Pointed Discussion

This again.

New flavor text on a staple card that keeps shenanigans in check.

I approve of the flavor text. Glad to see it back.

One of the best commons in this set.

For one mana you can trade with a card with much higher cmc. The side effect of knowing what your opponent has is critical while playing a control shell.

Still one of the best discard cards of all time. Not as big of a standard player, but this goes in just about every casual black deck I build, and actually still does a lot of work in Legacy. Thoughtseize has stolen a lot of its spotlight, but you want to hit combo pieces and Force of Will with that 90% of the time anyway.

Thoughtseize compared to this:

Pros -
Hits creatures

Cons -
Makes you lose 2 life
Costs $60 more

Duress is pretty damn cool.

IMO, still the best discard for competitive play outside of Hymn.
Why? Because Aggro, Shocklands, Fetchlands, and Burn are things. Taking some damage is fine, but the mentality that no matter how many bleed effects you stuff into a deck is fine is flawed. This hits everything relevant: Burn spells, Planeswalkers, Removal, Tutors, Green Sun's Zenith, artifacts and equipments, and a variety of other problem cards; without allowing Zoo and Burn a free headstart. It's bad enough they have Goblin Guide punching your face before you get to play a land, don't give them an even larger head start!

You have an arsenal of kill spells/sac effects in your deck don't you? Why pay 2 life (let alone $70) to hit something you can hit anyway. Heck, you can even hit lands at a reasonable price (Pox, Smallpox.) Yeah, Game 1 vs. Zoo will be bad if this misses, but it would've been bad if you took the 2 damage anyway. It's

While MBC isn't taking the world by storm at the moment, the fact is, it has to be considered in every deck as a potential powerful matchup. Pox, MBC, suicide black, or just colors that splash black all use this or Thoughtsieze, and are all or have all been major players in Legacy at one time or another.


All of that said, I wish they'd give this a new art by now. We've had... 6 prints of the same art?

An amazing card. Can let you see your opponents hand and take care of one of their upcoming threats (especially an especially troublesome Planeswalker) even before it hits the field. I would be a little hesitant to play this in Standard with Naya Blitz and other creature orientated decks running around, but it is probably safe to have at least a couple mainboard.

5/5

An awesome card for a common. It can rid you of the card that would have threatened your strategy or break the combo your opponent is planning. Why not Cremate that nasty little card so it's out of the picture for good?... just a thought... A black thought ;)
5/5 for elegance of design

Great answer to izzet decks.

everyone else has pretty much summed it up, but it's one mana and a common. OP 5/5

There is no set where this card has been printed and not seen play. There is no Constructed format where this card does not see play today, especially in sideboard. Can that be said for any other card really?

To me, its not bad. it only costs one swamp. I use whenever i get the chance

Play it against control with your mid-range strategies! Yesss!

I love this card, I almost always use it to bait a counter or strip a counter, and in that situation you just can't lose!

the idea of throwing away your opponent's strategy on turn one is just so.... great.

No, this won't happen all the time, and you may even completely miss with duress, but there is always a chance that you will discard a Jace, some super artifact, enchantment, their first counter, their first burn, or something that gives you an early game edge.

If all else fails, you get to see exactly what is coming up; that knowledge is not something to be taken lightly.

Obviously this is the last draw you want late game though...