Their hand's empty and they're left with the dilemma: "Do I play it and definitely lose 3 life next turn? Or don't play it and possibly discard it and lose 2 life?"
That's where it really shines, a friend of mine's discard deck always runs into the problem of not being able to deal that last bit of damage.
Lord_of_Gelectrodes
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Let me fix that for you *Black sharpie line over "3 life" *Write "the game"
Better.
A0602
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
I think that this is about as close of a reprint that we can expect to The Rack.
Incidently, this card does the same damage at 0 cards, better by a life at 1 card. It is also life loss instead of damage and hits each opponent.
Okay, after reading my own comment... I think I may prefer this over The Rack. Time to pick me up a set.
Lotsofpoopy
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
This will be a new staple that pros like me will use for our discard decks.
Totema
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Ahh, I am glad this says "opponents" instead of "players". Into my Hellbent deck you go!
Tsuichoi
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I hope this is a sign that we will see many more cool Gargoyles in the future for the Orzhov. They have amazing flavor and Innistrad didnt really touch on them to much.
And on the card, its pretty cool, but more interesting than playable. An object of curiosity and intrigue rather than legitimate use.
blindthrall
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
YES. This the one card in the set that I need. There may be others that I want, but this is necessary. Liliana's Caress might come out for this.
MaDaZi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This + Stab Wound = AWESOME
I won with that combo once at the prerelease.
A little hard to make useful. there are plenty of good discard cards available anyway. and unless the deck has cards to let your opponent draw, they'll be whittling their hand back down to 1 or zero each turn, trying to outrace the life loss with other spells, while you've already gotten plenty of spells and creatures for defense, or to finish what this card makes easier.
Mode
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Compare to Quest for the Nihil Stone. - This one is far easier to trigger and you can profit from it even if you don't run any discard cards. - The quest can make them lose almost twice the amount, but their hand has to be entirely empty, and you needed to make them discard two cards while it was in play.
Either way, both are nice 1cc black enchantment for discard decks.
It's usually more powerful in multiplayer than The Rack, which is otherwise superior. But it's also somewhat harder to get rid of.
zenitramleirdag
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
there are more artifact hate than enchantment hate..
Shrieking Affliction: 1, the rack: 0..
the rack can hit planeswalkers..
Shrieking Affliction: 1, the rack: 1..
so which one to use? I think I would go with a split between this and Shrieking Affliction. They both do almost the same thing so diversification seems better.
don_miguel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this is NOT for a megrim deck nor for a nihil stone deck. this is the substitute for the rack. if you ever played hypnotic specter or disrupting scepter with the rack you should know what a discard deck lock is. your opponent doesn't know if play the card and lose the life or keep it and lose it. THAT is a discard deck.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would actually be fine with this as a Rare.
OceanicSphinx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This has an interesting interaction with desecration demon and your choice of discard spells. They either take a hit from a 6/6 at the smallest to get away from the enchantment hitting them or they play and sacrifice those creatures to avoid him but get hit with the enchantment.
Doaj
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Running 4-of in a Rat tribal deck I just built for standard. Ravenous Rats, Drainpipe Vermin, Duress, Appetite for Brains, Wit's End- their hand is gone quickly, and with Sign in Blood and Underworld Connections, I can draw a couple of these babies and have them stack for some seriously aggressive lifeloss. Pack Rats as a 4-of for a more combat-oriented finisher. Playtested it against Azorius Control and Bant Midrange this week and beat them both. Rats are comin' up. I hope Gatecrash has a few more for me.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I built a deck centered around the combo in this and Skullcage. With a few copies of Mind Rot, 4 Drainpipe Vermins, and Triumph of Cruelty, eliminating your opponent's hand is very easy, and they lose 5 life a turn.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A necessary card that needed to be made. If you want a fair Zur EDH deck, discard isn't hard at all to achieve, since most good discard permanents are 3-cost or less enchantments (Necrogen Mist, Bottomless Pit, Oppression, Liliana's Caress/Megrim, etc..)
That doesn't mean people won't hate you, but at least you won't be playing Necropotence immediately...
chrome_dome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
3/5. A little known gem in limited. Great against aggro decks. Wait until they've exhausted their hand and then drop this.
Also nice that this card's effect resolves before anything that your opponent has that triggers during the upkeep that will draw them cards, like Phyrexian Arena
Lastsurvivor11
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Does it affect the person who played it?
Ratazana
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This is a functional reprint of The Rack and is what one need to run a discard deck in Standard.
Silence9
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of my first decks I made is mono Black discard deck. It's nice to have some new tools, especially since I only have 1 Rack. 3.5/5
Comments (25)
That's where it really shines, a friend of mine's discard deck always runs into the problem of not being able to deal that last bit of damage.
*Black sharpie line over "3 life"
*Write "the game"
Better.
Incidently, this card does the same damage at 0 cards, better by a life at 1 card. It is also life loss instead of damage and hits each opponent.
Okay, after reading my own comment... I think I may prefer this over The Rack. Time to pick me up a set.
And on the card, its pretty cool, but more interesting than playable. An object of curiosity and intrigue rather than legitimate use.
I won with that combo once at the prerelease.
A little hard to make useful. there are plenty of good discard cards available anyway. and unless the deck has cards to let your opponent draw, they'll be whittling their hand back down to 1 or zero each turn, trying to outrace the life loss with other spells, while you've already gotten plenty of spells and creatures for defense, or to finish what this card makes easier.
- This one is far easier to trigger and you can profit from it even if you don't run any discard cards.
- The quest can make them lose almost twice the amount, but their hand has to be entirely empty,
and you needed to make them discard two cards while it was in play.
Either way, both are nice 1cc black enchantment for discard decks.
It's usually more powerful in multiplayer than The Rack, which is otherwise superior.
But it's also somewhat harder to get rid of.
Shrieking Affliction: 1, the rack: 0..
the rack can hit planeswalkers..
Shrieking Affliction: 1, the rack: 1..
so which one to use? I think I would go with a split between this and Shrieking Affliction. They both do almost the same thing so diversification seems better.
If you want a fair Zur EDH deck, discard isn't hard at all to achieve, since most good discard permanents are 3-cost or less enchantments (Necrogen Mist, Bottomless Pit, Oppression, Liliana's Caress/Megrim, etc..)
That doesn't mean people won't hate you, but at least you won't be playing Necropotence immediately...