Scent of Nightshade MTG Card

Card Advantage: Boosts strategy with potential for valuable card draws and heightened options against opponents. Instant Speed: Offers unmatched reaction capability, making it a formidable, unpredictable addition to your arsenal. Resource Acceleration: Its ability to advance your game plan rapidly can be pivotal in overtaking opponents.

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	1999-06-07
Set symbol
Set name	Urza's Destiny
Set code	UDS
Number	69
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	John Avon

Text of card

Reveal any number of black cards in your hand. Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of cards revealed this way.

Cards like Scent of Nightshade

Scent of Nightshade offers MTG enthusiasts a unique dynamic in terms of card functionality. It draws parallels with cards like Doom Blade, which is a staple for its straightforward creature removal capabilities. However, Scent of Nightshade provides a nuanced twist, offering players the added advantage of life gain in addition to its removal properties. Unlike Doom Blade, which restricts targets to nonblack creatures, Scent of Nightshade does not discriminate based on color, though it does have a higher mana cost.

Another card worth mentioning in this context is Murder, a classic removal that excels in its simplicity – destroy target creature, with no additional effects or limitations. While Scent of Nightshade costs one mana more, the life gain it grants can be an essential lifeline in a tight game. By comparing it to Essence Extraction, which also combines life gain and creature removal, Scent of Nightshade’s higher mana cost is justified by its lack of color restriction, highlighting its flexibility.

Assessing the value and versatility of Scent of Nightshade within the realm of creature removal spells, its combination of effects allows for a strategic depth that can be pivotal in swinging the game’s momentum in a player’s favor.

Cards similar to Scent of Nightshade by color, type and mana cost

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Scent of Nightshade offers a strategic edge by potentially drawing you into more valuable cards, keeping your hand filled with options to outwit your opponent.

Resource Acceleration: This card can serve as a catalyst for advancing your game plan faster, providing a crucial boost to overtake your adversary by having more resources at your disposal earlier in the match.

Instant Speed: The flexibility afforded by instant speed spells is unmatched. Scent of Nightshade can be a game-changer, allowing you to react swiftly to the ever-changing battlefield, all while keeping your opponent guessing about your next move.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Scent of Nightshade requires players to discard another card to activate its abilities, which can potentially lead to a decrease in hand advantage. This can be particularly problematic in situations where maintaining card options is crucial for your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a specific combination of mana types for casting, which includes black mana. This can restrict the card’s inclusion to mainly black-focused or multicolor decks that can reliably produce the necessary mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that sits on the upper end of the mana curve, Scent of Nightshade might prove to be a costly investment in terms of resources. Given its price, players might opt for other spells or creatures that provide a more immediate impact on the game or offer more value for the same, or less, investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Scent of Nightshade can be a flexible addition to decks that thrive on spell-slinging or that aim to control the night. Its ability to potentially alter the game state can slide effortlessly into various gameplay strategies.

Combo Potential: This card can work wonders in tandem with cards that care about discard or graveyard synergies. It can also set up advantageous scenarios for follow-up plays that exploit the newly emptied opponent’s hand.

Meta-Relevance: Considering the pace of the current meta, Scent of Nightshade’s utility as a disruption tool can be key in outmaneuvering opponents who rely on a full grip of cards to execute their plans. Its place in the meta can’t be understated if timed and deployed effectively.

How to beat

Scent of Nightshade is a card that can be tricky to handle on the battlefield. This unique Magic: The Gathering card is often used by players to strategically disadvantage an opponent by targeting their creatures. Understanding its strengths is key to developing a strategy to counteract its effects.

Players wanting to mitigate Scent of Nightshade’s impact can use instant-speed removal to disrupt the card before it hampers their strategy. Playing around the card by holding onto removal until their opponent commits to casting it, thus gaining the most value from the interaction, is one approach. Additionally, utilizing hexproof or shroud abilities to protect valuable creatures ensures they remain untouched by this spell’s reach.

Moreover, deck building that emphasizes redundancy in creature abilities or employing creatures that can regenerate or recur from the graveyard can diminish the overall effectiveness of Scent of Nightshade. Including these elements in your game plan makes it less debilitating when an essential creature is targeted. By incorporating these countermeasures, players can turn the tide against Scent of Nightshade, maintaining a strong presence on the board despite its challenging ability.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Scent of Nightshade MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Destiny, 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 Scent of Nightshade and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Scent of Nightshade has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2004-10-04	You reveal cards, and thereby the value of X, on resolution.