Famine MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Famine card excels by disrupting opponent plays and simultaneously refilling your hand, ensuring that you stay ahead in terms of options and strategy.

Resource Acceleration: Famine can pave the way for a more robust mana economy, potentially unlocking new plays or enabling multi-spell turns that can shift the game in your favor.

Instant Speed: Operating at instant speed means that Famine can be a game-changer even outside of your own turn. React to opponents’ threats on-the-fly or cleverly combine it with your turn for a maximized impact.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the case of Famine, a player may find the demand to discard a card as part of its casting cost to be a significant downside, particularly when the hand is running empty or every card is crucial for upcoming strategies.

Specific Mana Cost: Famine’s casting cost is strictly black, which necessitates a commitment to that color or a sufficiently diverse mana base within a player’s deck. This can be restrictive and renders the card less flexible for decks that aren’t heavily focused on black mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With the necessity to pay a sizeable amount of mana to utilize Famine’s effects, players might weigh their options against other cards that could be more mana-efficient. This is especially pertinent in environments where speed and lower-costing spells are favored, making Famine potentially less attractive in such metagames.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Famine is a dynamic addition to decks that require a means to disrupt opponents’ play. Its ability to force each player to discard cards means it can be effectively utilized across various strategic setups, from control to reanimator strategies seeking to populate their own graveyard.

Combo Potential: Famine can be a key piece in combo decks, enabling players to trigger abilities or set the stage for powerful plays. It’s especially potent in conjunction with cards that capitalize on opponents having fewer cards in hand or benefit from large graveyards.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where hand advantage is critical, Famine can shift the tide of the game. Its relevance increases in a meta dominated by combo or control decks where the timing of card disposal can critically disrupt an opponent’s carefully curated hand.

How to beat

Famine is an impactful card that can twist the game’s dynamics with its dual ability to damage and disrupt. To effectively counter this card, it’s essential to focus on strategies that minimize the impact of both life loss and card disadvantage. Life gain decks can offset the damage dealt by Famine, diluting its impact significantly. This is where cards like Life’s Bounty, which allows you to gain life equivalent to your creature’s strength, can be crucial.

Diversifying your threats is another approach. Instead of relying heavily on creatures, consider incorporating cards that function from the graveyard or can be cast from other zones. This ensures that Famine’s effect on the board does not leave you without options. Cards with flash can also be a strategic asset, allowing you to wait until Famine has resolved before deploying new threats. Keeping up counter spell mana can turn the tide, negating Famine before it affects the battlefield. Managing resources and strategic timing are your best allies against Famine’s game-altering abilities.