Chronic Flooding MTG Card


Chronic Flooding - Return to Ravnica
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant,Mill
Released2012-10-05
Set symbol
Set nameReturn to Ravnica
Set codeRTR
Number32
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byScott Chou

Key Takeaways

  1. Chronic Flooding thrives in self-mill strategies, enriching graveyard card options for advanced play.
  2. Instantly milled cards at land tap provide strategic advantages during an opponent’s turn.
  3. Its unique milling mechanism supports synergy with graveyard-focused and control decks.

Text of card

Enchant land Whenever enchanted land becomes tapped, its controller puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

With the Izzet occupied elsewhere, many of their public works fell into disrepair.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Chronic Flooding is a potent enchantment for decks that aim to leverage their own graveyard. By enriching your graveyard with additional cards, you set the stage for powerful synergies and can outpace the opposition through shear card options.

Resource Acceleration: While not providing direct mana acceleration, this card fuels strategies that benefit from card density in the graveyard. It can be a key component in decks that use the delve mechanic, or ones that reanimate powerful creatures, essentially converting milled cards into a different resource.

Instant Speed: Although Chronic Flooding is not an instant itself, it has a unique interaction with cards that are. It can mill you at instant speed whenever a land it enchants is tapped. This feature is exceedingly valuable for decks that function on the principle of maximizing the utility of each phase of the game, including the opponent’s turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the case of Chronic Flooding, the mandatory discard does not apply, but the card forces one to build around a self-mill strategy which might not mesh well with your deck’s main game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: Chronic Flooding requires a precise mana alignment with its blue mana cost. This can be limiting as it fits primarily within blue-centric decks, potentially reducing its versatility in multicolor or non-blue strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: During gameplay, investing three mana in an enchantment that doesn’t immediately impact the board might put you behind, especially when other cards could provide instant benefits or more powerful long-term advantages.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Chronic Flooding offers a unique approach to deck control, easily integrating into mill strategies or control decks. Its ability to consistently fill the graveyard can also enable various delve or threshold abilities, increasing its utility across different play styles.

Combo Potential: With Chronic Flooding in play, cards that benefit from high graveyard counts, like spell recursion or creatures that get stronger with more cards in a graveyard, become significantly more potent, offering new combo avenues and synergistic interactions.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state where graveyard-based strategies are prominent, Chronic Flooding can disrupt opponents’ tactics while feeding your own. Additionally, it’s an excellent card to keep an eye on, as it can become highly relevant with the introduction of new sets and changing meta dynamics.


How to beat Chronic Flooding

Chronic Flooding, with its ability to mill cards from a player’s library whenever the enchanted land is tapped, adds a distinctive spin to control strategies in Magic: The Gathering. This enchantment can serve as a persistent nuisance, slowly whittling down an opponent’s resources. Navigating around this card requires a blend of strategic land use and timely removal.

To undermine Chronic Flooding’s potential, strategic land play is essential. Players can choose not to tap the affected land for mana, utilizing other lands or mana resources instead. Alternatively, if the milled cards fuel graveyard-based strategies, Chronic Flooding could unwittingly benefit the enchanted land’s controller.

Another effective approach is direct removal of the card. Green spells such as Naturalize, or white ones like Disenchant, can get rid of the enchantment efficiently. In more competitive play, cards with triggered abilities that can counter when Chronic Flooding is cast—like Dovin’s Veto or Negate—can also provide a preemptive solution.

Ultimately, beating Chronic Flooding hinges on minimizing its impact through careful play or employing the right removal tools at the opportune time to maintain an advantage on the battlefield.


Cards like Chronic Flooding

Chronic Flooding is an intriguing enchantment from the plane of Ravnica that brings a different twist to library manipulation in MTG. It stands out with its ability to mill cards at the mere cost of a land being tapped. Traditionally, mill strategies are often seen with cards like Tome Scour, which mills five cards at once without requiring any other actions from the player besides casting.

Another card that invites comparison is Hedron Crab, offering a similar land-triggered milling effect. The crab, however, has the added advantage of milling with every landfall, which can be multiple times a turn, contrasting with Chronic Flooding’s once-per-turn restriction. Moreover, Sphinx’s Tutelage follows in the footsteps of these mill mechanics yet scales up in potential as it continues to mill as you draw cards, potentially leveraging a massive advantage over time.

Despite the differing mechanics, Chronic Flooding provides a consistent mill strategy, especially beneficial in decks that can force or encourage opponents to tap their lands. While it doesn’t present the immediate impact of Tome Scour or the recurrent potential of Hedron Crab, its persistent pressure on the opponent’s library can be a valuable tool for any player weaving a mill-focused plan.

Tome Scour - MTG Card versions
Hedron Crab - MTG Card versions
Sphinx's Tutelage - MTG Card versions
Tome Scour - Magic 2010 (M10)
Hedron Crab - Zendikar (ZEN)
Sphinx's Tutelage - Magic Origins (ORI)

Cards similar to Chronic Flooding by color, type and mana cost

Invisibility - MTG Card versions
Power Leak - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Terrain - MTG Card versions
Stasis - MTG Card versions
Creature Bond - MTG Card versions
Lifetap - MTG Card versions
Power Artifact - MTG Card versions
Psychic Venom - MTG Card versions
Venarian Gold - MTG Card versions
Soar - MTG Card versions
Flooded Shoreline - MTG Card versions
Dance of Many - MTG Card versions
Teferi's Veil - MTG Card versions
Legacy's Allure - MTG Card versions
Chill - MTG Card versions
Buoyancy - MTG Card versions
Mana Maze - MTG Card versions
Psionic Gift - MTG Card versions
Immobilizing Ink - MTG Card versions
Stupefying Touch - MTG Card versions
Invisibility - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Power Leak - Summer Magic / Edgar (SUM)
Phantasmal Terrain - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Stasis - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Creature Bond - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Lifetap - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Power Artifact - Antiquities (ATQ)
Psychic Venom - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Venarian Gold - Legends (LEG)
Soar - Mirage (MIR)
Flooded Shoreline - Visions (VIS)
Dance of Many - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Teferi's Veil - Weatherlight (WTH)
Legacy's Allure - Tempest (TMP)
Chill - Tempest (TMP)
Buoyancy - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Mana Maze - World Championship Decks 2001 (WC01)
Psionic Gift - Odyssey (ODY)
Immobilizing Ink - Odyssey (ODY)
Stupefying Touch - Torment (TOR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Chronic Flooding MTG card by a specific set like Return to 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 Chronic Flooding and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Chronic Flooding has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2012-10-01 Chronic Flooding becoming attached to a tapped land won’t cause its ability to immediately trigger. That land must go from untapped to tapped.
2012-10-01 Chronic Flooding’s ability will trigger whenever the enchanted land becomes tapped for any reason, not just because its controller taps it for mana.

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