Choking Miasma MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Kicker |
| Released | 2022-09-09 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Dominaria United |
| Set code | DMU |
| Number | 86 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Inka Schulz |
Key Takeaways
- Stalls opponents and accelerates your game plan by disrupting creatures and gaining time for resource deployment.
- Instant casting flexibility lets players react to threats on-the-fly and manage mana efficiently during turns.
- Despite its versatility, the card’s discard requirement and specific mana cost could constrain in-game strategies.
Text of card
Kicker (You may pay an additional as you cast this spell.) If this spell was kicked, put a +1/+1 counter on a creature you control. All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn.
The Phyrexians were as surprised as anyone to discover they still needed to breathe.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Choking Miasma can disrupt multiple opponents’ creatures, potentially keeping your hand filled while others deplete theirs trying to rebuild their board presence.
Resource Acceleration: Although not directly providing mana, by stalling adversaries, you gain precious time to deploy your own resources unimpeded, effectively accelerating your game plan.
Instant Speed: Its ability to be cast at instant speed means flexibility in play. You can efficiently manage your mana, react to threats during your opponent’s turn, and coordinate with the surprise element to your strategic advantage.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Choking Miasma is the discard requirement to activate its secondary feature. This can be particularly taxing if your hand is already depleted or when every card counts for maintaining strategic flexibility.
Specific Mana Cost: Choking Miasma demands a precise arrangement of mana to cast, necessitating both black and generic mana. This may not always align with the player’s current mana pool, potentially causing a hitch in the game plan.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost on the higher side for its intended effects, some players might find Choking Miasma less efficient compared to other options. Alternatives might provide similar or enhanced results at a lower mana investment, making them more appealing in deck building.
Reasons to Include Choking Miasma in Your Collection
Versatility: Choking Miasma can be seamlessly integrated into control or midrange decks that thrive on delaying the opponent’s game plan. Its ability to stifle creature-heavy strategies makes it an adaptable piece in a variety of deck builds.
Combo Potential: It can act as a cog in a well-oiled machine, working alongside cards that punish opponents for having tapped creatures, or in concert with effects that force the opponent to tap out, maximizing the impact of its debilitating effect.
Meta-Relevance: For a meta dominated by aggressive decks that rely on a swarm of creatures, Choking Miasma serves as an effective countermeasure, potentially slowing down the onslaught and giving you the upper hand.
How to beat Choking Miasma
When facing off against Choking Miasma in your Magic: The Gathering matchups, understanding its mechanics is crucial to strategize effectively. This card can be a nuisance, impacting the board by weakening creatures en masse. It’s essential to have a game plan that can adapt to its potential threat on your creatures’ strength and survivability.
To counteract Choking Miasma, consider using spells or abilities that can either buff your creatures or provide indestructibility for a turn, circumventing the weakening effect. Additionally, employing instant-speed removal can be effective at disrupting your opponent’s strategy before they establish control with Choking Miasma. It’s also worthwhile to have a diverse deck, incorporating not just creature-centric strategies but alternative win conditions to outmaneuver such board-altering cards.
Being prepared is the key. Having a sideboard with answers like hexproof granting spells or other protective measures can make all the difference. Adaptation on the fly and keeping pressure on the opponent will help tilt the scales in your favor, ensuring that Choking Miasma becomes a mere hindrance rather than a game-ending threat.
Cards like Choking Miasma
Choking Miasma introduces a new twist to the realm of black enchantments within MTG. It echoes the essence of consistent life-draining effects found in cards like Retreat to Hagra, yet stands out with its own unique ability to suppress the opponent’s creatures. Retreat to Hagra can potentially offer more board-wide impact, strengthening your creatures as it chips away at your opponent’s life total.
When discussing ability parallels, Illness in the Ranks is another mentionable enchantment—though it diminishes the power of tokens specifically, Choking Miasma extends its debuff to all creatures. Despite Illness in the Ranks’ lower mana requirement, Choking Miasma’s broader reach could prove more detrimental over multiple turns against a wide variety of decks.
Comparingly, Sulfuric Vortex sets a high bar with its symmetrical damage to both players’ life totals, bypassing creatures entirely. However, Choking Miasma’s targeted creature weakening aspect, combined with the life-drain utility, creates strategic flexibility in disrupting opponent’s plays. When evaluating Choking Miasma adjacent to its counterparts, its balance of control and life disadvantage imposition certainly carves its niche in black enchantment strategy in MTG.
Cards similar to Choking Miasma by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Choking Miasma MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria United, 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 Choking Miasma and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Choking Miasma has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |