Poison the Blade MTG Card


Grants card advantage through beneficial creature interactions and can turn the tides in creature-heavy formats. Allows for a proactive playstyle, reacting instantly to in-game scenarios, and thwarting opponent strategies. Despite its cons, inclusion in your collection can strengthen decks with its adaptable nature and combo potential.
Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeInstant

Text of card

Target creature gains deathtouch until end of turn. Draw a card.

"Breath of basilisk, sting of scorpion, or medusa's tears? All may be distilled, for a price."


Cards like Poison the Blade

Poison the Blade raises the stakes in Magic: The Gathering’s array of combat trick spells. It’s aligned with cards like Giant Growth, which traditionally offers a temporary but sizable boost to a creature’s power and toughness. Poison the Blade notches up the intensity by incorporating an additional poison counter mechanism, effectively applying pressure on the opposing player’s life total directly.

Comparable tactics are found in spells like Virulent Swipe, which grants a lesser power boost but pairs it with a deathtouch attribute, enhancing a creature’s lethal capacity. While Virulent Swipe focuses on ensuring any amount of damage is deadly, Poison the Blade is unique in its approach to accumulate poison counters, aiming for a different route to victory.

Tackle from the standpoint of strategic depth and ingenuity, Poison the Blade offers varied gameplay options for players in Magic: The Gathering. It extends beyond simple power enhancement, doubling as a tool for an alternate win condition, adding layers to a player’s tactical arsenal.

Giant Growth - MTG Card versions
Virulent Swipe - MTG Card versions
Giant Growth - MTG Card versions
Virulent Swipe - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Poison the Blade by color, type and mana cost

Tranquil Domain - MTG Card versions
Resuscitate - MTG Card versions
Heavy Fog - MTG Card versions
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Nourish - MTG Card versions
Wear Away - MTG Card versions
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Strength of the Tajuru - MTG Card versions
Naturalize - MTG Card versions
Tel-Jilad Defiance - MTG Card versions
Tribute to the Wild - MTG Card versions
Tranquil Domain - MTG Card versions
Resuscitate - MTG Card versions
Heavy Fog - MTG Card versions
Aggressive Urge - MTG Card versions
Tangle - MTG Card versions
Krosan Reclamation - MTG Card versions
Seedtime - MTG Card versions
Inscription of Abundance - MTG Card versions
Nourish - MTG Card versions
Wear Away - MTG Card versions
Vital Surge - MTG Card versions
Predator's Strike - MTG Card versions
Might of the Nephilim - MTG Card versions
Resize - MTG Card versions
Squall Line - MTG Card versions
Regenerate - MTG Card versions
Strength of the Tajuru - MTG Card versions
Naturalize - MTG Card versions
Tel-Jilad Defiance - MTG Card versions
Tribute to the Wild - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Poison the Blade offers the potential to sway the board in your favor by providing beneficial trade-offs. If eliminating an opposing creature allows one of your creatures to survive and attack once more, you effectively swing the card balance to your advantage. This card can be a pivotal tool in turning the tide, especially in formats where creature-based strategies dominate.

Resource Acceleration: While Poison the Blade doesn’t directly accelerate your resources, its cost-effectiveness can complement a broader strategy of resource acceleration. By efficiently managing your mana and spells, it allows you to keep pace with opponents and maintain pressure without sacrificing valuable resources.

Instant Speed: The instant speed of Poison the Blade is its key strategic advantage. This flexibility lets you make crucial decisions at the most opportune moments, whether that’s disrupting an opponent’s attack, interjecting during their combat phase, or simply taking them by surprise. The ability to react in real-time with instant speed can often be the difference between victory and defeat, sharpening your deck’s competitive edge.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Poison the Blade requires discarding a card as an additional cost to cast. This can negatively impact your hand, especially if you’re already struggling to maintain card advantage over your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Poison the Blade is limited to two colors which could restrict its integration into multi-color decks or decks that do not support these specific colors efficiently.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For its effect, Poison the Blade has a somewhat steep mana requirement. As such, players might find that incorporating other spells with similar functionalities could be more mana-efficient and provide a quicker turnaround in a tight game situation.


Reasons to Include Poison the Blade in Your Collection

Versatility: Poison the Blade offers strategic flexibility in gameplay, easily slotting into decks geared towards aggressive strategies as well as those that might need a sudden boost in creature power or removal capabilities.

Combo Potential: This card can work wonders in combination with other cards that gain benefits from dealing damage or when certain creatures are destroyed, creating opportunities for powerful synergies within your deck.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where creature-based decks are prevalent, Poison the Blade provides a tactical edge, offering both the utility of buffing your creatures and a potential answer to opponent threats.


How to Beat

Poison the Blade stands out as a tactical card in MTG with its capability to amplify the threat of your creatures. This practical enchantment spell not only grants a power boost but also endows the creature with the deathtouch ability, thus becoming a significant obstacle for opponents.

Counteracting Poison the Blade requires a strategic approach. First, the card’s influence can be mitigated by removing the enchanted creature from play. Targeted removal spells that can bypass or nullify deathtouch, such as those causing exile or -X/-X effects, are particularly effective. Moreover, counter spells play a crucial role when dealing with Poison the Blade before it hits the battlefield, preventing your creatures from having to face an empowered, deadly adversary.

Another tactic includes employing creatures with indestructible, as they can withstand the deathtouch ability, or utilizing your own enchantment removal tools to directly address Poison the Blade itself. It’s essential to keep in mind the importance of board control and to anticipate potential threats like this enchantment, which can decisively swing the momentum of a match in MTG.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG means embracing the art of strategy and decision-making. Poison the Blade opens avenues for board control and can be a defining factor in creature-heavy matchups. To strengthen your deck, consider the versatile uses and potential combinations with cards emphasizing damage or creature destruction. As the meta shifts, keeping a card like Poison the Blade ready can give you an edge. If you’re intrigued by this tactical enchantment, keen on refining your gameplay, and eager to exploit its synergies, dive deeper with us. Enhance your collection and your strategy by learning more about how to turn Poison the Blade into your secret weapon.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Poison the Blade MTG card by a specific set like Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate and Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate, 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 Poison the Blade and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Poison the Blade Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2022-06-10 and 2022-07-07. Illustrated by Matt Forsyth.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12022-06-10Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's GateCLB 2482015NormalBlackMatt Forsyth
22022-07-07Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's GateHBG 2202015NormalBlackMatt Forsyth

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Poison the Blade has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal