Fear of Death MTG Card

Fear of Death - Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)

Innistrad: Crimson Vow (VOW)
2021-11-19 - Number 59

Fear of Death - Innistrad: Double Feature (DBL)

Innistrad: Double Feature (DBL)
2022-01-28 - Number 326

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant,Mill

Key Takeaways

Fear of Death provides card advantage, favoring graveyard-synergizing strategies and future turn setups.
Enables resource acceleration and defensive benefits, enhancing graveyard interaction and deterring attacks.
Its instant speed utility affords strategic flexibility, allowing response adaptability during opponent turns.

Text of card

Enchant creature When Fear of Death enters the battlefield, mill two cards. (Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.) Enchanted creature gets -X/-0, where X is the number of cards in your graveyard.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Fear of Death excels in providing card advantage, particularly in graveyard-based strategies. By incentivizing you to mill cards, it sets you up for potential reanimation plays or synergies with cards that get stronger as your graveyard fills, ensuring you’re not just losing resources but strategically stocking up for future turns.

Resource Acceleration: This card can indirectly lead to resource acceleration by filling your graveyard with creatures that could be returned to play, thus bypassing their mana costs. Additionally, the presence of Fear of Death on the battlefield can deter opponents from attacking, indirectly saving you resources otherwise spent on defending or recovering from damage.

Instant Speed: The instant speed nature of Fear of Death means you can utilize it at the most opportune moment, often at the end of your opponent’s turn. This strategic flexibility gives you the upper hand as you dictate the pace of the game while keeping mana available for immediate threats or opportunities that may arise.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Fear of Death poses a strategic challenge with its upfront discard requirement, demanding a card sacrifice that can be detrimental during critical gameplay moments.

Specific Mana Cost: This card’s casting cost is color-weighted, requiring a precise combination of mana types that may not align seamlessly with all deck frameworks, potentially hindering its inclusion in varied strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana cost that can be deemed on the higher side for its effect, some players might find that Fear of Death falls short when compared to other cards that could fulfill a similar role more cost-effectively within a deck’s economy.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Fear of Death adds a unique dynamic to decks, catering to those that aim to control the opponent’s board decisions. Its capability to alter combat outcomes makes it a brilliant addition to any collection aiming to add psychological strategy to the gameplay.

Combo Potential: For enthusiasts of intricate play styles, this card creates opportunities for combos with life-loss mechanics or when paired with cards that penalize creatures for dying. It can integrate seamlessly with strategies built around demise and fear mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: Given the ever-shifting nature of the competitive scene, Fear of Death holds a place in metas where intimidating your opponent into submission is key. It thrives in environments where the psychological impact on player decisions can turn the tide of the game in your favor.

How to beat

Fear of Death is a unique challenge for MTG players looking to navigate around its detrimental effects. Understanding this card is crucial as it can cripple your creatures and potentially lead to a loss of life, impacting the game’s momentum. To efficiently counter this card, consider incorporating removal spells into your deck. These allow you to directly target the enchanted creature, eliminating the threat before the life loss becomes substantial.

Strategies such as utilizing enchantment destruction can also be effective. Cards that specifically allow players to destroy or bounce enchantments back to an opponent’s hand can remove Fear of Death and its problematic outcomes. Also, cards with hexproof or shroud can preemptively protect your creatures from becoming the target of such debilitating enchantments. This proactive defense ensures your creatures remain a viable force on the battlefield.

Moreover, decks that capitalize on graveyard synergy can turn the tables on Fear of Death. By utilizing your graveyard as a resource, you minimize the impact of losing creatures, thus diminishing the card’s potential to disrupt your play. Overall, being prepared to address Fear of Death through various angles can secure your game play and maintain your path to victory.

Cards like Fear of Death

Fear of Death introduces an intriguing layer to the suite of blue enchantments in MTG. Its direct parallel can be drawn with cards like Unquenchable Thirst, which also renders a creature ineffective though it doesn’t scale its power over time. Unquenchable Thirst lacks the dynamic interplay with the number of cards in hand that Fear of Death utilizes to manipulate an opponent’s strategy.

Another card in the conversation is Claustrophobia. This enchantment also incapacitates a target creature by tapping it with no option for untapping during its controller’s untap step. Yet, unlike Fear of Death, it does not continue to adapt or increase the threat level based on hand size, making it a static alternative. When comparing to these similar cards, Fear of Death offers a unique advantage: it has the potential to grow in effect, posing an ever-increasing danger to larger creatures as the game progresses, especially in formats where hand sizes tend to be larger.

Cards that hamper creatures are a staple in MTG, but Fear of Death’s conditional potency offers a distinctive angle that could be a magnet for deck builders looking for ways to exploit an opponent’s resources, making it an effective tool in particular strategic setups.

Cards similar to Fear of Death by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Fear of Death MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad: Crimson Vow and Innistrad: Double Feature, 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 Fear of Death and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Printings

The Fear of Death Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-11-19 and 2022-01-28. Illustrated by Anato Finnstark.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	2021-11-19	Innistrad: Crimson Vow	VOW		59	2015	Normal	Black	Anato Finnstark
2	2022-01-28	Innistrad: Double Feature	DBL		326	2015	Normal	Black	Anato Finnstark

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Fear of Death has restrictions

Format	Legality
Standard	Legal
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Future	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Timeless	Legal