Feast or Famine MTG Card

Alliances (ALL)
1996-06-10 - Number 49a

Alliances (ALL)
1996-06-10 - Number 49b

Masters Edition (ME1)
2007-09-10 - Number 70

Feast or Famine - Duel Decks: Izzet vs. Golgari (DDJ)

Duel Decks: Izzet vs. Golgari (DDJ)
2012-09-07 - Number 72

Card sets	Released in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant

Key Takeaways

Feast or Famine enhances card advantage and impacts opponents’ strategies with its potent abilities.
Instant speed activation offers remarkable flexibility, allowing for strategic plays at critical times.
Although powerful, its use requires careful deck building and timely resource management.

Text of card

Bury target non-black, non-artifact creature or put a Zombie token into play. Treat this token as a 2/2 black creature.

"We are not yet free of Lim-Dûl's terrors." —Halvor Arensson, Kjeldoran Priest

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The power of Feast or Famine lies in its ability to disrupt opponents while padding your hand. When activated, it commands respect as you potentially draw into more options, allowing you to stay ahead in the game.

Resource Acceleration: Feast or Famine excels in pushing the tempo of the game by untapping all lands you control. This effect not only ramps up your resources but can also enable a swift execution of your strategy, leading to a formidable board state early on.

Instant Speed: Flexibility is a key aspect of Feast or Famine’s charm. The capability to implement its effect at instant speed ensures that you can adapt to the unfolding game, making decisive moves during critical turns without sacrificing the pace of your gameplay.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Feast or Famine necessitates the chucking of a card from your hand to unleash its abilities. In the heat of play, this can put you in a tough spot, especially when you’re clinging onto key pieces in your hand that you’re reluctant to part with.

Specific Mana Cost: Fetching the correct mana to cast Feast or Famine requires a particular blend of resources, often necessitating a deck tailored to its stringent demands. This might not always meld seamlessly with your existing deck structure, potentially causing a hiccup in your game flow.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its lofty mana requisites, Feast or Famine competes with other potent cards in the same cost bracket. This often leads to a dilemma: whether to commit to its summoning or to opt for alternative strategies that could be more impactful on the battlefield’s ebb and flow.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Feast or Famine is a flexible card that can be slotted into various deck archetypes. Its ability to disrupt opponents’ hands while accelerating your own mana base makes it a powerful inclusion in both aggressive and control strategies.

Combo Potential: Not only does this card force discards and ramp mana, but it also opens up avenues for synergy. It can pave the way for recursive strategies or interact with cards that capitalize on opponent’s discards or your increased land count.

Meta-Relevance: In games where tempo and card advantage dominate, Feast or Famine can play a critical role. It helps maintain pressure on the opponent’s resources while bolstering your own, making it a relevant choice for competitive play.

How to beat

Feast or Famine is an MTG card that presents a challenging obstacle with its duality of effects, depending on the circumstances on the battlefield. Your strategy to overcome this card must be multipronged. For starters, maintaining card advantage is paramount; you’ll want to play cards that allow you to draw or recycle your hand, mitigating the impact if Feast or Famine forces you to discard.

Control decks that utilize counter spells can intercept Feast or Famine before it hits the field, providing a proactive defense. Direct removal spells can also be invaluable, allowing you to remove it from play before its effects can accumulate. Creature-heavy strategies should focus on having multiple threats on the board; this dilutes the impact of having one creature tapped or being forced to discard. It’s also beneficial to exploit the timing of Feast or Famine’s trigger, playing your important spells or creatures post-combat or during the end phase of your opponent’s turn. Forethought and strategic play are your best tools when facing the dual-threat of Feast or Famine.

Ultimately, adapting your playstyle and considering the timing of your actions can greatly reduce the advantage that Feast or Famine gives to your opponent, allowing you to maintain control of the game.

Cards like Feast or Famine

Feast or Famine offers a dynamic playstyle to the Magic: The Gathering arsenal, comparable to other equipment cards that create dual avenues of advantage. Sword of Feast and Famine itself is an exemplar of versatility. It compares to the Sword of Fire and Ice, where both confer protection and additional effects upon dealing combat damage. While Sword of Fire and Ice provides card draw and damage, Sword of Feast and Famine pushes the boundaries by allowing untapping of lands and forcing the opponent to discard a card, a distinction that can fundamentally alter the course of the game.

Balancing out the equation, we find other nuanced variants like Sword of Light and Shadow, which rather than disrupting opponent resources, focuses on resilience and recursion by returning creatures from the graveyard to your hand. While it doesn’t have the immediate board impact or the mana acceleration of Feast or Famine, it offers a sturdy defensive edge with life gain and reanimation capabilities.

In the grand tapestry of Magic: The Gathering, Feast or Famine stands out among its peers, showcasing a beautifully orchestrated balance between aggressive disruption and strategic mana manipulation, making it a strong consideration for players crafting a deck with an edge in both resource denial and rapid deployment.

Sword of Fire and Ice - MTG Card versions

Sword of Light and Shadow - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Feast or Famine by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Feast or Famine MTG card by a specific set like Alliances and Alliances, 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 Feast or Famine and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Feast or Famine Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1996-06-10 and 2012-09-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1996-06-10	Alliances	ALL	49a	1993	Normal	Black	Pete Venters
2	1996-06-10	Alliances	ALL	49b	1993	Normal	Black	Pete Venters
3	2007-09-10	Masters Edition	ME1	70	1997	Normal	Black	Pete Venters
4	2012-09-07	Duel Decks: Izzet vs. Golgari	DDJ	72	2003	Normal	Black	Chase Stone