Necrotic Wound MTG Card
2018-10-05 - Number 79
2018-10-05 - Number 79
2022-12-02 - Number 447
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Instant |
| Abilities | Undergrowth |
Text of card
Undergrowth — Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.
The assassins of the Ochran distill toxins from the remains of their previous victims.
Cards like Necrotic Wound
Necrotic Wound is an intriguing instant card in Magic: The Gathering, designed to remove creatures from the game by inflicting -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard. Notably, it has a minimalist mana cost and an undergrowth mechanic that can strengthen its effect based on your graveyard’s state. Grisly Spectacle, although it costs significantly more mana, serves a similar removal role but with the bonus of forcing the opponent to mill cards, potentially hampering their strategy.
Contextually, Go for the Throat is an alternative that efficiently deals with nonartifact creatures at the same low mana cost without the need for a stocked graveyard. Conversely, it lacks the escalating potential of Necrotic Wound in the late game. Varolz, the Scar-Striped offers a different perspective, it doesn’t remove creatures directly but can utilize the graveyard to empower your own creatures in a more proactive fashion.
In overview, Necrotic Wound establishes its place in Magic: The Gathering as a cost-effective and potentially potent creature removal weapon, especially favored in decks that capitalize on a hefty graveyard presence.
Cards similar to Necrotic Wound by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Necrotic Wound offers a strategic edge by potentially removing a creature from the board while potentially costing you only one card. This can leave your opponent at a significant disadvantage, especially if the targeted creature was integral to their strategy.
Resource Acceleration: While Necrotic Wound does not directly accelerate your resources like a traditional ramp spell, it enables you to utilize the resources you’ve already invested in your graveyard. This turns a stocked graveyard into an offensive tool, allowing you to operate efficiently and maintain momentum.
Instant Speed: As an instant, Necrotic Wound provides the flexibility to respond to threats on your opponent’s turn or eliminate blockers right before your attack. This reactive nature allows you to adapt to the game’s evolving battlefield, keeping opponents on their toes and maintaining control of the game’s pace.
Card Cons
Underpowered in Early Game: Necrotic Wound’s effectiveness is contingent on having a substantial number of creature cards in your graveyard. This condition can be a setback in the early phases of the game when graveyards are typically sparse, thereby reducing its utility as an immediate removal option.
Specific Mana Cost: Necrotic Wound’s casting cost requires black mana, which could restrict its inclusion to black or multicolor decks only. Players running other color combinations without a reliable mana base might find it challenging to incorporate this card effectively.
Graveyard Dependency: This instant’s power scales with the number of creature cards in your graveyard, a dependency that can be an Achilles’ heel against graveyard hate strategies. Opponents can significantly weaken Necrotic Wound’s potency by exiling cards from graveyards, rendering the spell less effective or even useless under such circumstances.
Reasons to Include Necrotic Wound in Your Collection
Versatility: Necrotic Wound is a highly adaptable removal spell that scales with the game, making it effective in graveyard-centric decks that can quickly increase the number of creature cards in their own graveyard for a powerful and cost-efficient exiling effect.
Combo Potential: This instant has great synergy with strategies that focus on self-mill or sacrificial mechanics, allowing you to rapidly bolster your graveyard count to enhance Necrotic Wound’s exile capability, thereby disrupting opponents’ plans by removing key creatures from the game.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment dominated by creature-heavy decks, Necrotic Wound serves as a low-cost tool to keep threatening creatures at bay or remove essential combo pieces, maintaining balance against aggressive strategies that rely on creature-based synergies.
How to beat
Necrotic Wound is a potent removal tool in the Magic: The Gathering arsenal, especially in decks packing a high creature count. This instantspeed spell can rapidly deplete an opponent’s resources, given its undergrowth mechanic which scales the removal power with the number of creatures in your graveyard. But there are strategies to mitigate its effects.
To counteract Necrotic Wound, consider reducing graveyard interactions. Play cards that exile or shuffle your graveyard into your library, like Tormod’s Crypt or Primal Command, weakening the undergrowth potential. Additionally, utilize creatures that can bounce back from the graveyard, like Reassembling Skeleton. This way, Necrotic Wound’s impact is lessened, as your creatures consistently return to the battlefield. Boosting your creatures’ toughness through spells or abilities means that even if they are targeted, they may survive the encounter. Lastly, prioritize instant-speed graveyard hate when Necrotic Wound is cast to preemptively remove creatures from the graveyard, thus nullifying its power.
Having a plan against Necrotic Wound ensures that your key creatures can remain a force on the battlefield, even when facing down this intimidating spell.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Necrotic Wound MTG card by a specific set like Guilds of Ravnica Promos and Guilds of Ravnica, 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 Necrotic Wound and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Printings
The Necrotic Wound Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2018-10-05 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by Randy Vargas.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2018-10-05 | Guilds of Ravnica Promos | PGRN | 79 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Randy Vargas | |
| 2 | 2018-10-05 | Guilds of Ravnica | GRN | 79 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Randy Vargas | |
| 3 | 2022-12-02 | Jumpstart 2022 | J22 | 447 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Randy Vargas |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Necrotic Wound has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Necrotic Wound card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2018-10-05 | Because tokens aren’t cards, they never count for undergrowth abilities. |
| 2018-10-05 | Creature cards with other types, such as artifact creature cards, count for undergrowth abilities. |
| 2018-10-05 | If you have no creature cards in your graveyard, the target creature gets -0/-0, and it will still be exiled if it would die this turn. |
| 2018-10-05 | Necrotic Wound’s replacement effect will exile the target creature if it would die this turn for any reason, not just immediately after Necrotic Wound resolves. |
| 2018-10-05 | The value of X is determined only as the undergrowth ability resolves. If the number of creature cards in your graveyard changes later in the turn, the target creature is unaffected. |