Evaporate MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Released	1995-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Homelands
Set code	HML
Number	74
Frame	1993
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Alan Rabinowitz

Key Takeaways

Evaporate provides card parity plus disruption, optimizing your hand while unsettling opponents.
Its instant speed allows for surprise plays, increasing your reactive strategy options.
Despite its strengths, deck requirements and reliance on blue mana limit its universal appeal.

Text of card

Evaporate deals 1 damage to each blue creature and white creature.

"The body is a temple with a foundation of sand." —Autumn Willow

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Evaporate offers the strategic utility of replacing itself in your hand by allowing you to draw a card after its resolution. This maintains parity in card count and can disrupt your opponent’s strategy without losing momentum in your own game plan.

Resource Acceleration: Although Evaporate does not directly accelerate resources, it effectively denies your opponent’s resource advancement by targeting and eliminating their critical spells especially those that focus on card draw or recurring advantages.

Instant Speed: Evaporate can be cast at instant speed, giving you the flexibility to respond to an opponent’s actions during their turn. This reactive play can catch an opponent off guard, potentially countering key plays or disrupting synergistic combos they attempt to execute.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When casting Evaporate, you need to let go of another asset from your hand which might not be ideal during critical gameplay. Running low on cards often equates to fewer options and flexibility, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: With its necessity for blue mana, Evaporate’s effectiveness is somewhat restrained. Deck strategies that don’t run heavily on blue may find it cumbersome to manage the mana requirements for this card, thereby limiting its viability in multi-colored or non-blue decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Investing three mana, especially when two are required to be blue, for a card that only draws and doesn’t offer additional benefits like board control or direct damage, may not always justify its place in your deck. Alternative cards at a lesser or similar cost might provide more impact in your gameplan.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Evaporate offers a unique blend of efficiency and utility, being able to disrupt opponent’s strategies by returning their nonland permanents to their hand. This flexibility allows it to seamlessly integrate into control or tempo decks that thrive on maintaining the board state to their advantage.

Combo Potential: As a card that can cause a shift in the battlefield dynamics, Evaporate can be paired with cards that take advantage of an opponent’s empty board. It also opens the way for cards that penalize or restrict replaying cards, compounding the disruption it causes.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where permanents with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects or indomitable board presences reign, Evaporate becomes an essential tool. Its ability to clear the way for your winning move or disrupt an opponent’s meticulously built board makes it relevant in diverse metagames.

How to beat

The card Evaporate presents a unique challenge when facing opponents in the world of Magic: The Gathering. As a sorcery that allows players to deal with flying creatures and draw a card, creating a straightforward solution requires a bit of finesse and strategy. To effectively counteract Evaporate, it’s important to envision your deck not as a one-track force but as a diversified arsenal, capable of handling various threats.

One effective method is to incorporate creatures that boast of resilience or those that can easily be recast from the graveyard. Utilizing creatures with the undying or persist ability negates the temporary setback that Evaporate might impose. Moreover, enchantments or artifacts that offer protection to your creatures can turn the tide, leaving Evaporate with no viable target. Another angle is to capitalize on instant-speed interaction, which can disrupt or counter Evaporate while it’s on the stack, nullifying its effect entirely.

Understanding Evaporate’s limitations can be the key to outmaneuvering it. It’s a specialized card, focused specifically on flying creatures. Therefore, decks built with a balanced range of deftness and fortitude often stand strong against such pinpoint removal—making it clear that with the right tools and tactics, defeating Evaporate is within any skillful player’s grasp.

Cards like Evaporate

Evaporate takes its place in the catalog of disruptive blue spells in MTG, holding a semblance to other removal cards. Analogous in effect to Hydroblast and Pyroblast, which counter or destroy spells and permanents based on color, Evaporate offers a targeted approach specifically against red spells and creatures. The distinction is razor-sharp, as Evaporate not only destroys but also allows you to draw a card, adding value and momentum to your game.

Blue Elemental Blast is another closely related spell, with its ability to counter or destroy red permanents. Nevertheless, Evaporate’s draw effect gives it an edge for players looking to maximize card advantage. Disenchant, while not color-specific, provides broader removal but without the added benefit of card draw that Evaporate boasts. It’s a trade-off between versatility and resource gain.

Considering the strategic needs for precise removal in MTG, Evaporate showcases its worth amidst similar spells by providing a dual benefit – eliminating threats while replenishing your hand, a combo that can swing the match in your favor.

Blue Elemental Blast - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Evaporate by color, type and mana cost

Search for Survivors - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Evaporate MTG card by a specific set like Homelands, 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 Evaporate and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Evaporate has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

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