Drag to the Bottom MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeSorcery
Abilities Domain

Key Takeaways

  1. While removing threats, it also allows players to surveil, enhancing their draw quality in future turns.
  2. Its instant speed offers flexibility, enabling real-time responses and optimal disruption of opponent plays.
  3. Drag to the Bottom’s specifics can limit its use, requiring strategic deck building to maximize benefits.

Text of card

Domain — Each creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is 1 plus the number of basic land types among lands you control.

Windgrace's gladehunters hibernate in the quagmires of Urborg until the scent of Phyrexian technology awakens their hunger.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Drag to the Bottom enables players to remove a threat while simultaneously surveilling, refining future draws and bolstering graveyard strategies which often lead to incremental card quality over the course of a match.

Resource Acceleration: The ability to surveil and potentially put a land card into the graveyard can indirectly support resource acceleration by enabling delve or other graveyard mechanics, setting up for more efficient plays in subsequent turns.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Drag to the Bottom at instant speed allows players to efficiently utilize their mana, responding to threats in real-time and disrupting the opponent’s strategy at the most opportune moment.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Drag to the Bottom imposes a discard condition from your hand, which can be particularly punitive when your card options are already dwindling. This can put the player at a significant disadvantage by reducing hand advantage and potentially forcing the elimination of a key piece of your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: With its specifically required blue and black mana, Drag to the Bottom may not seamlessly fit into decks that are not geared towards a Dimir (blue-black) strategy. This restricts its versatility across various deck archetypes, potentially leaving it out of the roster in many builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Claiming a spot in your curve at three mana, Drag to the Bottom competes with a multitude of other impactful cards. Considering its effect, the cost may be steep, especially when other cards could provide greater value or a more substantial impact on the game state for the same or less investment.


Reasons to Include Drag to the Bottom in Your Collection

Versatility: Drag to the Bottom is a highly flexible card that can be a game-changer in various deck builds. Its ability to affect the board immediately by targeting creatures makes it a versatile choice for both aggressive and control-oriented decks.

Combo Potential: This card’s interaction with graveyard mechanics can be an asset in enabling combos, particularly in decks that exploit graveyard manipulation for strategic advantages. Additionally, modifying creature strength can work well with certain ability triggers.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by creature-based strategies, having efficient removal options such as Drag to the Bottom can prove crucial. It enables you to deal with major threats efficiently, maintaining or swinging the momentum in your favor.


How to Beat

Drag to the Bottom is a Magic: The Gathering card that brings a straightforward but effective disruption tactic to blue decks. Positioned as a countermeasure against formidable creatures, it allows a player to substantially weaken an opponent’s threat by giving it a considerable negative modifier to its power and toughness. This can be critical when dealing with immensely powerful creatures or when negating a creature-based combo your opponent is setting up.

However, when facing Drag to the Bottom, the key is to diversify your threats. Relying on a single creature has risks; thus, having a wide board presents a less susceptible target for such pinpoint removal. Spell protection like hexproof or shroud can also hinder Drag to the Bottom’s effect. Additionally, utilizing instant-speed spells or abilities that buff your creature’s stats in response can negate or lessen Drag to the Bottom’s impact, effectively saving your key creatures from being neutered by it.

Ultimately, countering this card involves strategy and resourcefulness. Whether through deck building that includes creatures that can withstand such a hit, or through reactive measures that outmaneuver this disruption, players can effectively neutralize Drag to the Bottom’s potential negative effects on their path to victory.


Cards like Drag to the Bottom

Drag to the Bottom offers an intriguing dynamic within the realm of creature control spells in MTG. Its likeness to cards such as Last Gasp is observable, with both serving the purpose of diminishing an opponent’s creature’s power. Drag to the Bottom, with its additional twist of also allowing you to scry 1, provides a slight edge in terms of card filtering. In contrast, Last Gasp is devoid of any additional effects and only offers the creature power reduction.

When examining further parallels, Weight of the Underworld shares a similar theme of debilitating an opponent’s creature. It provides an enduring effect that continues to hinder the creature each turn. Although this feature has the potential for a more prolonged impact, it lacks the immediate scry benefit that Drag to the Bottom presents. On another note, we encounter Dead Weight, a more cost-efficient solution for weakening creatures without the immediate creature kill that Drag to the Bottom may provide but can be more efficient in managing smaller threats early on.

In evaluating the options, Drag to the Bottom finds its strength in direct creature control with the added advantage of sorting out your next draw, positioning it as a versatile choice within its category in MTG.

Last Gasp - MTG Card versions
Weight of the Underworld - MTG Card versions
Dead Weight - MTG Card versions
Last Gasp - MTG Card versions
Weight of the Underworld - MTG Card versions
Dead Weight - MTG Card versions

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Stench of Evil - MTG Card versions
Fatal Lore - MTG Card versions
Mind Warp - MTG Card versions
Final Strike - MTG Card versions
Persecute - MTG Card versions
Ancient Craving - MTG Card versions
Unmask - MTG Card versions
Reprocess - MTG Card versions
Befoul - MTG Card versions
Mutilate - MTG Card versions
Extinction Event - MTG Card versions
Terisiare's Devastation - MTG Card versions
Zombify - MTG Card versions
Cranial Extraction - MTG Card versions
Aphetto Dredging - MTG Card versions
Agonizing Memories - MTG Card versions
Diabolic Tutor - MTG Card versions
Memoricide - MTG Card versions
Massacre - MTG Card versions
All Hallow's Eve - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Drag to the Bottom MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Dominaria United, 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 Drag to the Bottom and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Drag to the Bottom Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2022-09-09 and 2022-09-09. Illustrated by Nino Is.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 1034302015NormalBlackNino Is
22022-09-09Dominaria UnitedDMU 912015NormalBlackNino Is
32022-09-09Dominaria United PromosPDMU 91s2015NormalBlackNino Is
42022-09-09Dominaria United PromosPDMU 91p2015NormalBlackNino Is
52022-09-09Dominaria UnitedDMU 4012015NormalBlackNino Is

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Drag to the Bottom has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2022-09-09 Domain abilities count the number of basic land types among lands you control, not how many lands you control or how many of any type.
2022-09-09 The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. Land types other than basic land types (such as Desert) don’t contribute to domain abilities.