Crook of Condemnation MTG Card

Crook of Condemnation - Hour of Devastation

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Artifact
Released	2017-07-14
Set symbol
Set name	Hour of Devastation
Set code	HOU
Number	159
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Ben Maier

Key Takeaways

Crook of Condemnation disrupts graveyard strategies, providing a tactical advantage in gameplay.
Its instant speed activation allows flexibility and surprise elements against opponents.
Despite utility, its activation cost and sacrifice requirement are notable disadvantages.

Text of card

, : Exile target card from a graveyard. , Exile Crook of Condemnation: Exile all cards from all graveyards.

The God-Pharaoh's angels stripped former initiates of their cartouches and the fortifying magic they provided.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crook of Condemnation places your opponents in a tricky situation by exiling cards from graveyards, effectively diminishing their available resources. Although it doesn’t directly increase your hand size, it offers strategic advantage by disrupting your opponent’s game plan, especially against decks that rely on graveyard strategies.

Resource Acceleration: While Crook of Condemnation doesn’t directly accelerate mana resources, it serves a crucial role in conserving yours. By providing an efficient graveyard management tool, it helps keep your mana free for other spells, maintaining the tempo of your gameplay without compromising board control.

Instant Speed: The true power of Crook of Condemnation shines at instant speed. You can activate its exile effect any time you have priority. This flexibility allows you to respond to graveyard-based abilities or spells when it’s most advantageous for you, keeping your opponents on their toes and their graveyards clean.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Players utilizing Crook of Condemnation must be prepared to part with it completely for its exile function, as activating its second ability requires sacrificing it and paying mana.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring a colorless mana might seem universally convenient, but in a color-fixing scarce deck, ensuring its activation might pose a striking challenge.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At two mana for its initial cast followed by additional mana for its abilities, there are other cards that offer graveyard disruption at a lower total cost.

Reasons to Include Crook of Condemnation in Your Collection

Versatility: The Crook of Condemnation offers a unique and flexible answer to graveyard strategies, which are ubiquitous in many formats. This artifact can be put to work in sideboards or even main decks when graveyard interaction is key to an opponent’s strategy.

Combo Potential: For decks that are sensitive to their own graveyard composition, Crook of Condemnation provides a precise mechanism to control what stays in the grave and what goes. It can disrupt opponents’ combos that rely on graveyard synergy without harming your own strategic plays.

Meta-Relevance: Graveyard-based decks can dominate certain metas, making Crook of Condemnation a necessary tool. It’s effective against a range of popular strategies, from reanimation to delve, and can be a crucial asset in maintaining an advantage over decks that depend on their graveyard resources to win.

How to beat

Crook of Condemnation is an effective artifact in MTG known for its graveyard control abilities. Players can find their strategies significantly hampered if facing this card, especially in formats where graveyard manipulation is crucial. The key to beating Crook of Condemnation lies in timing and redundancy. Because it can exile graveyards at instant speed, timing your graveyard interactions is vital. Play around the Crook’s activation by forcing your opponent to use it prematurely or when it would have minimal impact.

Another tactic is to employ redundancy in your strategy. Have multiple cards with similar functions in your deck, so if one is exiled, you can continue with your plan without significant disruption. Remember, Crook of Condemnation requires mana to activate each of its abilities, so observing your opponent’s mana pool can provide insights into when it’s safe to proceed with graveyard-related plays.

Lastly, include ways to deal with artifacts directly in your deck. Options like Abrade or Nature’s Claim allow you to remove the Crook before it becomes a threat. In summary, patience, strategy redundancy, and direct answers are your best tools to ensure Crook of Condemnation doesn’t condemn your game plan to defeat.

Cards like Crook of Condemnation

Crook of Condemnation holds a unique position in Magic: The Gathering for its graveyard interaction capabilities. It’s often compared to other exile tools like Tormod’s Crypt, which like the Crook, can purge a graveyard instantaneously. Yet, Tormod’s Crypt clears all cards at no cost but doesn’t offer the same selective removal as the Crook. With the Crook of Condemnation, you have the flexibility to target specific cards, contributing to strategic planning as you disrupt opponents’ graveyard-based tactics.

Relic of Progenitus is another staple in the category of graveyard hate in MTG. It shares the ability to exile individual cards, similar to the Crook, but can also wipe the graveyard while drawing a card upon its exit. Still, the Crook maintains an edge with its cheaper activation cost and easier mana requirements. Nihil Spellbomb is yet another comparable card, also offering selective removal and card draw upon use. However, it requires black mana to draw a card, potentially limiting its use in multicolored decks.

In summary, Crook of Condemnation stands out in MTG as an efficient and flexible tool for managing graveyard strategies, offering a balanced mixture of precision and power to enhance deck control.

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crook of Condemnation MTG card by a specific set like Hour of Devastation, 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 Crook of Condemnation and other MTG cards: