Despoiler of Souls MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Despoiler of Souls excels in recurring from the graveyard, providing a persistent threat that can generate card advantage by demanding multiple answers from your opponent over the course of the game.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana, its ability to return to the battlefield from the graveyard can be seen as resource acceleration, effectively saving mana that would be spent on casting another creature from your hand.

Instant Speed: Although Despoiler of Souls itself is not an instant, its ability to be resurrected from the graveyard can be activated at instant speed. This allows for strategic plays during an opponent’s turn or at the end of their turn, potentially catching them off guard and enabling surprise blocks or attacks in your next turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Despoiler of Souls presents a challenging requirement for its revival ability. To bring this creature back from the graveyard, you have to exile two other creature cards from your graveyard. This not only depletes your graveyard resources but can also hinder your long-term strategy, especially in decks that rely on graveyard synergy.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Despoiler of Souls is quite particular, demanding two black mana. This makes it less flexible and harder to cast in multicolored decks that may not always have the necessary black mana sources readily available at all times during play.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Though two mana for a 3/1 creature might seem reasonable, the real cost comes into play with its recursion ability. Since you must exile two other creature cards in addition to paying black mana, the overall cost to continually leverage this creature’s capability can quickly add up, making it a costly affair for its size and benefits.

Reasons to Include Despoiler of Souls in Your Collection

Versatility: Despoiler of Souls thrives in various deck builds, particularly in strategies focused on graveyard manipulation or aggressive plays. Its ability to return to the battlefield offers enduring value.

Combo Potential: As a creature that can perpetually recur from the graveyard, Despoiler of Souls can be a linchpin in combos, particularly with sacrifice effects or death-trigger abilities that benefit from a reliable, reusable creature.

Meta-Relevance: Given its resilience against removal and capability to come back turn after turn, Despoiler of Souls is a strong consideration in metas where attrition or resource denial is prevalent. Its presence on the board can tip the scales in grindy matchups.

How to beat

The challenge of overcoming Despoiler of Souls in Magic: The Gathering centers on disrupting its recurrent nature. This agile creature can rise from the graveyard, provided two other creature cards are exiled from it. Therefore, to tilt the odds in your favor, incorporating graveyard removal strategies in your gameplay proves effective. A card like Rest in Peace neutralizes the ability of Despoiler of Souls by removing all cards in the graveyard from the game and keeping future ones exiled. Similarly, employing Tormod’s Crypt can purge a graveyard in a single move, rendering the Despoiler inert and breaking the loop of its return.

Moreover, it’s essential to remember that Despoiler of Souls cannot block. This characteristic provides you with the opportunity to strategize offensive plays and apply pressure with creatures that can deal damage without fear of being obstructed by Despoiler. It’s about staying one step ahead and understanding Despoiler of Souls’ limitations. Through graveyard disruption and a solid offensive, the once daunting task of overcoming this creature becomes much more manageable.