Soulquake MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	7
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Released	2009-04-30
Set symbol
Set name	Alara Reborn
Set code	ARB
Number	30
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Warren Mahy

Key Takeaways

Soulquake refills hands with creatures, offering a significant shift in game momentum.
Instant speed casting allows for strategic flexibility and surprise plays in matches.
The card’s high mana cost and specific color needs can limit its deck inclusion.

Text of card

Return all creatures in play and all creature cards in graveyards to their owners' hands.

The Maelstrom sent a wave of raw mana through the battlefield, carrying off the fighting and fallen alike.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Soulquake offers a powerful swing in card economy that can turn the tides of the game. By returning all creatures from your graveyard to your hand, you refill your resources with potential threats and value generators.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana or tokens, Soulquake efficiently replenishes your hand with creature cards, arguably one of the most crucial types of resources in MTG. This sets up for future turns where you can deploy multiple threats in succession.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Soulquake at instant speed adds a layer of strategic depth to the game. You can wait until the end of your opponent’s turn to maximize the number of creatures returned, or use it as a surprise tactic in response to a board wipe, ensuring you come out ahead. This flexible timing also allows you to keep mana open for other answers or interactions during your opponent’s turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Soulquake’s ability necessitates the disposal of two cards from your hand. This can prove to be a hefty price, particularly in stages of the game where your hand is your most valuable asset, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage should you need to react to an opponent’s threats with a diminished selection of options.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Soulquake is not only substantial but also demands a specific combination of blue and black mana. This restricts its inclusion to decks that can reliably generate these colors, potentially excluding it from a number of strategies that can’t accommodate such mana requirements.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total casting cost of six mana, including both blue and black, Soulquake’s entry onto the field comes at a significant investment. In the realm of competitive play where efficiency is key, other cards may perform similar or better effects for fewer resources, potentially relegating Soulquake to a situational role rather than a mainstay.

Reasons to Include Soulquake in Your Collection

Versatility: Soulquake offers players a powerful control tool, capable of resetting the board by returning all creatures to their owners’ hands. Whether you are stalling against aggressive decks or preparing for a massive play, this flexibility makes it a useful card in a variety of deck archetypes.

Combo Potential: The ability to return creatures from your graveyard to your hand opens up numerous combo possibilities. Imagine recasting creatures with potent enter-the-battlefield effects or setting up a devastating series of spells with those newly retrieved creatures.

Meta-Relevance: Especially in metas heavy with creature-based strategies, Soulquake acts as both a defensive and offensive weapon. It can disrupt opponents’ boards while refilling your hand with potential threats, making it a card worth considering as the metagame evolves.

How to beat

Soulquake stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a massive board impacting spell capable of significantly altering the state of the game. At face value, its ability to return all creatures from the graveyard to their owners’ hands while bouncing all creatures in play to their owners’ hands seems overpowering, essentially resetting the battlefield. However, like all powerful spells, it comes with a high mana cost and strategic vulnerabilities.

One effective strategy to counter Soulquake is by using graveyard hate cards, such as Relic of Progenitus or Grafdigger’s Cage, which can remove creatures from graveyards or prevent them from being played, nullifying half of Soulquake’s effect. Similarly, leveraging instant-speed removal or exile effects ensures targeted creatures won’t return from the graveyard or the battlefield—a preemptive way to minimize Soulquake’s impact.

Another angle is to play around Soulquake by maintaining a lean board presence and keeping a stronger hand than the opponent, effectively turning the tide when they commit to the spell. Players can also include counterspells like Negate or Dispel in their arsenal, ready to shut down Soulquake before its effect can even take place. Through understanding and anticipation, players can keep the upper hand against the tidal force of Soulquake.

Cards like Soulquake

Soulquake stands out in the vast collection of board control spells within Magic: The Gathering. It’s related to other sweepers like Evacuation, which also clears the battlefield of creatures by returning them to their owners’ hands. Yet, Soulquake weaves a unique tapestry as it simultaneously brings creatures back from your graveyard to your hand, a duality not present in the straightforward Evacuation.

Comparatively, there’s also Flood of Tears, a sorcery that can reset the playing field but with the added benefit of potentially putting a permanent onto the battlefield if enough were bounced back. Unlike Soulquake, it doesn’t concern itself with the graveyard, providing a clean slate instead. In terms of mana efficiency and effect, River’s Rebuke might be mentioned, targeting only a single opponent which could lead to one-sided advantage situations, though not affecting the graveyard either.

After a close examination, Soulquake promises a unique blend of board impact and recursion, positioning it interestingly among its counterparts. Its ability to disrupt opponents while recovering resources makes it a powerful, albeit mana-intensive, option for players in Magic: The Gathering.

Cards similar to Soulquake by color, type and mana cost

Discovery // Dispersal - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Soulquake MTG card by a specific set like Alara Reborn, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Soulquake and other MTG cards: