Infernal Reckoning MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Exiles colorless creatures efficiently, offering a significant tactical advantage in certain matchups.
  2. Instant speed allows for flexible and responsive play, interrupting opponents’ strategies on the go.
  3. Targets a niche segment, making it an exceptional sideboard card against Eldrazi or artifact decks.

Text of card

Exile target colorless creature. You gain life equal to its power.

"When these intruders are gone, Zendikar will be my throne, my palace, my playground."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Infernal Reckoning gives you a precise upper hand against decks with colorless creatures. By exiling one, you rid the battlefield of a potential threat without losing a card in the process. This one-for-one removal ensures you maintain card parity while disrupting your opponent’s strategy.

Resource Acceleration: While this card doesn’t directly accelerate resources, it helps manage your existing ones efficiently. You can allocate mana to other spells and plays, knowing you have a cost-effective answer to a potential colorless creature threat.

Instant Speed: The utility of Infernal Reckoning increases with its instant speed. This allows for flexible play, where you can react to your opponent’s moves during their turn. You can hold up mana to cast it when your opponent commits a colorless creature to the board, keeping up the element of surprise and maximizing the timing of your plays.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Infernal Reckoning does not mandate discarding, its specific role can often leave players with a dead card in hand against non-Eldrazi decks. Holding onto it for the right moment can feel akin to discarding a valuable resource when faced with a different threat.

Specific Mana Cost: Infernal Reckoning requires a single black mana, which situates it comfortably in mono-black or black-inclusive decks. However, this specificity does bar it from decks not running black mana, potentially constraining your deck-building options to accommodate this niche answer.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although the cost of one black mana can be considered low, the card natively addresses only a small subset of creatures—Eldrazi. Other removal spells at a similar or even lower mana cost are broader in application, making Infernal Reckoning’s efficiency questionable when not facing its intended targets.


Reasons to Include Infernal Reckoning in Your Collection

Versatility: Infernal Reckoning is a unique and powerful sideboard card. It can be slotted into any black-based deck, providing an instant threat removal for those troublesome Eldrazi titans or colorless creatures that commonly evade traditional removal spells.

Combo Potential: While it’s mainly a reactive spell, the one black mana cost of Infernal Reckoning allows players to maintain mana efficiency, keeping their options open for pivotal combo plays. It’s excellent for preserving tempo and opens the door for surprise switches in your strategy.

Meta-Relevance: With the shifting landscape of MTG play, a card like Infernal Reckoning proves invaluable when colorless creatures dominate the field. It’s a targeted answer that helps maintain balance against decks that rely heavily on such threats, making it an asset in a metagame filled with powerful colorless opponents.


How to beat

Infernal Reckoning is a unique spell that can be a powerful tool against decks that rely heavily on colorless creatures. To navigate around this card’s effect in Magic: The Gathering, a flexible strategy and adaptive gameplay are key. Incorporating diverse mana costs in your creature base beyond colorless options reduces the risk of being vulnerable to this removal spell. It’s critical to blend in creatures of different colors, ensuring your deck isn’t singularly targeted by Infernal Reckoning.

Moreover, running cards that grant hexproof or that can counteract removal spells will also boost your defenses. Spell protection measures like counterspells, or enchantments that offer protection, can be pivotal in safeguarding your key creatures from targeted removal. It’s about maintaining a calculated approach, balancing your board presence without overextending into potential threats like Infernal Reckoning.

In essence, by diversifying your threats and using clever deck-building choices, you can dilute the potency of Infernal Reckoning and continue to command a formidable presence on the battlefield. Knowing when to deploy creatures and having a backup plan for your most crucial assets will ensure your deck thrives in the dynamic environment of Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Infernal Reckoning

Infernal Reckoning stands as a specific tool for players in Magic the Gathering, offering an answer to cards like Desolation Twin and Wurmcoil Engine. These powerhouse creatures are similar in that they present a significant threat due to their size or effects upon entering the battlefield or dying. Infernal Reckoning’s ability to exile a colorless creature, specifically, gives it a tactical edge in certain matchups, particularly against Eldrazi or artifact-heavy decks. This card provides black decks a much-needed answer to such threats without the usual life loss or sacrifice requirements common in black removal spells.

Examining removal spells in MTG further, we can compare Infernal Reckoning to the broader but less specialized Doom Blade. Doom Blade can target any non-black creature, offering versatility but it does not exile, leaving potential for graveyard shenanigans. Go for the Throat is another contender, unrestricted by color but cannot target artifact creatures, making it less useful against the mechanized menaces that Infernal Reckoning effortlessly banishes.

The strategic implication of Infernal Reckoning in a Magic the Gathering match can’t be overstated—it’s an indispensable card when facing decks that rely heavily on colorless creatures, providing black decks with a precise and cost-effective tool to maintain control of the game.

Desolation Twin - MTG Card versions
Wurmcoil Engine - MTG Card versions
Doom Blade - MTG Card versions
Go for the Throat - MTG Card versions
Desolation Twin - Battle for Zendikar Promos (PBFZ)
Wurmcoil Engine - Scars of Mirrodin Promos (PSOM)
Doom Blade - Magic 2010 (M10)
Go for the Throat - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)

Cards similar to Infernal Reckoning by color, type and mana cost

Howl from Beyond - MTG Card versions
Dark Ritual - MTG Card versions
Sacrifice - MTG Card versions
Darkness - MTG Card versions
Marsh Gas - MTG Card versions
Deathlace - MTG Card versions
Gravebind - MTG Card versions
Misinformation - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Tutor - MTG Card versions
Dredge - MTG Card versions
Vendetta - MTG Card versions
Coffin Purge - MTG Card versions
Defile - MTG Card versions
March of Wretched Sorrow - MTG Card versions
Fatal Push - MTG Card versions
Foulmire Knight // Profane Insight - MTG Card versions
Fade from Memory - MTG Card versions
Duh - MTG Card versions
Aesthetic Consultation - MTG Card versions
Stop That - MTG Card versions
Howl from Beyond - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Dark Ritual - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)
Sacrifice - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Darkness - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)
Marsh Gas - The Dark (DRK)
Deathlace - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Gravebind - Ice Age (ICE)
Misinformation - Alliances (ALL)
Vampiric Tutor - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Dredge - Invasion (INV)
Vendetta - World Championship Decks 2001 (WC01)
Coffin Purge - World Championship Decks 2002 (WC02)
Defile - Modern Horizons 1 Timeshifts (H1R)
March of Wretched Sorrow - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO)
Fatal Push - Kaladesh Remastered (KLR)
Foulmire Knight // Profane Insight - The List (PLST)
Fade from Memory - Onslaught (ONS)
Duh - Unhinged (UNH)
Aesthetic Consultation - Unhinged (UNH)
Stop That - Unhinged (UNH)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Infernal Reckoning MTG card by a specific set like Core Set 2019 Promos and Core Set 2019, 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 Infernal Reckoning and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Infernal Reckoning Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2018-07-13 and 2018-07-13. Illustrated by Bram Sels.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-07-13Core Set 2019 PromosPM19 102s2015normalblackBram Sels
22018-07-13Core Set 2019M19 1022015normalblackBram Sels

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Infernal Reckoning 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 Infernal Reckoning card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2018-07-13 If the creature’s power is negative, you don’t lose or gain life.
2018-07-13 The amount of life gained is equal to the power of the creature as it last existed on the battlefield.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks