Death's Caress MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Released	2012-02-03
Set symbol
Set name	Dark Ascension
Set code	DKA
Number	59
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	James Ryman

Key Takeaways

Death’s Caress offers dual benefits: targeted removal and potential card draw against Humans.
Demanding specific mana and higher costs limit its deck inclusion and late-game value.
Strategic inclusion can enhance black-themed decks and adapt to creature-heavy metas.

Text of card

Destroy target creature. If that creature was a Human, you gain life equal to its toughness.

The faint smell of cloves, the rustling of the wind, and a paralyzing descent into an airless, fathomless tomb.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Death’s Caress enables targeted creature removal, which may also result in drawing a card if the destroyed creature was a Human, effectively replenishing your hand while disrupting your opponent’s board.

Resource Acceleration: Though not direct mana acceleration, this removal spell can pave the way for a less crowded battlefield, allowing your other creatures to attack and potentially ramp up your board advantage more swiftly.

Instant Speed: As a sorcery, Death’s Caress doesn’t have the reactive versatility of an instant; however, strategic planning during your turn can make its impact on the game just as significant, especially when timed to disrupt your opponent’s next move.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Death’s Caress necessitates the player to part with another card from their hand, which can be detrimental, especially during the late game when hand sizes are typically smaller and each card’s strategic importance is amplified.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a particular blend of mana, including black, to cast. This element confines its inclusion in decks, as it cannot be effortlessly slotted into multi-colored decks without sufficiently consistent mana sources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment required to deploy Death’s Caress is on the higher side when held up against other removal options available in the game. Players might find that other spells provide similar or better effects at a reduced mana expenditure, potentially relegating Death’s Caress to a lower priority in deck building decisions.

Reasons to Include Death’s Caress in Your Collection

Versatility: This card serves as a go-to removal spell for any black-themed deck. Its ability to target creatures big and small makes it a useful addition, with the added benefit of being particularly devastating against decks focusing on creature-based strategies.

Combo Potential: The lifeloss inflicted by Death’s Caress can synergize well with decks that capitalize on reducing an opponent’s life total or with cards that trigger off life loss or death of creatures. It easily integrates into strategies focused on attrition or sacrifice.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where creature-heavy decks are common, Death’s Caress holds its weight in gold. Its relevance in the current meta can hinge on how frequently you encounter creatures it can remove, tipping the balance of games into your favor. Being a removal card, it’s generally wise to have it on-hand to deal with threats as they appear on the battlefield.

How to beat

Death’s Caress is a formidable card that can be quite impactful in the right Magic: The Gathering deck, given its capacity to remove creatures from the battlefield. It’s akin, in some ways, to cards such as Murder, with the ability to destroy a target creature regardless of its size, which can disrupt opponent strategies that rely on key creatures.

Beyond its primary function, Death’s Caress often includes an additional effect that may interact with graveyard mechanics, offering potential card advantage. Countering this card effectively requires a versatile strategy. Utilize instant-speed spells that grant hexproof or indestructible qualities to protect prized creatures. Making creatures temporarily untargetable or bouncing them back to your hand can also be a life-saver against such targeted removal. Diversifying threats so that losing one creature won’t cripple your game plan is another approach. On top of that, cards that can quickly replenish your battlefield or that have aftermath effects enhance resilience against removal spells like Death’s Caress.

Playing around it requires thoughtful timing and a deck that is prepared to either sidestep the removal or to benefit from the creature entering the graveyard. With careful planning, Death’s Caress can be mitigated, ensuring that its impact doesn’t dictate the outcome of the match.

Cards like Death's Caress

Death’s Caress is an intriguing card that offers a unique blend of removal and life gain in MTG. This resemblance to cards like Murder is evident, as both allow players to unconditionally destroy a target creature. Where Death’s Caress distinguishes itself is in its ability to give a player life points equal to the destroyed creature’s toughness—if that creature is a human.

Analogous to Murder, there exists Vendetta, another removal option that is more cost-effective, demanding only a single black mana. While Vendetta can take out non-black creatures at the cost of life points equal to the creature’s power, Death’s Caress offers a more stabilizing benefit. Then we have Feast of Blood, which also destroys creatures and offers life gain, though it comes with the prerequisite of controlling two or more vampires, thus having a narrower scope of use than the broader utility of Death’s Caress.

In summary, Death’s Caress fits nicely into the spectrum of creature destruction spells. Its life-gaining aspect for human targets provides enough of an edge to make it a versatile choice for any MTG player looking to combine creature control with a potential life buffer.

Cards similar to Death's Caress by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Death's Caress MTG card by a specific set like Dark Ascension, 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 Death's Caress and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Death's Caress has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2011-01-22	Check the creature as it last existed on the battlefield to determine if it was a Human. If it was, use its toughness as it last existed on the battlefield to determine how much life is gained.
2011-01-22	If the target creature isn’t on the battlefield or is otherwise an illegal target when Death’s Caress tries to resolve, Death’s Caress doesn’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won’t gain any life.
2013-07-01	If Death’s Caress resolves but the target creature isn’t destroyed, perhaps because it has indestructible or it regenerated, you still check if it’s a Human. If so, you’ll gain life equal to its toughness.