Hand of Death MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Hand of Death provides a strategic advantage by allowing players to directly remove a threat from the board. This efficient removal can equate to card advantage, as one card from your hand deals with an opposing creature, potentially saving multiple cards from being used in its stead.

Resource Acceleration: While Hand of Death itself doesn’t accelerate resources in the typical sense of providing mana or ramp, the removal of a key creature can indirectly accelerate your game plan by clearing the way for your own creatures to attack and reducing the opponent’s resources.

Instant Speed: A significant strength of Hand of Death lies in its instant speed. This allows players to react flexibly to opponents’ actions, removing creatures during their turn or in response to specific spells or abilities. Having the capability to act on the fly, especially during combat, provides a tactical edge.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Hand of Death necessitates the discarding of a card, which can be particularly painful when your hand is already dwindling. This requirement can make the card less appealing in tight situations where every resource counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Necessitating both black and generic mana, the casting cost restricts Hand of Death primarily to mono-black or two-color decks that include black. This limitation can potentially stifle the card’s versatility in a multicolored deck environment.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that sits on the higher side for its provided effect, there may be alternative removal spells in MTG that achieve similar outcomes with a less demanding investment, making Hand of Death less efficient by comparison.

Reasons to Include Hand of Death in Your Collection

Versatility: Hand of Death is one of those cards that offer flexibility in deck building. It can be a key removal piece in various deck archetypes, from aggro to control strategies, effectively dealing with threats on the board.

Combo Potential: Its ability to destroy a target creature can be synergized with other cards that capitalize on death triggers or graveyard mechanics, making it a crucial combo enabler in such decks.

Meta-Relevance: Considering its straightforward creature destruction at a manageable cost, Hand of Death remains relevant in metas dominated by creature-based strategies, providing a timely answer to opposing threats.

How to Beat Hand of Death

Hand of Death is an intriguing Magic: The Gathering card that adds a layer of strategy to creature removal. What sets this card apart is its ability to destroy target nonblack creature at a relatively low cost. While powerful, there are several ways to play around it. To maintain the upper hand against Hand of Death, prioritize using creatures that are either black or have hexproof or indestructible attributes. These characteristics render your creatures impervious to Hand of Death’s targeting ability.

It’s also beneficial to have a diverse lineup in your deck. Utilize multicolored creatures or those with protection from black. Creatures equipped with enchantments like Swiftfoot Boots or those that can regenerate further minimize the impact of Hand of Death on your gameplay. Additionally, countering it with spells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto can shut down your opponent’s removal attempts. Always be mindful of your opponent’s untapped lands and potential for casting Hand of Death, and strategically plan your creature plays to ensure your valuable pieces remain on the battlefield.