Death Rattle MTG Card

Death Rattle offers board control and card economy advantages through creature removal. Its Delve mechanic accelerates resource usage, while instant speed adds flexibility. However, its discard demand and specific mana cost can limit its effectiveness.

Future Sight (FUT)
2007-05-04 - Number 82

Modern Masters (MMA)
2013-06-07 - Number 78

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Delve

Text of card

Delve (You may remove any number of cards in your graveyard from the game as you play this spell. It costs less to play for each card removed this way.) Destroy target nongreen creature. It can't be regenerated.

Cards like Death Rattle

Death Rattle represents an intriguing piece in the array of removal spells within the MTG universe. It parallels other spells like Doom Blade, a classic removal card that excels at destroying nonblack creatures with its low mana cost. However, Death Rattle adds a layer of complexity with its delve ability, allowing you to exile cards from your graveyard to reduce its casting cost. Doom Blade doesn’t offer this flexibility but stands out with its instant speed and absence of color restrictions.

Alongside Death Rattle, we find cards like Snuff Out. This card shares the potential for a mana-free cost if you pay with life points, providing a similar advantage in resource management. Snuff Out also acts instantly but limits its reach by targeting only nonblack creatures. Then there’s Murderous Cut, another important comparison. It also hinges on the delve mechanic, providing a similar approach to using the graveyard to your advantage. Though Murderous Cut’s unquestionable ability to target any creature gives it a broader applicability compared to Death Rattle’s constraint against green creatures.

Each card brings a unique spin on creature removal, and while Death Rattle offers a beneficial aspect with delve, it’s important to consider the situational advantages that similar cards might provide to MTG players building their decks.

Cards similar to Death Rattle by color, type and mana cost

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Merciless Repurposing - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Death Rattle offers the capability to eliminate an opponent’s creature, effectively reducing their battlefield presence and tipping the scales in your favor. Beyond simply removing a threat, controlling the board like this can disrupt your opponent’s strategies and lead to a significant advantage in card economy.

Resource Acceleration: By incorporating Delve into its casting cost, Death Rattle enables you to effectively use cards in your graveyard as a resource. This can help you accelerate your mana usage by allowing you to cast the spell at a potentially lower cost, freeing up mana for other plays and advancing your board state more quickly.

Instant Speed: The strength of Death Rattle being an instant cannot be overstated. It provides the flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions during their turn, preserving the element of surprise. Having the option to remove creatures at instant speed ensures you can adapt to the flow of the game without having to commit to a play until the most opportune moment.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Death Rattle demands that you discard another card to cast it. This cost can be particularly steep when your hand is nearly empty or when the discarded card could be key to your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s casting requirements include two black mana symbols, which may not always align smoothly with your deck’s mana base, especially in a multi-color deck that may struggle to generate the necessary black mana consistently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a three mana value necessary for Death Rattle’s effect, you might find yourself considering whether its impact justifies its cost when there could be other removal spells out there that do the job with less mana or provide additional benefits.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Death Rattle offers flexibility in various deck archetypes. Its ability to eliminate both non-green creatures and green creatures with a power less than Death Rattle’s converted mana cost makes it a versatile removal option.

Combo Potential: Since Death Rattle can be used in graveyard strategies, it synergizes perfectly with decks that play with their graveyard contents, providing an unexpected avenue to remove threats.

Meta-Relevance: Death Rattle excels in metas packed with low-to-medium-power creatures. Its delve ability allows you to exploit your graveyard to cast it for less, keeping pace with more aggressive strategies.

How to beat

Overcoming Death Rattle in your MTG games requires strategic planning and understanding its limitations. As a removal spell, Death Rattle hinges on the presence of green permanents in the opposing player’s battlefield to be effective. The key to countering its potential is to manage your board presence mindfully, emphasizing the significance of color diversity amongst your permanents. Ensuring that green is not the dominating color on your side of the field will inherently weaken Death Rattle’s utility.

Moreover, employing creatures with protection from black or that can’t be targeted by spells or abilities can nullify Death Rattle’s impact. Alternative strategies include using instant speed spells that can respond to Death Rattle, such as countermagic or hexproof-granting abilities, to safeguard your key creatures from being targeted. Keeping your graveyard sparse is another practical approach, as Death Rattle becomes more expensive without a substantial graveyard to delve from.

Understanding and exploiting the situational usage of Death Rattle can be a pivotal tactic, turning its potential threat into an unassuming card in your opponent’s hand. Remain adaptable during play, and you can reduce the impact of this card on your path to victory.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Death Rattle MTG card by a specific set like Future Sight and Modern Masters, 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 Rattle and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Death Rattle Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2007-05-04 and 2013-06-07. Illustrated by Vance Kovacs.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2007-05-04	Future Sight	FUT		82	future	Normal	Black	Vance Kovacs
2	2013-06-07	Modern Masters	MMA		78	2003	Normal	Black	Vance Kovacs

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Death Rattle has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2021-03-19	Because delve isn’t an alternative cost, it can be used in conjunction with alternative costs, such as flashback. It can also be used to pay for additional costs that include generic mana.
2021-03-19	Delve doesn’t change a spell’s mana cost or mana value. For example, Treasure Cruise’s mana value is 8 even if you exiled three cards to cast it.
2021-03-19	You can exile cards to pay only for generic mana, and you can’t exile more cards than the generic mana requirement of a spell with delve. For example, you can’t exile more than seven cards from your graveyard to cast Treasure Cruise unless an effect has increased its cost.