Shadow Slice MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Cipher
Released	2013-02-01
Set symbol
Set name	Gatecrash
Set code	GTC
Number	77
Frame	2003
Layout	normal
Border	black
Illustred by	Raymond Swanland

Key Takeaways

Shadow Slice offers unblockable damage while enabling card advantage through cipher’s repeatable cast.
Its specific mana cost and discard impact can be a downside, affecting deck diversity and hand size.
Against it, spot removal or counterspells effectively disrupt the ongoing threat of ciphered damage.

Text of card

Target opponent loses 3 life. Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Shadow Slice enables you to dispatch an unblockable threat, effectively bypassing your opponent’s defenses and often leading to a shadowy win. By linking this to a creature with card draw abilities, you not only deal damage but might also obtain valuable new options for your hand. This strategic play can shift the momentum in your favor, maintaining pressure and card flow simultaneously.

Resource Acceleration: Often overlooked, Shadow Slice’s cipher ability can be a form of resource acceleration. Once encoded on a creature, it allows you to cast the spell again whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, without spending additional mana. This repeated effect can save precious resources over multiple turns, giving you a subtle but constant advantage.

Instant Speed: While Shadow Slice itself isn’t cast at instant speed, ciphering it to a creature with evasion can create persistent instant-speed threats. Each successful attack phase becomes an opportunity to cast Shadow Slice again, much like an instant, forcing opponents to reckon with potential damage at every turn, complicating their combat and blocking decisions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Shadow Slice doesn’t specifically require a discard, what it brings to your game could cost you in terms of card advantage. Deploying it means one less card in hand, potentially leaving you with fewer options.

Specific Mana Cost: With its mana cost set at a precise combination of one black and two generic mana, Shadow Slice demands commitment to the black mana base, hence it might not fit seamlessly into all deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Its total cost of three mana to cast might be on the higher side when considering the standard of effects in this slot. Given the pace of some formats, there could be more impactful ways to spend that much mana in a turn.

Reasons to Include Shadow Slice in Your Collection

Versatility: Shadow Slice is a handy addition to any deck that focuses on aggressive strategies. Its ability to deal damage and potentially finish off an opponent makes it useful in multiple phases of the game.

Combo Potential: This card thrives in decks that center around cipher and evasion tactics. By encoding it onto an elusive creature, players can consistently reap benefits from repeated casts without additional mana costs.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where life totals can quickly become a race, Shadow Slice garners significance. Its potential to quickly swing games in your favor aligns well with the faster-paced decks that tend to dominate such metas.

How to beat

Shadow Slice is an intriguing card within Magic: The Gathering, belonging to the category of sorcery spells that can have a deceptive impact on the game. It echoes the effects of cards such as Stab Wound or Dead Weight, in that it targets creatures, but Shadow Slice stands out by bolstering the player’s offense, dealing damage while paving the way for further damage through cipher.

To effectively counter Shadow Slice, it’s imperative to manage your battlefield properly. Prioritize removal spells that can take out the creature carrying the encoded cipher before it can deal its damage. Instant speed interaction, such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile, can be particularly effective since they can disrupt the cipher chain. Additionally, employing counter spells like Negate when Shadow Slice is cast can prevent the encoded effect altogether.

Thus, while Shadow Slice presents a powerful opportunity to tip the scales in a player’s favor, a strategic approach to handling the creatures and leveraging spot removal or counter magic can significantly diminish its potential impact on the game.

Cards like Shadow Slice

Shadow Slice is a unique spell in the vast realm of Magic: The Gathering. It nestles into the rogues’ gallery of cards designed to siphon an opponent’s life total. Comparable to other spells, such as Stab Wound, Shadow Slice inflicts damage to the opponent while leveraging the cipher mechanic—allowing it to be encoded on a creature and recast when that creature deals combat damage to a player. Stab Wound, without cipher, imposes a continuous, albeit lower damage output.

In contrast, Feast of Blood presents a different synergy for vampire aficionados. Although it requires two vampires to be in play, it provides removal along with life loss, whereas Shadow Slice only addresses the latter. Then there’s Vicious Rumors, whose low mana cost and immediate impact on each opponent’s life and hand make it a tempting choice for those looking to disrupt early in the game.

Essentially, while exploring cards that erode life totals in Magic: The Gathering, Shadow Slice merits attention, especially in decks that capitalize on evasive creatures to repeatedly cast the encoded spell for sustained pressure and damage.

Vicious Rumors - Guilds of Ravnica (GRN)

Cards similar to Shadow Slice by color, type and mana cost

Voices from the Void - MTG Card versions

Beacon of Unrest - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)

Patriarch's Bidding - Modern Horizons 2 Promos (PMH2)

Dance of Shadows - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)

Brainspoil - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)

Rise from the Grave - Zendikar Rising Commander (ZNC)

Dakmor Plague - Masters Edition IV (ME4)

Spread the Sickness - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Shadow Slice MTG card by a specific set like Gatecrash, 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 Shadow Slice and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Shadow Slice has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2013-04-15	If a creature with an encoded card deals combat damage to more than one player simultaneously (perhaps because some of the combat damage was redirected), the triggered ability will trigger once for each player it deals combat damage to. Each ability will create a copy of the exiled card and allow you to cast it.
2013-04-15	If another player gains control of the creature, that player will control the triggered ability. That player will create a copy of the encoded card and may cast it.
2013-04-15	If the creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card will no longer be encoded on any creature. It will stay exiled.
2013-04-15	If the spell with cipher doesn’t resolve, none of its effects will happen, including cipher. The card will go to its owner’s graveyard and won’t be encoded on a creature.
2013-04-15	If you choose not to cast the copy, or you can’t cast it (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the copy will cease to exist the next time state-based actions are performed. You won’t get a chance to cast the copy at a later time.
2013-04-15	If you want to encode the card with cipher onto a noncreature permanent such as a Keyrune that can turn into a creature, that permanent has to be a creature before the spell with cipher starts resolving. You can choose only a creature to encode the card onto.
2013-04-15	The copy of the card with cipher is created in and cast from exile.
2013-04-15	The exiled card with cipher grants a triggered ability to the creature it’s encoded on. If that creature loses that ability and subsequently deals combat damage to a player, the triggered ability won’t trigger. However, the exiled card will continue to be encoded on that creature.
2013-04-15	The spell with cipher is encoded on the creature as part of that spell’s resolution, just after the spell’s other effects. That card goes directly from the stack to exile. It never goes to the graveyard.
2013-04-15	You cast the copy of the card with cipher during the resolution of the triggered ability. Ignore timing restrictions based on the card’s type.
2013-04-15	You choose the creature as the spell resolves. The cipher ability doesn’t target that creature, although the spell with cipher may target that creature (or a different creature) because of its other abilities.