Descend upon the Sinful MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityMythic
TypeSorcery
Abilities Delirium

Key Takeaways

  1. The card provides substantial advantage by exiling all creatures and potentially swinging the game.
  2. Activating delirium can lead to an additional 4/4 Angel, offering both offensive and mana utility.
  3. Its high mana cost demands careful deck building and strategic play to maximize effectiveness.

Text of card

Exile all creatures. Delirium — Put a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying onto the battlefield if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.

Above the cries, a phrase rang out: "You will all be saved."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Descend upon the Sinful shines in providing card advantage by exiling all creatures from the battlefield. This effect can swing the game by eliminating multiple threats from your opponents while also setting the stage for you to take the lead. Especially useful in multiplayer games, its card advantage can be pivotal in outpacing your adversaries.

Resource Acceleration: An added upside to playing Descend upon the Sinful is the resource acceleration it provides. Should you activate its delirium condition by having four or more card types in your graveyard, you receive a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying. This not only acts as a powerful blocker or attacker but can also be an emergency source of mana if you have other cards that can utilize creatures for mana generation.

Instant Speed: While Descend upon the Sinful is a sorcery, it’s important to note that its impact on the game is akin to that of an instant-speed board wipe in terms of how dramatically it can change the state of the game when cast. The ability to clear the board during your turn allows you to immediately follow up with other spells or creatures, giving you a strategic advantage.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Unlike other board wipes, playing this spell doesn’t ask for any card discard, so you can maintain your hand size.

Specific Mana Cost: Descend upon the Sinful demands a dedicated color commitment with four white mana as part of its cost. This requirement can constrain deck building, especially for multicolored decks that might struggle to consistently meet these stringent mana needs.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost of six mana, this card sits on the higher end of the spectrum for removal spells. In fast-paced games, the mana investment may be too steep, allowing opponents to advance their board state significantly before you have the chance to cast it.


Reasons to Include Descend upon the Sinful in Your Collection

Versatility: Descend upon the Sinful offers a powerful sweeping effect, clearing the board of creatures, which makes it a useful addition to any deck facing creature-heavy strategies.

Combo Potential: This card not only provides board clear but also offers the potential to combo with cards that benefit from exile effects or create creatures when casting spells.

Meta-Relevance: With the evolving MTG landscape, having a reliable exile-based board wipe can be a crucial answer to resilient threats that dodge traditional destruction-based removal.


How to beat Descend upon the Sinful

Descend upon the Sinful is a powerful card in MTG with the potential to clear the board and grant you angelic reinforcements. Dealing with its aftermath can certainly be a challenge. However, understanding its mechanics can lead to effective strategies. One of the key tactics is to save counter spells specifically for this game-changing card. By doing so, you can prevent its casting altogether, preserving your battlefield presence.

Another approach is maintaining a diverse set of creatures in your deck, especially those with indestructible or those that can regenerate. Creatures with the indestructible feature are particularly useful, as they’d survive the exile effect that clears the board when Descend upon the Sinful is played. Additionally, leveraging cards that can return creatures from the graveyard to your hand or directly onto the battlefield can swiftly rebuild your forces after a board wipe has occurred.

Lastly, being mindful of the timing when committing creatures to the board can be pivotal. Since Descend upon the Sinful tends to be a card that players cast later in the game, pacing your plays and holding back some creature resources can mitigate the blow, allowing for a quicker recovery and maintaining pressure on your adversary.


BurnMana Recommendations

In the intricate dance of MTG play, each card holds the potential to escalate your deck to new heights. Descend upon the Sinful is a unique piece of this complex puzzle and mastering its applications is key to dominance on the battlefield. Understand its dual nature of clear and create, the nuances of timing your plays, and the strategic countermeasures that can make or break a game. We’re here to guide you through optimizing your game plan, building resilient decks, and enhancing your strategic arsenal. Dive into our detailed insights to enhance your MTG expertise and forge an unbeatable strategy.


Cards like Descend upon the Sinful

Descend upon the Sinful is an impactful card that finds its place among the powerful suite of white exile effects in Magic: The Gathering. Resembling Day of Judgment, which clears the board of all creatures, Descend upon the Sinful takes it a step further by exiling them instead, preventing any form of recursion. While Day of Judgment is cost-effective, Descend upon the Sinful eliminates the threat of graveyard strategies entirely.

Another close relative is Terminus, which tucks creatures away on the bottom of their owner’s library at a potentially lower mana cost thanks to its Miracle keyword. Even though Terminus does not exile, its potential to reorganize the battlefield for just a single white mana can be game-changing. Then there’s Wrath of God, a MTG classic that annihilates creatures without the possibility of regeneration. Although it doesn’t offer exile like Descend upon the Sinful, its definitive destruction at four mana remains highly efficient.

Considering these alternatives, Descend upon the Sinful stands out with the additional advantage of creating an Angel token, giving you a flying creature following a sweep, which could swing the game to your favor.

Day of Judgment - MTG Card versions
Terminus - MTG Card versions
Wrath of God - MTG Card versions
Day of Judgment - Zendikar (ZEN)
Terminus - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Wrath of God - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Cards similar to Descend upon the Sinful by color, type and mana cost

Icatian Town - MTG Card versions
Righteous Fury - MTG Card versions
Catastrophe - MTG Card versions
Guan Yu's 1,000-Li March - MTG Card versions
Kirtar's Wrath - MTG Card versions
Devastating Mastery - MTG Card versions
Austere Command - MTG Card versions
Akroma's Vengeance - MTG Card versions
Solar Tide - MTG Card versions
Final Judgment - MTG Card versions
Chronomantic Escape - MTG Card versions
Spectral Procession - MTG Card versions
Planar Cleansing - MTG Card versions
Open the Vaults - MTG Card versions
Nomads' Assembly - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Rebirth - MTG Card versions
Sudden Disappearance - MTG Card versions
Terminus - MTG Card versions
Vanquish the Foul - MTG Card versions
Plea for Guidance - MTG Card versions
Icatian Town - Masters Edition (ME1)
Righteous Fury - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Catastrophe - The List (PLST)
Guan Yu's 1,000-Li March - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Kirtar's Wrath - Commander Masters (CMM)
Devastating Mastery - Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX)
Austere Command - Fallout (PIP)
Akroma's Vengeance - Commander 2020 (C20)
Solar Tide - Mirrodin (MRD)
Final Judgment - The List (PLST)
Chronomantic Escape - Future Sight (FUT)
Spectral Procession - Modern Masters 2015 (MM2)
Planar Cleansing - Core Set 2020 Promos (PM20)
Open the Vaults - Fallout (PIP)
Nomads' Assembly - Commander 2014 (C14)
Phyrexian Rebirth - March of the Machine Commander (MOC)
Sudden Disappearance - Dark Ascension (DKA)
Terminus - From the Vault: Annihilation (V14)
Vanquish the Foul - Theros (THS)
Plea for Guidance - Born of the Gods (BNG)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Descend upon the Sinful MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad and Shadows over Innistrad Promos, 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 Descend upon the Sinful and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Descend upon the Sinful Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by Tyler Jacobson.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-04-08Shadows over InnistradSOI 132015normalblackTyler Jacobson
22016-04-08Shadows over Innistrad PromosPSOI 13s2015normalblackTyler Jacobson
32020-04-17Commander 2020C20 862015normalblackTyler Jacobson
42023-03-21Shadows over Innistrad RemasteredSIR 242015normalblackTyler Jacobson

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Descend upon the Sinful has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2016-04-08 Because you consider only the characteristics of a double-faced card’s front face while it’s not on the battlefield, the types of its back face won’t be counted for delirium.
2016-04-08 If one of those creatures was enchanted, its Aura won’t be put into a player’s graveyard until after Descend upon the Sinful has finished resolving. If the controller of Descend upon the Sinful owned the Aura, it won’t be in the graveyard in time to be counted for the delirium ability.
2016-04-08 If you have three non-sorcery card types among cards in your graveyard at the time Descend upon the Sinful resolves, you won’t get an Angel token. Descend upon the Sinful isn’t put into your graveyard until after it’s finished resolving.
2016-04-08 In some rare cases, you can have a token or a copy of a spell in your graveyard at the moment that an object’s delirium ability counts the card types among cards in your graveyard, before that token or copy ceases to exist. Because tokens and copies of spells are not cards, even if they are copies of cards, their types will never be counted.
2016-04-08 The card types in Magic are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and tribal (a card type that appears on some older cards). Supertypes (such as legendary and basic) and subtypes (such as Human and Equipment) are not counted.
2016-04-08 The number of card types matters, not the number of cards. For example, Wicker Witch (an artifact creature) along with Catalog (an instant) and Chaplain’s Blessing (a sorcery) will enable delirium.

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