Force of Despair MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Force of Despair offers a unique twist on card advantage by potentially eliminating multiple creatures your opponents played this turn. By doing this, you equalize the playing field and negate their attempts to build a formidable board presence, this can lead to advantageous swing in card parity.

Resource Acceleration: While Force of Despair doesn’t directly accelerate resources, it provides a strategic advantage by preserving your mana. You can effectively pass the turn with mana untapped, only using Force of Despair should your opponent commit heavily to the board, thus allowing flexibility in your plays and resource allocation.

Instant Speed: The instant speed nature of Force of Despair makes it a powerful surprise against opponents. Castable at the end of an opponent’s turn, it can disrupt their plays and remove newly cast creatures before they get a chance to attack or use their abilities, maintaining your control over the game.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Force of Despair necessitates the player to discard another black card from their hand, which can be a demanding requirement, particularly if your hand is not well-stocked with additional black cards or if you are aiming to maximize card advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: This instant requires one colorless and two black mana to cast under normal circumstances. This specific mana cost can be restrictive, making it difficult to incorporate into multicolor decks that may not always have the necessary black mana sources available when this removal spell is needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Force of Despair can be a potent card when casting for its alternate cost, casting it for its regular mana cost totals three, which is steep for a removal spell, especially in formats where mana efficiency can be pivotal to success. Cards with lower mana costs may offer similar or alternative effects, potentially making Force of Despair less favorable in certain deck builds.

Reasons to Include Force of Despair in Your Collection

Versatility: Force of Despair can be a key component in decks that need instant-speed answers to creature threats. Its ability to destroy all creatures that entered the battlefield this turn makes it an ideal response during your opponent’s turn or after a sudden surge of creatures.

Combo Potential: This card pairs excellently with discard or mill strategies that aim to disrupt the opponent’s plans. Dropping creatures through graveyard revival and then eliminating them with Force of Despair can swing the game in your favor.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment teeming with aggro decks and creature combos, having an instant that can act as a mass removal to level the playing field is invaluable. Force of Despair shines in metas where creatures come into play rapidly and en masse.

How to beat

Force of Despair is a powerful instant in Magic: The Gathering, offering the potential to wipe out creatures that entered the battlefield in the same turn. While it may seem daunting to overcome, there are strategies to mitigate its impact. As it’s a black card, it can’t counter abilities, meaning that creatures with potent enter-the-battlefield effects could still provide value even if ultimately destroyed.

Building a diversified deck with a variety of casting costs can also circumvent the all-or-nothing nature of Force of Despair. Spreading out your creature plays, instead of deploying multiple threats in a single turn, reduces the potential downside. Keeping mana open for counterspells when playing against black control decks can also protect your board from unexpected mass removal.

Lastly, utilizing graveyard recovery mechanics allows you to play the long game. Since Force of Despair targets only the creatures that have come into play on a given turn, recurring threats from the graveyard avoids its restrictive clause. By doing so, you maintain pressure despite the threat of instant speed removal.

BurnMana Recommendations

If knowledge is power in MTG, then understanding the intricate balances within your deck is crucial. Force of Despair could be the unexpected ace up your sleeve in a tight match, providing a potential multitude of creature removals in one swift move. Spell timing, thoughtful deck assembly, and resource management are your keystones to leveraging this card effectively. Whether you aim to master the art of control or simply want to enhance your current strategy, Force of Despair warrants consideration. Eager for more insights and ways to optimize your deck around this unique spell? Join the BurnMana community to deepen your tactical playbook.