Restore Balance, anyone? Oblivion Ring your win condition? Greater Gargadon: for sure! Heck, this card even has synergy with Sandbar Crocodile and Taniwha!
So many ways to abuse this, I love it!
Gilgamesh3000
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(8 votes)
Fun with Kokusho. Swing for five, sac for five, then they lose five = 15dmg dealt and you gain five life. Instant speed, good finisher to just hang around until you need it. Plus the wording says, loses 5 life, that means it cant be prevented or redirected.
Also, it makes me laugh when I play it knowing I'm losing next turn anyways.
ArashikageClan
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(8 votes)
I don't know why this is rated so low, the effect is really quite good as a finisher. And it's not like you can't float mana, resolve this, and cast more, not that I would ever do that since this should be a finisher period. I mean, 1/4th of your life total is hardly anything to sneeze at, especially when it's lose life not take 5 damage, at instant speed even.
Try it in a Suicide Black deck sometime and you'll see what I'm talking about. And as for it getting countered, that's why it would be in Suicide Black, so you can protect it with Duress or Thoughtseize.
shoalsuser2004
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(5 votes)
This card should not be rated so low. One possible combo is this and Hive Mind. Everyone discards their hand and sacs all their permanents. If you have Grip of Chaos out, then no one gets to choose who takes the damage!
Aboleth11
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
It could be handy if you have Savra out
Reins
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anyone who thinks they can cast spells from their hand before this resolves for them need to re-read the card. Discarding your hand and sacrificing is all part of the -cost- of playing the card ie - it's all done before this goes onto the stack.
Would be great to see Wizards do a revision of this card?
Mode
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
At first one might think this is completely unplayable - I also did.
I still think only one part of the additional cost - either discarding your hand or sacrificing all permanents you control - should have done as well at a mana cost of for a lifeloss of 5, but Wizards possibly made both since you could otherwise bring a Swamp, Dark Ritual and this on turn one. Yet that insanity of additional cost can also be used for your advantage: *If you can get your opponent to copy the effect. Currently Hive Mind seems to be the only card available, although using Pacts with it is more advisable most of the time... *Try to protect your cards by exiling them for a period of time, e.g. with flicker effects (which return the cards at end of turn) or by using cards with phasing. *Use cards which trigger when put into the graveyard like Flagstones of Trokair, and play it as response on cards like Balancing Act. Those which deal damage or will get you permanents onto the battlefield other than from your hand are likely the best cards for this. Academy Rector in particular is likely the best choice when used to find a Barren Glory, since you can Kaervek's Spite at the end of an opponent's turn resulting in an instant win once you get to your upkeep if your opponent does not have any removal left.
John-Bender
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Arachibutyrophobia Did you seriusly call this the Worst card ever!?
Anyways it's an okay card. But there is no way I would ever use it for anything other then a finish, Barren Glory, or anything else that would benefit you for getting rid of you're hand/field.
blackjackz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(5 votes)
Wow! Pretty much the worst card ever, even in combo decks. I'd rather pack a deck of Jump's than this. The thing is, if you're up against a blue mage and he counters it, you are pretty much screwed, since the discarding and sacrificing is a part of its costs. You can't even re-counter his counterspells since you have no cards in hand when it goes onto the stack. If you want a game finisher, why not go with Shrapnel Blast? And if you wanna make a combo deck, why not choose the dozens of other possibilities out there. Even something cheesy like Illusions of Grandeur + Donate makes more sense than any combo decks with this,
TheSuperbloop
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Complete junk. 3 mana, plus all of your pernaments and your hand? Just to make someone lose 5 life?
Storm Crow is strictly better. No, I don't mean better. I mean STRICTLY better.
Sironos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wow, discard my hand and sacrifice ALL permanents, and for what? 5 life loss for opponent? Heard of corrupt? Lava axe? Consume spirit?
The drawback iss way too immense for the effect, and if it is meant to be a finisher, why does it cost 3 mana? Crap.
XTwistedsoulX
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Heres a fast game...
Academy rector in play. Then cast this and bring out The cheese stands alone... or barren glory as they call it nowdays.
Yeah, I think that about breaks the bejesus out of that card.
Edit: Oh now I see that people have noticed... thought I read all the posts. Meh.
Sugga
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yeah.. a good card. Throw one of these in your deck and hope you lift it at your greatest need. So if the opponent got you to 1 life or something with some random tattermunges, what do you have to lose? Just grab the mana from your swamps, swing with your Phyrexian Negator and blast this! He's left a 3/3 to block the negator and thinks that his 7 life is good to keep him alive 'til the next turn? Wrong. You lose all, he loses the game. 4/5 and I'm running 1 in my legacy mono black ^^
modestmagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
try this card with barren glory, and you automatically win! Barren Glory's ability is "if there are no other pernaments on yourside of the field and there are no cards in your hand, you win the game"!
Kitry
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sorry, the hive mind combo doesn't work. (From the hive mind FAQ: "* A copy's controller can't choose to pay any additional costs for the copy. However, effects based on any additional costs that were paid for the original spell are copied as though those same costs were paid for the copy too.")
VoidedNote
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is what we call suicide black people. Except this is BAD suicide black. The drawbacks are not nearly worth the lava axe.
dberry02
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Like someone else said: This and Restore Balance is nothing to laugh at.
If this isn't a Johnny card, then I don't know what is. Any idiot who plays this in their deck without thinking of combo should be shot. Obviously this is for combo! This isn't a bad card in itself, but if it's mana cost was 1B, people would be raging on how broken it would be.
People talk about this card going with Barren Glory without realizing that this card is on the same power level as Barren Glory. Both of these cards requires a lot of combo to pull off and they both win you the game when done correctly.
Anyone ever think about floating mana for a Second Sunrise? You could easily combo that with cards that trigger when they enter or leave the battlefield.
allmighty_abacus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want to make a BW deck with barren glory and academy rector now. Imagine, at the end of your opponents' fourth turn, you have an academy rector out. In response to their end step, you blow up everything, then drop barren glory with academy rectors' effect and LOL LOOK GUISE I WIN
SleetFox
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
This is a decent finisher, but by the time you deal 15 damage you can probably afford something better anyway.
But it's pretty much the most satisfying way to kill someone, aside from possibly Inferno or Needle Drop.
dragonking987
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I have seen worse but this is pretty horrible the point is to end the game with it but there are much better finishers then this.
Belz_
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
@natlrulupu: Yes, but only if you have Oblivion Ringed it prior to using this.
C5r1a5z0y
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(14 votes)
For the true masochist: target yourself.
land_comment
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The cheese stands alone with journey to nowhere on it (and then sacrificed).
BuffJittePLZ
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Ridiculous card in suicide black, it's version of Fireblast.
The kind of deck you would play this in, the scenario would be your opponent has no hand, or you know exactly what is in their hand, you have been chipping their life... when they're down to 5 finish them off with this. Who cares what it costs, you win and they lose... it could leave me with 1 life, no hand, no perms, and put my whole deck in the GY. I still win.
I have a couple sideboarded for my suicide black hand control deck and it's a fun and useful card, albeit situational.
4/5
Necrokeryx
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
People seem pretty bitter over this card. They don't realize it's potential in black mill decks.
Love the flavor of this card. Hope black gets more "spite" effects in the future.
Tonymitsu
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Classic suicide black card.
Picture this today:
Turn 1: Swamp, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Abyssal Persecutor. Turn 2: ???, bash face Turn 3: Swamp, ???, Bash more face Turn 4: Swamp, Bash even more face, cast this card after combat, Game.
And that's playing just those 5 cards. In the mean time your persecutor is probably stomping all over what piddly defense they can muster to block it.
Zielheim
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Necrokeryx
How would that work exactly? The moment you cast Bitter Ordeal it would try to copy itself thanks to gravestorm, you can't cast that then this and go nuts on their library, the moment would pass. You'd have to have something like Sign in Blood or Moriok Replica, cast/activate it, then drop this, then hope that you draw into Bitter Ordeal with the next two/four cards, and that's if you have enough mana to pull that off (which would total 8 mana, possibly 10 if you have sign in blood + the replica, or just two of the replica). I suppose it COULD work if you had something that rearranged the top cards of your library, but that's about it, AND you'd have to wait until Bitter Ordeal showed up before going off with the combo, which could easily be disrupted.
There's not much use for this card, unless you're in a situation where your field is little-to-none with your hand being the same, or as a way to get rid of the Persecutor. Even the prospect of finishing them off with it isn't that good since odds are you can just deal that remaining 5 points to them in some other fashion WITHOUT having to get rid of everything, just in case it turns out they have something that leaves you screwed (like a sudden life gain, or a redirection to you, or flat-out cancel it).
Szentekkel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@land_comment journey to nowhere only target creatures..whoa man there are people really getting as infamous as master_of_etherium here on gatherer
Asmodi0000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of those cards that puts you in the situation where you have to ask "Is killing a player really worth it?"
At that cost it needs to say cannot be countered. Still a good finisher, but if i wanted a finisher i would splash red and throw a few lava axes in there.
ax_morph
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
O-ring your Barren Glory then laugh as you play this.
Ideatog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To make the Barren Glory combo more efficient, cast this while BG (or whatever ability you're using to cheat it in) is on the stack. Spite resolves before BG is out, so you don't need to take the extra step of protecting it with Oblivion Ring.
Shadoflaam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"CATCH!"
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I wish this had a more Core-Set friendly name, so it could get reprinted. Something like "Undying Spite" or "Spiteful Hatred" or whatnot.
This is perfect for a finisher card in Kitchen Table Black deck, and what a STORY it tells!
"Dear Mr. Jerk Wizard. I hate you. I hate you a lot. I hate your mother, your mother's mother, your brother, your sister, your pet dog, your next door neighbor, and your high school prom date. I will go to any lengths within my power to cause you any amount of pain, because I really, really, really hate you. I will relentlessly pursue this goal of causing you pain until I have exausted all resources that are available to my entire coffers, because....I....HATE....YOU"
It also sends lots of cards to the graveyard. I'm sure that's abusable somehow. Second Sunrise sounds too easy. I want something more evil-sounding than a Sunrise. Let's go see what Premium Deck Series: Graveborn has to offer! >:D
Oh. Oh my. Yes, that's quite tasty. That's exactly what I was looking for..... >:D >:D >:D
Even without that benefit, it is BECAUSE it 'looks' like very little gain for very high cost that actually makes this card awesome to me. You really have to want to play it, to play it.
GrimjawxRULES
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Ideatog: Alternatively, you could just have Academy Rector on the battlefield and search for Barren Glory after having cast this.
Cyberium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A black card with guts, which is rare amongst the black cards today. Black should always be about victory at any cost, like Negator and Phyrexian mana cards.
Guest255966637
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So Mode, the plan is to play this with Hivemind to give your opponent a free five damage burn spell to your face? That seems bad.
The only real combo I can see being relevant with this is Academy Rector. Fetch Barren Glory and hope you survive to upkeep.
psychichobo
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
'Because F**K YOU, that's why!'
I so want this reprinted, just to see someone lose to it at a GT.
Terrible terrible infinite damage combo with it. Playing a black green white deck. Have a total of 6 lands on the field where 2 tap for white and 3 tap for black. Have 2 eternal witnesses on the field. Cast second sunrise, then in response cast this card. Sac all your permanants and discard everything. Then second sunrise returns the witnesses and the lands, and gets you back second sunrise and this. Repeat.
Oh and the hivemind thing doesnt work since, it doesnt copy costs.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Arg, they *REALLY* had to make it an additional cost so you couldn't cast it in response to itself? I demand a functional reprint where all the problems in the card happen on resolution. It should be fine without rituals and I think that casting Spite in response to Spite to do 10 life is both fair and awesome. You lose *everything*, but they lose their life
Awesome.
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Run this when you KNOW that you will be facing an opponent who uses Worldfire, Worldslayer, Karn, Liberated, Cyclonic Rift, or any eldrazi creature with annihilator.
Enelysios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would sacrifice my armies, burn all of my riches, salt the land I walk on and bleed myself dry to get at you.
The most black burn spell imaginable, perfectly spiteful flavor. I hope this sees a reprint someday.
Comments (50)
Besides Barren Glory deck, this card is garbage.
Restore Balance, anyone? Oblivion Ring your win condition? Greater Gargadon: for sure! Heck, this card even has synergy with Sandbar Crocodile and Taniwha!
So many ways to abuse this, I love it!
Also, it makes me laugh when I play it knowing I'm losing next turn anyways.
Try it in a Suicide Black deck sometime and you'll see what I'm talking about. And as for it getting countered, that's why it would be in Suicide Black, so you can protect it with Duress or Thoughtseize.
Would be great to see Wizards do a revision of this card?
I still think only one part of the additional cost - either discarding your hand or sacrificing all permanents you control - should have done as well at a mana cost of
Yet that insanity of additional cost can also be used for your advantage:
*If you can get your opponent to copy the effect. Currently Hive Mind seems to be the only card available, although using Pacts with it is more advisable most of the time...
*Try to protect your cards by exiling them for a period of time, e.g. with flicker effects (which return the cards at end of turn) or by using cards with phasing.
*Use cards which trigger when put into the graveyard like Flagstones of Trokair, and play it as response on cards like Balancing Act.
Those which deal damage or will get you permanents onto the battlefield other than from your hand are likely the best cards for this. Academy Rector in particular is likely the best choice when used to find a Barren Glory, since you can Kaervek's Spite at the end of an opponent's turn resulting in an instant win once you get to your upkeep if your opponent does not have any removal left.
Anyways it's an okay card. But there is no way I would ever use it for anything other then a finish, Barren Glory, or anything else that would benefit you for getting rid of you're hand/field.
Storm Crow is strictly better. No, I don't mean better. I mean STRICTLY better.
The drawback iss way too immense for the effect, and if it is meant to be a finisher, why does it cost 3 mana? Crap.
Academy rector in play. Then cast this and bring out The cheese stands alone... or barren glory as they call it nowdays.
Yeah, I think that about breaks the bejesus out of that card.
Edit: Oh now I see that people have noticed... thought I read all the posts. Meh.
If this isn't a Johnny card, then I don't know what is. Any idiot who plays this in their deck without thinking of combo should be shot. Obviously this is for combo! This isn't a bad card in itself, but if it's mana cost was 1B, people would be raging on how broken it would be.
People talk about this card going with Barren Glory without realizing that this card is on the same power level as Barren Glory. Both of these cards requires a lot of combo to pull off and they both win you the game when done correctly.
Anyone ever think about floating mana for a Second Sunrise? You could easily combo that with cards that trigger when they enter or leave the battlefield.
But it's pretty much the most satisfying way to kill someone, aside from possibly Inferno or Needle Drop.
The kind of deck you would play this in, the scenario would be your opponent has no hand, or you know exactly what is in their hand, you have been chipping their life... when they're down to 5 finish them off with this. Who cares what it costs, you win and they lose... it could leave me with 1 life, no hand, no perms, and put my whole deck in the GY. I still win.
I have a couple sideboarded for my suicide black hand control deck and it's a fun and useful card, albeit situational.
4/5
Bitter Ordeal
Picture this today:
Turn 1: Swamp, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Abyssal Persecutor.
Turn 2: ???, bash face
Turn 3: Swamp, ???, Bash more face
Turn 4: Swamp, Bash even more face, cast this card after combat, Game.
And that's playing just those 5 cards. In the mean time your persecutor is probably stomping all over what piddly defense they can muster to block it.
How would that work exactly? The moment you cast Bitter Ordeal it would try to copy itself thanks to gravestorm, you can't cast that then this and go nuts on their library, the moment would pass. You'd have to have something like Sign in Blood or Moriok Replica, cast/activate it, then drop this, then hope that you draw into Bitter Ordeal with the next two/four cards, and that's if you have enough mana to pull that off (which would total 8 mana, possibly 10 if you have sign in blood + the replica, or just two of the replica). I suppose it COULD work if you had something that rearranged the top cards of your library, but that's about it, AND you'd have to wait until Bitter Ordeal showed up before going off with the combo, which could easily be disrupted.
There's not much use for this card, unless you're in a situation where your field is little-to-none with your hand being the same, or as a way to get rid of the Persecutor. Even the prospect of finishing them off with it isn't that good since odds are you can just deal that remaining 5 points to them in some other fashion WITHOUT having to get rid of everything, just in case it turns out they have something that leaves you screwed (like a sudden life gain, or a redirection to you, or flat-out cancel it).
Usually, the answer is "yes."
This is perfect for a finisher card in Kitchen Table Black deck, and what a STORY it tells!
"Dear Mr. Jerk Wizard. I hate you. I hate you a lot. I hate your mother, your mother's mother, your brother, your sister, your pet dog, your next door neighbor, and your high school prom date. I will go to any lengths within my power to cause you any amount of pain, because I really, really, really hate you.
I will relentlessly pursue this goal of causing you pain until I have exausted all resources that are available to my entire coffers, because....I....HATE....YOU"
It also sends lots of cards to the graveyard. I'm sure that's abusable somehow. Second Sunrise sounds too easy. I want something more evil-sounding than a Sunrise. Let's go see what Premium Deck Series: Graveborn has to offer! >:D
Oh. Oh my. Yes, that's quite tasty. That's exactly what I was looking for..... >:D >:D >:D
Even without that benefit, it is BECAUSE it 'looks' like very little gain for very high cost that actually makes this card awesome to me. You really have to want to play it, to play it.
The only real combo I can see being relevant with this is Academy Rector. Fetch Barren Glory and hope you survive to upkeep.
I so want this reprinted, just to see someone lose to it at a GT.
Playing a black green white deck. Have a total of 6 lands on the field where 2 tap for white and 3 tap for black. Have 2 eternal witnesses on the field. Cast second sunrise, then in response cast this card. Sac all your permanants and discard everything. Then second sunrise returns the witnesses and the lands, and gets you back second sunrise and this. Repeat.
Oh and the hivemind thing doesnt work since, it doesnt copy costs.
Awesome.
The most black burn spell imaginable, perfectly spiteful flavor. I hope this sees a reprint someday.
4/5 EASY
Or how about, instead of Barren Glory, Balance?