Duty-Bound Dead MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Duty-Bound Dead offers a tactical edge through its Exalted ability, which can provide a significant advantage in combat without requiring additional cards from your hand.

Resource Acceleration: Although not a direct source of resource acceleration, its low casting cost improves mana efficiency, enabling you to deploy other threats or hold up mana for responses earlier in the game.

Instant Speed: While Duty-Bound Dead itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, it synergizes well with instant-speed spells by keeping mana open for counterplays while still threatening an enhanced attack the following turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The mechanics of Duty-Bound Dead may not involve discarding directly, but its exalted ability heavily relies on either solo attacking or defending which means you could be forced to commit resources, similar to discarding, in order to maximize its effectiveness. This could lead to compromising your board control for a single benefit.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires black mana to be cast, which can be restrictive. Decks not running black might not be able to harness its full potential, limiting its flexibility across multiple strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While Duty-Bound Dead itself is low-cost, its regeneration ability has a relatively high cost in terms of mana efficiency. At one black mana and one colorless to regenerate, other creatures may offer cheaper or more impactful survivability options, making it a less enticing choice in mana-tight situations.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Duty-Bound Dead’s Exalted ability makes it naturally adaptable, as it can boost any attacking creature, making it a solid addition to decks geared toward aggressive single-creature strategies.

Combo Potential: Its regenerative capability allows it to hold the fort defensively while other cards in your deck prepare for your winning move. This resilience can be key in decks that are hinged on sustaining board presence.

Meta-Relevance: Given the number of high-powered creatures and removal spells in the current game state, Duty-Bound Dead can be a strategic play to safeguard your more valuable creatures or to ensure a consistent Exalted trigger.

How to beat

Confronting Duty-Bound Dead in a game of Magic: The Gathering requires a smart approach, considering its Exalted ability can turn it into a significant blocker when it stands alone. As a low-cost creature with decent toughness courtesy of Exalted, it may seem daunting to handle at first glance. Yet, its weakness lies in its lack of inherent power, making it vulnerable to an aggressive early game strategy. To efficiently counter Duty-Bound Dead, consider deploying creatures with higher power to pressure your opponent, compelling them to block with Duty-Bound Dead and thereby losing its Exalted benefit. Removal spells are also effective, especially those that don’t target specifics, like sweepers that can clear multiple threats at once.

Another strategy is to leverage evasion abilities such as flying or trample, which can bypass the potential fortified ground creature. Lastly, inciting exchanges that are not favorable to your opponent can also work. For example, forcing them to trade Duty-Bound Dead for a less valuable creature on your side can diminish their defense and leave them vulnerable. Remember, while this creature can look formidable with the right support, it’s not invincible. Proper pacing and the right moves can ensure Duty-Bound Dead doesn’t stand in the way of your victory.