Pointed Discussion

Incredibly useful card. This is the best Edict, as well, because it is an instant (which is really the key to its usefulness).

Still arguably the best monoblack removal spell ever.

Probably the best mono-black removal in the game. It doesn't care about color. It doesn't care if your an artifact or not. It doesn't care if you have shroud, indestructible, regeneration or protection from everything. As long as your opponent only has one creature out, you can destroy it. And you can always use your buffet of other removal spells to deal with the other cards. The fact its an instant is just icing on the cake.

Because Progenitus can survive nearly anything. But being thrown off a boat? I think not.

The flavor text is quite amusing too.

My friend has a deck that we dubbed "This is why we can't have nice things," which is based around sacrificing creatures for fun and profit. He gets me with this card every time.

I don't think it's better than Doom Blade, but I'd put it somewhere near it. Doom Blade lets you choose; how often is your opponent going to have only one Vigor in play, and nothing else? Still very, very good, but I'd take the Doom Blade.

Good stuff, good stuff.

Ok, now I force you to throw your Emrakul off a cliff."

"I don't think it's better than Doom Blade, but I'd put it somewhere near it. Doom Blade lets you choose; how often is your opponent going to have only one Vigor in play, and nothing else? Still very, very good, but I'd take the Doom Blade."
-Owls_and_More_Owls

You need to play Legacy, then you'll understand.

Isochron Scepter with this says byebye to opponents creatures.

This has always been a beating stick card, it's even more fun nowdays.

I'll target myself, I'll sac Abyssal Persecutor, you lose.

LOVE IT.

It's not absolutely stupendous on it's own (although it's still pretty damn good), but it is awesome in combination with other removal spells. Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, all that good stuff. Your opponent will be utterly incapable of landing and holding a creature. I don't care about Scythe Tiger, your Darksteel Sentinel, your Inkwell Leviathan, your Emrakul and your Progenitus.
This card takes them all.
Even better if you can back it up with a board wiper or a pyroclasm-type effect, or even something like Pestilence.

still holds its own in legacy after all these years..if that doesnt count for something, then nothing does..

I like to think of it as 'safe removal'. 95% of the time you will hit what you want to hit, the other 5% of the time either you are doing it wrong or your opponent is a sneaky monkey.

Awesome card. I just used it last night in my Underworld Dreams/Control Deck. And it helped me keep my opponent's board clear of creatures while I was biding time to get UWD on the board.

It truly is great unless the opponent can't be targeted (IE Ivory Mask or Leyline of Sanctity or something like that).

Oh and of course I am running 4 Isochron Scepter in the deck to boot, but that's another story all together ;)

4.5 out of 5. Solid card for sure.

It's the finest creature-kill spell in the game: often imitated, never surpassed. The irony of the card is also precisely why it's so good: the best creature-removal spell in Magic targets a player, never a creature, thereby circumventing the very measures that stymie other creature-removal spells. To those who don't understand its power, go buy 4 of them and give 'em a run in any black deck. These are almost as automatic "4-of" as Dark Ritual.

The instant speed, though, is really what pushes Diabolic Edict over the top. Chainer's Edict could never come close.

Finally, I never have been a fan of Ron Spencer's work, but for this (along with that other immortal black card, Yawgmoth's Will and Terror) I have to admit that Mr. Spencer has created three of the most enduring, iconic illustrations for M:TG black.