Relic Putrescence MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	2010-10-01
Set symbol
Set name	Scars of Mirrodin
Set code	SOM
Number	77
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Allen Williams

Key Takeaways

Transform artifacts into afflictive assets causing your adversary to gather poison counters with each tap.
Exemplifies combo potential in infect and proliferate decks, escalating its power through strategic synergy.
Its niche role in artifact-heavy metagames can carve a path to victory against creature-dominant opponents.

Text of card

Enchant artifact Whenever enchanted artifact becomes tapped, its controller gets a poison counter.

"Until we shed the curse of sentience, we must endure its grotesque handiwork." —Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Relic Putrescence enables ongoing chip damage that can gradually erode an opponent’s life total. Playing it on an opponent’s creature turns every tap of that creature into a potential source of card advantage through incremental life point loss.

Resource Acceleration: While this enchantment itself doesn’t generate additional mana or treasure tokens, it synergizes well with cards that benefit from poisoning your opponents, indirectly contributing to strategic resource acceleration unique to poison-based decks.

Instant Speed: Although Relic Putrescence is an aura that needs to be cast at sorcery speed, its triggered ability has an instantaneous effect. Any time the enchanted artifact becomes tapped, the opponent gets a poison counter, thus utilizing the untap tap mechanics at instant speed proportions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Relic Putrescence requires the right setting to leverage its infect ability, which can be a tactical disadvantage when your hand is already depleted from other plays.

Specific Mana Cost: Relic Putrescence demands a precise mana setup, needing both black and green mana, which might not align with the fluid mana base of various deck strategies, potentially causing delays or restricting its playability to specific archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that could be considered steep for its targeted impact, it competes for a deck slot against other cards with broader or more immediate effects, potentially reducing its overall utility in a fast-paced game environment.

Reasons to Include Relic Putrescence in Your Collection

Versatility: Relic Putrescence is a card that you can slide into a variety of decks. Its ability to convert any artifact into a potential threat adds a layer of utility, especially in formats where artifacts are prevalent.

Combo Potential: This card excels in combinations, particularly in decks focused on proliferate mechanics or infect strategies. It can turn an innocuous artifact into a recurring source of -1/-1 counters, disrupting your opponent’s board state turn after turn.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where creatures are king, Relic Putrescence gives you an edge by enabling repeated interactions that can whittle down an opponent’s forces, positioning your deck to take advantage of weakened defenses.

How to beat

Relic Putrescence is an intriguing Magic the Gathering card that can become a nuisance on the battlefield due to its ability to infect creatures. It attaches to a creature and slowly drains the opponent’s life total with poison counters whenever the enchanted creature becomes tapped. This subtle yet persistent threat necessitates a strategic removal approach.

The key to overcoming Relic Putrescence lies in efficient creature removal or enchantment destruction. Bringing cards like Naturalize or Disenchant into your deck can swiftly eliminate the problem by targeting the aura itself. In a pinch, a card like Return to Nature can be even more versatile, dealing with artifacts, enchantments, or granting graveyard removal—critical against decks that rely on recursion strategies.

It’s also crucial to manage your opponent’s creatures smartly to minimize the impact of Relic Putrescence. Utilizing instant-speed removal spells, such as Doom Blade or Path to Exile, will allow you to respond when your adversary tries to tap their creature, effectively denying them the chance to stack up more poison counters. By incorporating these strategies, you’ll dampen the potency of your opponent’s infectious tactics and maintain control over the game pace.

Cards like Relic Putrescence

Relic Putrescence is an intriguing enchantment that infects the battlefield of Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to place poison counters on a player whenever the enchanted artifact becomes tapped adds a strategic layer to the game. This is akin to cards like Virulent Wound, which also adds poison counters but does so as a one-time effect and requires the removal of a creature as the trigger.

When compared to Corrupted Resolve, both cards use the poison counter mechanics but differ in function as Corrupted Resolve is more of a defensive tool that counters spells under certain conditions. Conversely, Glistening Oil provides a similar poison threat that also attaches to creatures and slowly weakens them over time but has a recurring downside of the card returning to its owner’s hand when the creature dies.

Through these comparisons, Relic Putrescence stands out as a unique option for players aiming to incorporate the infectious aspect of the game into their strategy, especially in the context of artifact-heavy decks. Its ability to control the flow of the game through repeated uses of the enchanted artifact makes it a subtle but potent weapon.

Cards similar to Relic Putrescence by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Relic Putrescence MTG card by a specific set like Scars of Mirrodin, 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 Relic Putrescence and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Relic Putrescence has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2011-01-01	If the enchanted artifact is tapped as a cost to activate a mana ability, the mana ability resolves immediately, then Relic Putrescence’s ability goes on the stack.
2011-01-01	If the enchanted artifact is tapped as a cost to activate an ability that’s not a mana ability, Relic Putrescence’s ability will go on the stack on top of that activated ability and resolve first.
2011-01-01	Relic Putrescence may target and may enchant an artifact that’s already tapped. It won’t do anything until the enchanted artifact changes from being untapped to being tapped.
2011-01-01	When the enchanted artifact becomes tapped, Relic Putrescence’s ability triggers. The player who gets the poison counter is the player who, at the time the ability resolves, controls the artifact that became tapped. If that artifact is no longer on the battlefield, its last existence on the battlefield is checked to determine its controller. It doesn’t matter whether Relic Putrescence is still on the battlefield as the ability resolves, what artifact it’s enchanting at that time, who controlled the artifact at the time it became tapped, or who tapped it.