Blood Lust MTG Card

Enhances creature power efficiently, shaping the battlefield in your favor during crucial combat moments. Instant speed casting adds surprise and flexibility, heightening your strategic gameplay in MTG. Can strain resources with card discard, and the specific mana cost may limit deck compatibility.

Legends (LEG)
1994-06-01 - Number 135

Blood Lust - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)

Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
1995-04-01 - Number 178

Fourth Edition (4ED)
1995-04-01 - Number 178

Renaissance (REN)
1995-08-01 - Number 75

Fifth Edition (5ED)
1997-03-24 - Number 212

Masters Edition III (ME3)
2009-09-07 - Number 88

Card sets	Released in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Instant

Text of card

Target creatures gain +4/-4 until end of turn. If this reduces creature's toughness below 1, creature's toughness is 1.

Cards like Blood Lust

Blood Lust is a spell that has secured its place in the realm of Magic: The Gathering due to its ability to temporarily boost a creature’s power at an efficient cost. Its effects are reminiscent of other red spells like Giant Growth, a classic card that also offers a power increase but with an additional toughness boost without the potential drawback of harming your own creature.

The dynamics change when comparing Blood Lust with a card like Brute Strength. While Brute Strength provides a smaller power boost, it compensates with a bonus to toughness and trample, enabling your creature to potentially deal excess damage to the opponent. Conversely, Blood Lust can be used strategically to force opponents to lose creatures in unfavorable blocks or to amplify damage for a potential lethal strike. Moreover, Temur Battle Rage stands out by not only increasing the creature’s power but by also conferring double strike, significantly upping the potential damage.

In evaluating these options, Blood Lust offers a unique combination of aggressiveness and flexibility, proving to be a strong contender in aggressive red strategies within Magic: The Gathering, where timing and surprise can turn the tides of battle.

Cards similar to Blood Lust by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Blood Lust is adept at tipping the scales in combat by enhancing a creature’s power for a critical turn, often leading to advantageous trades that preserve your creatures while depleting your opponent’s resources.

Resource Acceleration: This efficient spell’s low mana cost accelerates your aggressive strategies, allowing you to allocate resources toward deploying other threats or holding up mana for responsive plays.

Instant Speed: The ability to cast Blood Lust at instant speed grants flexibility, enabling you to surprise an opponent during combat or at the end of their turn, maximizing the element of unpredictability and strategic depth in your gameplay.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Blood Lust is its demand for self-sacrifice in the form of discarding a card. This can be detrimental to your hand, especially if the card count is running low and every asset counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Necessitating a particular mana arrangement, this spell’s red mana cost can restrict its integration into multi-colored decks. Decks without a strong red mana base might find it challenging to summon Blood Lust at the crucial moment.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Blood Lust comes with a mana cost that can be considered steep for the benefit it bestows. There are alternative cards out there that might offer more significant boosts or bonuses for a similar, if not lower, mana investment. Such a high mana demand may lead the players to opt for other strategies over including Blood Lust in their decks.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Blood Lust can be a powerful addition to aggro decks or any strategy looking to amplify damage dealt in a short time frame. Its ability to increase a creature’s power substantially at a low mana cost makes it a valuable tool in various situations.

Combo Potential: This card can be used in tandem with strategies that capitalize on dealing damage or as a surprise element to turn the tides during combat phases. It also has synergy with cards that benefit from dealing excess damage to creatures or players.

Meta-Relevance: Given the shifting landscape of the meta, Blood Lust can prove to be an unexpected game-changer in matchups that are decided by quick, high-powered strikes, especially against decks not prepared for such an instant speed power boost.

How to beat

Blood Lust is a classic card that can turn the tides by boosting a creature’s power significantly for a single turn in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to add a quick burst of power makes it formidable, especially in fast-paced, aggressive decks. However, there are strategies to mitigate the impact of Blood Lust on the game.

To effectively counter this card, it’s crucial to have instant-speed removal at your disposal. Having the flexibility to eliminate an opponent’s creature in response to a Blood Lust cast can nullify the threat instantly. Cards like Fatal Push or Path to Exile are excellent tools for managing creatures that are pumped up in such a manner. Additionally, countermagic can be another line of defense against Blood Lust itself, stopping the enchantment before it ever hits the battlefield. Consider holding mana open to play spells like Negate if you’re up against a deck that may run Blood Lust.

Beyond individual card choices, playing a control strategy that emphasizes removal and permission-based gameplay can preemptively address the challenges posed by Blood Lust. It’s also wise to avoid letting your life total get too low if you suspect your opponent might be holding onto this powerful buff spell.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Blood Lust MTG card by a specific set like Legends and Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border, 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 Blood Lust and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Blood Lust Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 1994-06-01 and 2009-09-07. Illustrated by Anson Maddocks.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1994-06-01	Legends	LEG	135	1993	Normal	Black	Anson Maddocks
2	1995-04-01	Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border	4BB	178	1993	Normal	Black	Anson Maddocks
3	1995-04-01	Fourth Edition	4ED	178	1993	Normal	White	Anson Maddocks
4	1995-08-01	Renaissance	REN	75	1993	Normal	Black	Anson Maddocks
5	1997-03-24	Fifth Edition	5ED	212	1997	Normal	White	Anson Maddocks
6	2009-09-07	Masters Edition III	ME3	88	1997	Normal	Black	Anson Maddocks

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Blood Lust has restrictions

Format	Legality
Oldschool	Legal
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2005-11-01	Has changed slightly in functionality, with the old continuous nature of the toughness reduction gone away; the toughness change remains static. For example, if you have three Swamps and Nightmare on the battlefield and then cast Blood Lust on it, it will become 7/1. If one of your Swamps is subsequently destroyed, your Nightmare will become 6/0 and be put in the graveyard.