Suffocation MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant
Released	1996-06-10
Set symbol
Set name	Alliances
Set code	ALL
Number	38
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Allen Williams

Key Takeaways

Suffocation offers control by potentially forcing your opponent to discard pivotal cards, giving you an edge.
Playing Suffocation at instant speed allows for strategic flexibility and can surprise opponents.
Despite being powerful, it requires discarding a card, posing risk in certain gameplay scenarios.

Text of card

Play only when a red sorcery or instant deals damage to you. Suffocation deals 4 damage to that spell's caster. Draw a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Suffocation provides key control over your opponent’s hand, possibly forcing them to discard cards that are critical to their strategy, tipping the scales in your favor. This disruption can easily create a card advantage, as you deplete their resources while maintaining your own.

Resource Acceleration: By disrupting your opponent’s game plan, Suffocation can indirectly accelerate your own resources. As your opponent struggles to rebuild their hand, you have the opportunity to deploy your threats and advance your board position unopposed.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Suffocation at instant speed adds a layer of strategic depth, allowing you to wait until your opponent’s end step before deciding whether to deploy it or keep mana open for other interactions. This flexibility ensures that you can respond to threats efficiently while keeping your adversaries guessing about your capabilities.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One notable drawback of Suffocation is that it necessitates the discarding of a card, which could be detrimental when you’re contending with a depleted hand. This cost must be weighed against the card’s benefits, especially in situations where your card count is crucial for maintaining momentum against your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: Suffocation’s mana cost is strictly black, which means that it will fit exclusively into mono-black or certain multicolored decks that include black mana. This requirement can restrict deck-building flexibility and may not synergize well with decks that lack a sufficient number of black mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Suffocation can be a game-changer, its mana cost is on the higher end when compared to other removal spells in the game. Players might find themselves in predicaments where leveraging this card isn’t the most mana-efficient action, possibly leading them to opt for alternatives that allow for a quicker response to threats on the board.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Suffocation brings utility to different deck archetypes, offering a strategic advantage as both a countermeasure and a pressure tool against opponents.

Combo Potential: This card can synergize with decks focused on denial or attrition strategies, amplifying the effects of other cards that punish players for casting spells or drawing cards.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment rich with spell-slinging decks or strategies that rely on drawing numerous cards, Suffocation becomes increasingly pivotal to disrupt those plans and keep opponents off balance.

How to beat

Confronting a card like Suffocation in Magic: The Gathering can be a true test of strategy and foresight. This card operates as a form of control, constraining your actions or penalizing you for specific moves. The key to outmaneuvering Suffocation lies in understanding the types of spells it targets and adjusting your gameplay accordingly. It’s imperative to consider the potency of holding back and timing your spells when failing to do so could yield damaging consequences due to Suffocation’s capabilities.

A common tactic is to bait its activation using less critical spells, thereby conserving your more vital cards for when the path is clear. Alternatively, you can also deploy countermeasures such as spell or ability-based counterspells, which can neutralize Suffocation before it takes effect. Some players may find success in simply overwhelming the card by playing a multitude of low-cost spells, diluting its impact and forcing the opponent to make tough decisions on what to suppress.

Every encounter with Suffocation is a lesson in adaptation and resilience; with careful planning and tactical plays, it’s a challenge that can be overcome in the interactive and ever-evolving game of Magic: The Gathering.

Cards like Suffocation

Suffocation is an intriguing entry in the realm of counter spells for Magic: The Gathering. Alongside classics like Counterspell, which outrightly denies a spell from resolving, Suffocation presents a unique alternative. While it too can thwart an opponent’s play, it demands payment of mana to circumvent its effect, a concept Counterspell doesn’t entertain. Those without the necessary resources at the ready find their spells suffocated right out of the stack.

In a similar realm, Mana Leak stands as a comparison. Like Suffocation, it offers a conditional counter, demanding a specific mana payment to prevent a spell’s denial. It’s generally less expensive, nicking the opponent’s resources without completely choking their play. Another card, Delay fuses this concept with a temporary twist, suspending the target spell and thus delaying the inevitable for a few turns instead of an immediate deterrent like Suffocation.

To conclude our analysis, while it shares traits with other counter spells, Suffocation carves its unique niche within Magic: The Gathering by forcing opponents to weigh their spells’ importance against their available mana, often leading to critical resource management decisions on the fly.

Cards similar to Suffocation by color, type and mana cost

Hypnotic Sprite // Mesmeric Glare - MTG Card versions

Accumulated Knowledge - MTG Card versions

Thassa's Intervention - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Suffocation MTG card by a specific set like Alliances, 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 Suffocation and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Suffocation has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Suffocation card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.