Chainer's Edict MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Chainer’s Edict shines by providing intrinsic card advantage in both the early game and the late game. Deployed early, it efficiently deals with a threat, and with its flashback ability, it can be used a second time from the graveyard, ensuring you stay ahead without expending additional cards from hand.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating your resources, Chainer’s Edict potentially disrupts your opponent’s board state, often forcing them to sacrifice a mana-producing creature. This indirect resource deceleration can put you at a significant advantage, allowing for better board control.

Instant Speed: Although Chainer’s Edict operates at sorcery speed, the fact that its flashback ability can be activated at any point in the game when you have sufficient mana gives it an element of surprise and flexibility that is akin to the strategic depth instants provide, helping you navigate complex board states effectively.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While the power to make an opponent sacrifice a creature is formidable, Chainer’s Edict doesn’t let you choose the target. This means your opponent can sacrifice their least valuable creature, which could be less impactful in the late game when multiple creatures are on the board.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both black mana can make Chainer’s Edict less versatile, as it is primarily limited to mono-black or black-focused multicolored decks. This can be a hindrance in formats that value a flexible mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Despite its flashback ability, the initial and flashback costs are steep, sitting at two and seven mana respectively. In a game where tempo is crucial, the high cost can slow down your strategy compared to other lower-cost removal options.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Chainer’s Edict is a flexible tool for any black-based control or midrange deck. Its ability to force an opponent to sacrifice a creature bypasses indestructible and hexproof statuses, making it a solid removal option against various threats on the battlefield.

Combo Potential: In decks that utilize graveyard mechanics, Chainer’s Edict shines. With flashback, it can be cast from the graveyard for additional value, dovetailing perfectly with strategies that cycle their graveyards as a resource.

Meta-Relevance: Creature-heavy strategies often populate the meta, and Chainer’s Edict targets these effectively. As players weave in resilient creatures to their decks, having a removal that doesn’t target, like Chainer’s Edict, becomes increasingly advantageous, maintaining relevance in numerous metagame shifts.

How to Defeat Chainer’s Edict

Chainer’s Edict presents a unique challenge in MTG, acting as a pivotal removal tool that can disrupt an opponent’s board strategy. Unlike direct damage spells or point removals, Chainer’s Edict targets the player, compelling them to sacrifice a creature. This can be particularly devastating if you have a singular, high-value threat on the field. The key to overcoming this forceful edict lies in maintaining creature redundancy. To safeguard your board, it’s advisable to deploy multiple creatures, prioritizing the summoning of tokens or creatures with lesser value. This strategy ensures that in the face of Chainer’s Edict, your most critical creatures survive.

Another effective countermeasure is utilizing graveyard disruption. Since Chainer’s Edict has a flashback ability allowing it to be played from the graveyard, cards that exile or shuffle graveyard contents into the library can mitigate this threat. Emphasizing resilience and redundancy in your battlefield presence, coupled with keen graveyard management, makes it possible to successfully navigate around the obstacles posed by Chainer’s Edict, preserving your board state and maintaining the upper hand in the duel.