Pointed Discussion

A black counter. No wonder that it sucks your blood.

I think it deserves more than a 1.5. (The average player rating as of now)
It costs 3 life yes, but a creature worth countering could easily do 3 damage making it worth the 3 life and {1}{B} to avoid.
The creature could also have an ability making it hard to deal with once it gets in play such as shroud.
The creature could be black making it difficult to target with Terror or Doom Blade.
3/5 - What I consider average.

lol at old lady bush

If you ignore the life loss this is cheap counter spell

its a black counter....its definantly worth the loss of 3 life

Doesn't Dark banishing do the same, but now without loss of life?

The woman appears to be the same from ekundu cyclops. Same artist, too!

Pearled_Unicorn: No, because an opponent cannot respond on Withering Boon unless he cast another interrupt as a response, but he can respond on Dark Banishing: for example your opponent has Furnace of Rath and Mogg Maniac in play. If you cast Dark Banishing on Mogg Maniac, he can target it by Lightning Bolt and it deals twelve damage to you!

@Viero: You're kidding, right? Or did you just travel about 10 years into the future? There's no such thing as an interrupt any more. This card is essentially a Counterspell.

Wow, I really like this!

This is an all-around counterspell...

For {1}{B}!

The life doesn't matter, because this is only playable in vintage, legacy, or EDH and those games tend to stretch.

She's a FIRIN' HER LAZZORZ!

If it only cost {B} or countered things other than creatures, it might be worth the 3 life. As it stands, black should just splash blue if it wants to counter things.

A hard counter in black is exceedingly hard to come by. If the creature you're dealing with has impressive "enters the battlefield" abilities or your restrictive black removal spells cant hit it, then this might be the card for you.

@Pearled_Unicorn: See above.
@Divine_Exodus: I noticed the same thing!
@Ideatog: Honestly, you're probably right. It's not hard for black to splash blue for countermagic, typically, unless they're bent on trying to maximize the utility of cards like Corrupt, which means that the ability to splash is dependent on the kind of mana base they have. If they have shocklands, the original dual lands, or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, then it's no problem. Otherwise, it might be.

Are you people serious? This is a black Essence Scatter that you have to pay 3 life in addition to its mana cost to play, not a black Counterspell. Also, inturrupts and instants are the same thing people. That being said, non-blue counterspells are always useful. This card loses a bit of its usefulness due to blacks nature of being heavy in creature removal, but it can still deal with things like Blightsteel Colossus.

Whoa... Wait... What's wrong with her legs?

@Fanaticmogg - Don't you mean Essence Scatter? This card is not by any means a Counterspell, but sheerly for the fact that its a non-blue counter, I think this card is actually very good!

This would be playable if you could choose either the mana cost OR the life lost for the casting cost. Not both. That's just stupid when Mana Leak or Spell Pierce can get the job done far cheaper.

Far too many people seem to be missing the fact that this card is NOT in fact blue. It is black. Yes, if this card were blue, it would be terrible. Remove Soul/Essence Scatter are already subpar compared to the best blue countermagic, so a version that also costs 3 life would be utterly unplayable.

HOWEVER, Withering Boon is black. This exempts it from comparison to other traditional counterspells. We have to examine it on its own terms. On BLACK's terms.

Firstly, for an off-color effect, it is appropriately priced at and 3 life. Black spells typically demand a little extra...incentive...to have added functionality, and that's exactly what we see here. The question is whether that "added functionality" is something anybody wants. In other words, does a black mage ever care about countering a creature spell?

The answer is yes. Black kill spells, while ubiquitous, tend to have some targeting restrictions, such as nonblack or nonartifact. Furthermore, mono-black doesn't have an effective response to powerful comes-into-play effects, such as Primeval Titan or Desolation Giant. It's even worse when a copy of Iona, Shield of Emeria hits the stack, and Inkwell Leviathan is comparably bad.

At that point, the mono-black mage has very few options. Dash Hopes isn't likely to work at crucial moments, and there's hardly any guarantee that he has a Stromgald Cabal at the ready. Same with Deathgrip, and even if he does have one, the other, or both, those two can't handle everything. The black mage can turn to something like Brittle Effigy, but why would he prepare such a spell, considering all the more efficient creature-kill spells available to him? Furthermore, it won't stop CIP abilities and shrouded creatures. Torpor Orb can deal with the former, but he would have to be expecting to have to stifle some triggers. It's a long shot unless he knows exactly whom he's fighting.

Withering Boon may be the mono-black mage's only viable, low-cost option to stop a game-ending shrouded or indestructible creature from hitting the board. Furthermore, it shouldn't be too difficult to leave the mana open; if his opponent doesn't cast a threat large enough to merit the counterspell, then the black mage can simply wait and cast a Terror during his opponent's end step. It's a typical control tactic, and Withering Boon is a control spell in a control color. It does its job, and it does it for a reasonable price. Not only that, but it is effective against almost any creature spell, so its usefulness is only bounded by the black mage's paranoia that a more unkillable threat may lie in wait should he waste his rare countermagic.

So, Withering Boon effectively fills a empty role in black magic. But that isn't to say it is the best way of doing so; after all, blue and black are allies, and blue can counterspell like no other. So, why not just splash blue?

There are many reasons to run mono-black: Phyrexian Obliterator and Lashwrithe, to name a few recent examples. Splashing blue can mess with the tempo of the deck. There are several lands that might help, but these are fairly expensive, and there's no guarantee they'll come up in a game. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth has already been mentioned by others, but it's worth repeating here.

Furthermore, the black mage may already be multiclassing in other colors than blue, making mana-balancing a serious issue. Other colors hardly have any better countermagic, but it might be too difficult to splash another color to gain access to such spells. In those cases, Withering Boon may be the best solution for certain problem-creatures.


So, yeah, I think Withering Boon is a good card. It might not be the best card for its effect, but it gives black access to solid countermagic, if in a sometimes redundant area. Options are always good.

I was reading the comments here, and prepared a lengthy rant/tirade about some people missing the point of this card.

However, Ragamander rather eloquently did that for me.
I will only add that this spell, a rare black hard counter (I can't think of any others off the top of my head), whilst it cost life, and only stops creatures, stops what many black control decks fear most:
Indestructible (everyone's favourite: Darksteel Colossus)
Shroud/hexproof (personal nemesis: Dungrove Elder)
Protection (sigh...Progenitus).

The first can be hit with Unmake, the others with Damnation effects. But this deals with all three.

Excellent card, for the colour.
4/5

And really, it's black. Three life is nothing. Hell, Spinning Darkness could get that back, and it's not exactly fantastic, is it?

Not to mention I can sideboard out spot removal and just counter the creatures that have pro-black.

I think this (at its cost) Should have either sacrifice a creature or pay 3 life, not both, or Cost {B}{B} and had counter anything.

Solid, but only because it's black.

Appropriately priced. Now stop all whining just cos you all got whupped by someone using Counterspell and learn to play like men. Suck up the life, suck up the mana, counter the spell. Done.

Early precursor to Cradle to Grave. Costs a lot of life, but neutralizes black/hexproof/indestructible/ETB-effect creatures.

Other non-blue counter spells:

{R}
Artifact Blast
Burnout
Guttural Response (also {G})
Mages' Contest
Red Elemental Blast
Pyroblast
Molten Influence

{W}:
Mana Tithe
Dawn Charm
Lapse of Certainty

{B}
Rebuff the Wicked
Dash Hopes

{G}
Avoid Fate

Colorless:
Not of this World

I knew a girl who's body looked just like that one.