Dry Spell MTG Card

Homelands (HML)
1995-10-01 - Number 46a

Homelands (HML)
1995-10-01 - Number 46b

Portal (POR)
1997-05-01 - Number 90

Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
1999-04-21 - Number 124

Masters Edition II (ME2)
2008-09-22 - Number 87

Card sets	Released in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery

Key Takeaways

Offers instant speed interaction, enabling you to disrupt opponents’ strategies and control the board.
Demands card discard, which may negatively impact your hand and overall game plan.
Provides unique board management, beneficial against decks with small creatures or token strategies.

Text of card

Dry Spell deals 1 damage to each creature and player.

"Wherever water is lacking, all things suffer." —Autumn Willow

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Dry Spell at its core provides an essential bump in card manipulation by allowing targeted action against creatures on the board. This can translate to an advantage as it helps thin out an opponent’s presence, paving the way for more favorable plays.

Resource Acceleration: Although Dry Spell does not directly accelerate resources like mana or tokens, its low casting cost makes it a flexible addition to any deck, aiding in maintaining tempo and resource balance throughout the game.

Instant Speed: The quickfire nature of Dry Spell means it can be cast at instant speed, offering strategic versatility to disrupt an opponent’s strategy. This ability to interact during an opponent’s turn, or at the end of it, is a crucial tactical advantage, allowing for enhanced board control and response readiness.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One notable drawback is the card’s obligation for you to discard another card to activate its abilities. This stipulation could be particularly detrimental when your hand is already sparse, potentially forcing you to lose a vital piece of your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Dry Spell comes with a color-specific mana cost, requiring black mana to play. This constraint can hinder the card’s flexibility, making it less viable in multicolored decks that might struggle to meet the black mana requirement promptly or consistently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When compared to other options in the game, Dry Spell’s mana cost is on the higher side for the effect it provides. Players might find themselves considering alternative spells that can deliver similar effects or better value for a lower investment of mana resources.

Reasons to Include Dry Spell in Your Collection

Versatility: Dry Spell offers flexibility for decks that need to manage the board. Its ability to deal damage to each creature and each player can turn the tide in games, acting as both a deterrent and a way to whittle down opponents’ life totals.

Combo Potential: In decks that capitalize on life loss or creature deaths, Dry Spell can be a linchpin. It works well in combination with cards that trigger off of taking damage or creatures dying, providing multiple benefits with a single cast.

Meta-Relevance: As the game shifts toward strategies with numerous small creatures or token generation, Dry Spell becomes increasingly valuable. It’s a strategic addition for players anticipating swarm-like tactics from opponents, offering a cost-effective method to clear the board.

How to beat

The Dry Spell card presents a nuanced challenge for players in the Magic: The Gathering arena. Its ability to deal one point of damage to each creature and player can be disruptive, especially for those using creature-heavy strategies. To overcome this spell, it’s imperative to adapt your deck with damage-resistant creatures. Creatures with toughness greater than one can withstand the spell’s impact, maintaining your battlefield presence.

Alternatively, leveraging instant-speed healing spells or abilities that increase your creatures’ toughness will shield your army from Dry Spell’s effect. Enchantment removals or counterspells also serve as viable options to neutralize the threat before it manifests. Consider incorporating strategies to exploit the fact that Dry Spell affects all players equally, using it to your advantage if you’re prepared for the consequences.

With the proper foresight and adaptation, Dry Spell’s potential to wreak havoc can be nullified, allowing you to maintain control of the game and outmaneuver your opponents.

Cards like Dry Spell

Dry Spell occupies a unique position in the array of targeted damage spells within MTG. At a fundamental level, it resembles cards such as Pyroclasm or Earthquake for their ability to deal damage across multiple creatures. However, Dry Spell is distinct for its precision in distributing a single point of damage, providing a nuanced control that mass damage spells don’t offer.

This tailored approach can be seen echoed in cards like Festering Mummy, which, upon death, allows a player to place a -1/-1 counter on a target creature; a one-time effect in comparison to Dry Spell’s multiple target flexibility. Yet, when evaluating their use, both allow for strategic creature management on the board. Dry Spell also shares similarities with Weakness, another card that deals with the diminishing of creatures’ strength, although Dry Spell’s instant impact contrasts with the permanence of Weakness’s effect.

What sets Dry Spell apart is its instant nature and the ability to focus on numerous small threats simultaneously. Such versatility allows for a face value that, when leveraged skilfully, adds an edge to MTG players’ arsenals, particularly in formats that favor the steady management of creatures over singular, sweeping gestures.

Cards similar to Dry Spell by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

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

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Printings

The Dry Spell Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 1995-10-01 and 2008-09-22. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1995-10-01	Homelands	HML	46a	1993	Normal	Black	Brian Snõddy
2	1995-10-01	Homelands	HML	46b	1993	Normal	Black	Brian Snõddy
3	1997-05-01	Portal	POR	90	1997	Normal	Black	Roger Raupp
4	1999-04-21	Classic Sixth Edition	6ED	124	1997	Normal	White	Brian Snõddy
5	2008-09-22	Masters Edition II	ME2	87	1997	Normal	Black	Brian Snõddy