Nihilistic Glee MTG Card


Nihilistic Glee - Dissension
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment
Abilities Hellbent
Released2006-05-05
Set symbol
Set nameDissension
Set codeDIS
Number50
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byRon Spears & Wayne Reynolds

Key Takeaways

  1. Nihilistic Glee transforms excess hand cards into battlefield power, optimizing hand efficiency.
  2. Discard activation fuels graveyard strategies, meshing well with graveyard-centric cards.
  3. Activation at instant speed offers strategic flexibility, enhancing reactionary gameplay opportunities.

Text of card

, Discard a card: Target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. Hellbent , Pay 2 life: Draw a card. Play this ability only if you have no cards in hand.

"All ends in obliteration—love in hatred, life in death, and light in empty darkness."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Nihilistic Glee provides a consistent way to turn excess cards in your hand into direct damage against opponents, effectively converting resources into power on the battlefield and keeping your hand lean.

Resource Acceleration: By discarding a card, Nihilistic Glee fuels graveyard strategies that benefit from having a stocked graveyard, accelerating your game plan by enabling interactions with other graveyard-based cards.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Nihilistic Glee at instant speed gives you the flexibility to react to your opponents’ moves, choosing the optimal moment to discard and deal damage or bide your time for more strategic plays.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Nihilistic Glee demands that a player discard a card to activate its ability. This can often lead to a negative card advantage, which means you’re losing more resources than you’re gaining, potentially putting you at a disadvantage against your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: Nihilistic Glee’s specific mana cost requires both black and colorless mana, making it less flexible for decks that are not heavily centered around the black mana pool. This can make it challenging to incorporate into multi-colored decks or those that require a varied mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, which includes double black, Nihilistic Glee can be considered costly compared to other options in the same mana range. As players often look for maximum efficiency in using their mana, the card might be overlooked for alternatives that provide immediate impact or more cost-effective utility.


Reasons to Include Nihilistic Glee in Your Collection

Versatility: Nihilistic Glee offers a flexible discard outlet that can be a boon for reanimator or graveyard-based strategies. Its adaptability to multiple deck themes allows for creative deck-building and optimization. From enabling madness mechanics to simply assisting in sculpting the perfect hand, it can find a place in various builds.

Combo Potential: With the ability to turn discarded cards into direct damage, Nihilistic Glee pairs well with effects that generate card advantage or recur creatures from the graveyard. The synergy this card provides can serve as a catalyst for powerful combo finishes, making it a worthy consideration for players looking to craft intricate and effective strategies.

Meta-Relevance: As the game shifts and new decks emerge, having a card that can act as both an enabler and a finisher gives players an edge. Whether it’s disrupting opponent strategies or exploiting specific meta trends, Nihilistic Glee’s presence in your arsenal ensures you are prepared to capitalize on the evolving gameplay environment.


How to beat

Nihilistic Glee presents a unique set of challenges in MTG gameplay. One of the key strategies to counteract this card relies on mitigating its discard ability. Nihilistic Glee allows a player to pay a certain amount of mana and life to force their opponent to discard a card, which can be turned into a significant card advantage over time. In order to mitigate this, it’s crucial to maintain a hand size that makes the discard less impactful. This can be achieved through the use of instant-speed card draw spells that refill your hand during your opponent’s end step, ensuring that any card discarded to Nihilistic Glee won’t hinder your game plan too much.

An alternative approach involves utilizing graveyard synergies to your advantage. Since Nihilistic Glee feeds the graveyard with discarded cards, leveraging cards that benefit from or recycle graveyard contents can turn the tables. Cards with flashback or escape, creatures that reanimate, or spells that return cards from the graveyard to your hand can render the discard ability less potent. Keep your graveyard in mind as a resource when playing against a deck that runs Nihilistic Glee and focus on cards that can operate effectively from there.

Overall, the key to overcoming Nihilistic Glee is to employ strategies that either minimize the detriment of discarding or utilize the graveyard as an extension of your hand, ensuring no card is ever truly lost.


Cards like Nihilistic Glee

Nihilistic Glee is a unique discard spell in the world of Magic: The Gathering, sharing similarities with other cards that turn a player’s discard into an advantage. It echoes the functionality of cards like Faith of the Devoted, which also offers a way to benefit from discarding. While Nihilistic Glee requires mana and life to draw cards, Faith of the Devoted simply demands cycling or discard to drain life from opponents.

Another card to compare is Geth’s Grimoire, which allows players to capitalize on discarding, but this time providing card advantage whenever an opponent discards a card. Unlike Nihilistic Glee, Geth’s Grimoire provides a passive and continuous effect without additional costs per use. Waste Not is also a contender, creating a range of token and card advantage effects based on the card types being discarded by an opponent, contrasting with Nihilistic Glee’s focus on the player’s own discards.

In evaluating these options within the realm of discard-related cards, Nihilistic Glee presents a unique blend of risk and reward, empowering players to transform their discards into new opportunities, setting it distinctly apart in this intriguing Magic: The Gathering strategy niche.

Faith of the Devoted - MTG Card versions
Geth's Grimoire - MTG Card versions
Waste Not - MTG Card versions
Faith of the Devoted - Amonkhet (AKH)
Geth's Grimoire - Darksteel (DST)
Waste Not - Magic 2015 (M15)

Cards similar to Nihilistic Glee by color, type and mana cost

Pestilence - MTG Card versions
Lich - MTG Card versions
Cursed Land - MTG Card versions
Nether Void - MTG Card versions
Breeding Pit - MTG Card versions
Greed - MTG Card versions
Feast of the Unicorn - MTG Card versions
Koskun Falls - MTG Card versions
Diabolic Servitude - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Embrace - MTG Card versions
Vile Requiem - MTG Card versions
Brink of Madness - MTG Card versions
Death Pit Offering - MTG Card versions
Tainted Aether - MTG Card versions
Strands of Night - MTG Card versions
Patriarch's Desire - MTG Card versions
Nefarious Lich - MTG Card versions
Last Laugh - MTG Card versions
Court of Ambition - MTG Card versions
Nightmare Shepherd - MTG Card versions
Pestilence - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Lich - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Cursed Land - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Nether Void - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Breeding Pit - The List (PLST)
Greed - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Feast of the Unicorn - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Koskun Falls - Homelands (HML)
Diabolic Servitude - Urza's Saga (USG)
Vampiric Embrace - Urza's Saga (USG)
Vile Requiem - Commander 2013 (C13)
Brink of Madness - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Death Pit Offering - Salvat 2005 (PSAL)
Tainted Aether - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Strands of Night - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Patriarch's Desire - Odyssey (ODY)
Nefarious Lich - Odyssey (ODY)
Last Laugh - Torment (TOR)
Court of Ambition - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Nightmare Shepherd - Theros Beyond Death Promos (PTHB)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Nihilistic Glee MTG card by a specific set like Dissension, 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 Nihilistic Glee and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Nihilistic Glee has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

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