Urza's Ruinous Blast MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Sorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides a unique advantage by selectively removing opponents’ nonland permanents while protecting yours.
  2. Accelerates your victory by setting opponents back, giving you a clearer path to winning.
  3. Needs a legendary creature or planeswalker for casting, ensuring a controlled and powerful play.

Text of card

(You may cast a legendary sorcery only if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker.) Exile all nonland permanents that aren't legendary.

Centuries ago, one man's vengeance plunged the world into ice and darkness.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Urza’s Ruinous Blast provides a significant upper hand by potentially removing multiple nonland permanents your opponents control. This one-sided board wipe can easily tilt the balance of card presence in your favor, especially if you’ve constructed your deck with legendary permanents that remain unaffected.

Resource Acceleration: Despite not directly accelerating resources, by decimating your opponent’s board, it effectively sets them back, allowing you to capitalize on the now clearer path to victory. This can indirectly speed up your game plan as your opponents scramble to recover their lost assets.

Instant Speed: Although Urza’s Ruinous Blast is a sorcery, which aligns with its powerful effect, the historical significance and restrictions mean that its casting is contingent upon having a legendary creature or planeswalker. This prerequisite ensures that when you do cast the spell, it’s timed with a controlled setup, often when you have a legendary permanent on the battlefield to maximize value.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Not applicable to Urza’s Ruinous Blast as it does not require card discard.

Specific Mana Cost: Urza’s Ruinous Blast necessitates a white and an additional two generic mana. This specific requirement may restrict its integration, primarily in decks that don’t run white mana or have a tight color curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of five mana—which includes white—the card could be considered costly for its effect. There might be alternative removal spells in Magic the Gathering that provide more immediate or versatile removal options with a lower mana investment.


Reasons to Include Urza’s Ruinous Blast in Your Collection

Versatility: Urza’s Ruinous Blast offers a wide-reaching removal that can potentially clear the board of all non-legendary permanents. It fits into decks that can reliably support its legendary sorcery condition, primarily in Commander or other singleton formats where legendary creatures are commonly used as commanders.

Combo Potential: This card can be a crucial piece in combos, particularly in decks that revolve around legendary creatures and planeswalkers. By selectively retaining your influential legendary permanents while sweeping away opponents’ resources, Urza’s Ruinous Blast can be the turning point in a game.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta-game where non-legendary creature-based strategies are prevalent, Urza’s Ruinous Blast can serve as an effective countermeasure. With the right setup, this card can be a game-changer, allowing you to reset the board and gain significant advantage over your opponents.


How to beat

Urza’s Ruinous Blast is a unique and powerful legendary sorcery in the realm of Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to exile all nonland permanents that aren’t legendary can dramatically alter the battlefield in your opponent’s favor. Overcoming this card requires clever strategy and understanding its constraints.

To successfully navigate against Urza’s Ruinous Blast, maintaining a board presence with legendary creatures or other legendary permanents is critical, as they are immune to this sweep. Additionally, using instant-speed removal to take out a key legendary creature before the sorcery can be cast denies the necessary condition for Urza’s Ruinous Blast to be played—having a legendary creature or planeswalker in play.

Utilizing counter spells is also an efficient way to halt Urza’s Ruinous Blast before it can disrupt your game plan. It’s pivotal to play with foresight, keeping mana available to counter when you anticipate this game-changing sorcery might be unleashed. Consider cards that can recur from the graveyard, as they can help rebuild your board after a potential blowout from Urza’s Ruinous Blast. Hence, strategic deck-building and sharp in-game decision-making are the keys to countering the disruptive power of Urza’s Ruinous Blast.


BurnMana Recommendations

Understanding the ins and outs of cards like Urza’s Ruinous Blast can be pivotal in achieving victory on the MTG battlefield. Its ability to selectively clear the board gives it a unique role in decks that favor legendary permanents. Whether you’re seeking to fortify your Commander deck or looking for that key piece to tilt the game in your favor in other formats, mastering the timing and strategic deployment of such spells is crucial. Dive deeper into the lore, mechanics, and strategic depth of MTG with us. Master your deck-building skills and optimize your gameplay to outmaneuver your opponents. The path to becoming a formidable player in the MTG arena awaits.


Cards like Urza's Ruinous Blast

Urza’s Ruinous Blast is a potent Legendary Sorcery in Magic: The Gathering that excels at sweeping the battlefield clean of nonlegendary permanents. It’s often mentioned alongside other mass removal spells like Wrath of God or Damnation due to the similar board clearing effect. What sets Urza’s Ruinous Blast apart is its selective exclusion of legendary permanents, allowing players to architect their board state to take advantage of this unique trait.

Another comparable card is Day of Judgment, which also destroys all creatures, but without the Legendary clause, showing that Urza’s Ruinous Blast offers a distinctive strategy for those running a legendary-heavy deck. Next is Terminus, which rather than destroying, tucks creatures into the library, similarly impacting the board but in a different manner. These mass removal cards are pivotal in controlling the pace of the game, but Urza’s Ruinous Blast holds a special place for its synergy with legendary creatures that can bring a tactical edge to the battlefield.

Assessing these similar spells, Urza’s Ruinous Blast finds its niche for players who seek a more selective sweep, furthering its value when integrated with a strategy focused on legendary permanents. The card stands as a unique tool for MTG deck builders looking to optimize their control tactics.

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

Cards similar to Urza's Ruinous Blast by color, type and mana cost

Purify - MTG Card versions
Global Ruin - MTG Card versions
Rout - MTG Card versions
March of Souls - MTG Card versions
Lonesome Unicorn // Rider in Need - MTG Card versions
Slash the Ranks - MTG Card versions
Promise of Loyalty - MTG Card versions
Saltblast - MTG Card versions
Three Dreams - MTG Card versions
Evangelize - MTG Card versions
Hallowed Burial - MTG Card versions
Iona's Judgment - MTG Card versions
Increasing Devotion - MTG Card versions
Defy Death - MTG Card versions
Angelic Edict - MTG Card versions
End Hostilities - MTG Card versions
Fell the Mighty - MTG Card versions
Winds of Rath - MTG Card versions
Planar Outburst - MTG Card versions
Righteous Confluence - MTG Card versions
Purify - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Global Ruin - Invasion (INV)
Rout - Commander 2021 (C21)
March of Souls - Planeshift (PLS)
Lonesome Unicorn // Rider in Need - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Slash the Ranks - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Promise of Loyalty - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Saltblast - Planar Chaos (PLC)
Three Dreams - Planechase Anthology (PCA)
Evangelize - Time Spiral (TSP)
Hallowed Burial - Conspiracy: Take the Crown (CN2)
Iona's Judgment - Commander Legends (CMR)
Increasing Devotion - Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander (ONC)
Defy Death - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Angelic Edict - Jumpstart (JMP)
End Hostilities - Khans of Tarkir (KTK)
Fell the Mighty - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Winds of Rath - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
Planar Outburst - New Capenna Commander (NCC)
Righteous Confluence - Commander Masters (CMM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Urza's Ruinous Blast MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria and Dominaria 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 Urza's Ruinous Blast and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Urza's Ruinous Blast Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 2018-04-27 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12018-04-27DominariaDOM 392015normalblackNoah Bradley
22018-04-27Dominaria PromosPDOM 39s2015normalblackNoah Bradley
32020-09-26The ListPLST DMC-1072015normalblackSlawomir Maniak
42022-09-09Dominaria United CommanderDMC 1072015normalblackSlawomir Maniak
52022-11-18The Brothers' War CommanderBRC 791997normalblackSlawomir Maniak
62023-05-08From Cute to BrutePCTB 72015normalblackSlawomir Maniak
72023-08-04Commander MastersCMM 8422015normalblackSlawomir Maniak

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Urza's Ruinous Blast 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 Urza's Ruinous Blast card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2018-04-27 Other than the casting restriction, the legendary supertype on a sorcery carries no additional rules. You may cast any number of legendary sorceries in a turn, and your deck may contain any number of legendary cards (but no more than four of any with the same name).
2018-04-27 You can't cast a legendary sorcery unless you control a legendary creature or a legendary planeswalker. Once you begin to cast a legendary sorcery, losing control of your legendary creatures and planeswalkers won't affect that spell.

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