Consuming Sinkhole MTG Card

Consuming Sinkhole - Oath of the Gatewatch

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Abilities	Devoid
Released	2016-01-22
Set symbol
Set name	Oath of the Gatewatch
Set code	OGW
Number	94
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Igor Kieryluk

Key Takeaways

Consuming Sinkhole excels in flexibility, able to target land creatures or deal direct planeswalker damage.
Its instant speed provides game-changing surprise plays, enhancing strategic dynamics during a match.
While mana-specific and potentially costly, it’s a valuable asset in land destruction and direct damage strategies.

Text of card

Devoid (This card has no color.) Choose one — • Exile target land creature. • Consuming Sinkhole deals 4 damage to target player.

"What will not yield will be consumed." —Ayli, high priest of the Eternal Pilgrims

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Consuming Sinkhole presents a dual utility that enables you to either directly impact the board by removing an opponent’s important land, which can result in a strategic advantage, or to deal significant damage to an opposing planeswalker. This choice allows a player to maintain pressure by minimizing the resources available to the opponent or by threatening their planeswalker’s loyalty counters.

Resource Acceleration: Although Consuming Sinkhole itself does not directly provide resource acceleration, its capability to disrupt an opponent’s land base can indirectly accelerate your own resource advantage. By setting back your opponent’s mana development, you gain relative acceleration as you continue to develop your own board and mana resources unimpeded.

Instant Speed: The power of instant speed cannot be overstated with Consuming Sinkhole. This trait allows you the flexibility to hold up mana and make decisions based on the evolving state of the game. Whether it’s hindering an opponent’s big play by removing a key land or delivering a surprise blow to a planeswalker at a critical moment, the card’s instant speed is a noteworthy advantage that can catch opponents off guard.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Consuming Sinkhole doesn’t necessitate discarding, but it does require a player to have an active Exile card, which can be restrictive if your deck isn’t set up with exile synergies or if you’re facing an opponent lacking the necessary card type.

Specific Mana Cost: Consuming Sinkhole’s casting cost is color-specific to red mana. This can be limiting for players not running a red or color-compatible deck, reducing the card’s versatility across various deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including two red, Consuming Sinkhole can be considered mana-intensive for its damage output. Players may find that other cards offer similar or better damage output or land destruction effects for a lower mana cost, thus offering more efficiency for the same or less investment.

Reasons to Include Consuming Sinkhole in Your Collection

Versatility: Consuming Sinkhole offers dual utility in red decks. With the ability to either deal direct damage to opponents or remove pesky land creatures, it can adapt to various in-game scenarios. Particularly for players who encounter land creatures such as Mutavault or Inkmoth Nexus in their games, it proves to be an indispensable tool.

Combo Potential: This card can be a component of a land destruction strategy or a deck that focuses on dealing damage without relying on creatures. It can combine with cards that control the opponent’s land base, amplifying the pressure on your opponent.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where decks rely heavily on formidable land creatures or utilize lands for key combos, Consuming Sinkhole can disrupt those strategies effectively. It’s especially relevant in formats where land-creature strategies are more prevalent, providing a safety valve against such decks.

How to Beat Consuming Sinkhole

Consuming Sinkhole presents a unique challenge in the landscape of Magic: The Gathering gameplay. It’s a card that can catch players off guard with its dual functionality – not only can it deal direct damage to opponents, but it can also remove those pesky land creatures that have become a staple in many decks. Despite its versatility, strategies exist to mitigate its effects and keep your game on track.

To start, bear in mind that Consuming Sinkhole can only target land creatures, so diversifying your threats beyond just land creatures can render part of its utility useless. Additionally, its exile effect doesn’t interact with the graveyard, which means strategies that depend on graveyard synergies are safe from this spell. On the offensive front, consider running counterspells or other instant-speed interaction to stop Consuming Sinkhole before it can disrupt your field, or use hexproof effects to protect your valuable lands. Remember, Consuming Sinkhole is a colorless card, so be mindful of its presence especially in Eldrazi-themed decks or those that heavily utilize colorless spells and lands.

Ultimately, while Consuming Sinkhole might pose a significant threat, a well-prepared player with a diversified deck and the right mix of countermeasures can adeptly navigate around it, ensuring battlefield stability and continued progress towards victory.

Cards like Consuming Sinkhole

Consuming Sinkhole offers an intriguing option for players looking to disrupt land strategies in Magic: The Gathering. When compared to cards like Molten Rain or Stone Rain, which also enable players to target and destroy lands, Consuming Sinkhole stands out due to its versatility. Unlike Molten Rain, which deals 2 damage to the controller of the destroyed land, Consuming Sinkhole can deal direct damage to an opponent if a land is not the chosen target.

Looking at Roiling Terrain, another land destruction card with a damage twist, Consuming Sinkhole doesn’t require the removed land to be a factor for the additional damage effect. This flexibility can be advantageous in certain gameplay situations. However, Roiling Terrain does have the potential to deal more damage overall, dependent on the number of lands in the enemy’s graveyard. It’s a nuance that seasoned players may capitalize on depending on the matchup.

In essence, when evaluating land affecting cards, Consuming Sinkhole offers adaptability that can be a key tactical asset. With the dual functionalities that it brings to the table, it makes a solid case for inclusion in any deck that aims to interrupt land strategies or needs an alternative method for dealing damage.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Consuming Sinkhole MTG card by a specific set like Oath of the Gatewatch, 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 Consuming Sinkhole and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Consuming Sinkhole has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Consuming Sinkhole card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.