Dregs of Sorrow MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Dregs of Sorrow grants card advantage and board control by simultaneously removing creatures and refilling your hand.
  2. It’s a powerful inclusion for control decks but its specific mana needs may limit deck-building flexibility.
  3. Counterplay includes maintaining a minimal board presence and utilizing cards with graveyard synergies.

Text of card

Destroy X target nonblack creatures. Draw X cards.

Crovax gazed upon the dead, and for one dark moment he saw a banquet.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Dregs of Sorrow offers a unique way to gain card advantage by allowing you to eliminate multiple creatures at once, therefore refilling your hand proportionate to the creatures destroyed. This can easily swing the momentum of a game in your favor by both clearing the battlefield and providing new options to play.

Resource Acceleration: By removing vital creatures from your opponent’s side, you indirectly accelerate your resources. Clearing the board primes the stage for your subsequent plays, ensuring that your path to victory is less obstructed and that you can leverage your mana and cards more efficiently in subsequent turns.

Instant Speed: Although Dregs of Sorrow is a sorcery, its impactful effect sizably compensates for this timing restriction. The ability to decisively change the board state on your turn makes it a strategic powerhouse, setting you up for advantageous situations before passing control to your adversary.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Dregs of Sorrow forces you to sacrifice a creature when you cast it. Having to give up one of your creatures can be detrimental, especially if your board presence is already limited or the creature has a higher strategic value.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires black mana as part of its casting cost, which means it’s not as flexible for all deck types. Players running multicolored or lighter black mana decks might find it challenging to muster the necessary resources without disrupting their mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Dregs of Sorrow comes with a steep mana cost, which can impact your tempo, particularly in the mid-game. Given that it costs five mana to cast, other options might provide creature removal or card draw at a lower cost, yielding better overall value for your mana investment.


Reasons to Include Dregs of Sorrow in Your Collection

Versatility: Dregs of Sorrow serves multiple purposes in a single card. It can be a game-changing sweep by removing several creatures at once while also drawing you cards. This flexibility makes it a valuable addition to decks focusing on controlling the board.

Combo Potential: This card pairs well with decks that benefit from death triggers or the graveyard. Its ability to both clear the field and provide card advantage creates opportunities for synergistic plays with a variety of strategies.

Meta-Relevance: Being a spot removal and card draw in one, Dregs of Sorrow has the potential to be a powerhouse in a meta dominated by creature-based decks. It allows for significant swings in card advantage while keeping the board in check.


How to beat

Dregs of Sorrow is an intriguing sorcery in Magic: The Gathering that allows a player to destroy multiple creatures and potentially draw many cards in one fell swoop. A key strategy to counter this card lies in maintaining a minimal board presence, limiting the card’s impact. Similar to tactics used against other mass removal spells, playing creatures with undying or persist abilities can swiftly rebuild your board after a wipe. This resilience makes your board state less susceptible to a single, devastating blow.

Diversifying your threats is also effective. Combining creature strategies with other pressure points like planeswalkers or direct damage can spread out your assets, making it harder for Dregs of Sorrow to disrupt your overall game plan. Additionally, employing counterspells or cards with hexproof to protect your key creatures can prevent your opponent from gaining the upper hand with this powerful black spell. Lastly, graveyard manipulation, either by exiling key creatures or using graveyard shuffling effects, can limit the choices for targets, thus, decreasing the potential value your opponent gains from casting Dregs of Sorrow.


Cards like Dregs of Sorrow

Dregs of Sorrow is a unique addition to Magic: The Gathering’s suite of creature removal and draw spells. It shares common ground with cards such as Death Rattle, where both allow the destruction of creatures, but Dregs of Sorrow brings an added twist: the ability to draw cards equal to the number of creatures destroyed. Unlike Death Rattle, which is limited to non-green creatures and has the possibility of costing less through delve, Dregs of Sorrow offers a wider removal scope and potential card advantage.

Another spell that mirrors the essence of Dregs of Sorrow is Decree of Pain. Both cards clear the board of creatures and reward you with card draw. Nonetheless, Decree of Pain sweeps the battlefield clean without targeting, which can be a game-changer in certain situations. It’s also noteworthy that Dregs of Sorrow offers more control over the number of creatures affected, allowing for a tailored approach to removing threats.

Ultimately, when considering removal and card draw versatility in Magic: The Gathering, Dregs of Sorrow stands out for its targeted removal coupled with the opportunity for a card draw boost. This capacity for pinpoint precision in addressing threats while refueling your hand makes it a compelling choice in decks that need to temper opponent’s creatures while maintaining card flow.

Death Rattle - MTG Card versions
Decree of Pain - MTG Card versions
Death Rattle - MTG Card versions
Decree of Pain - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Dregs of Sorrow by color, type and mana cost

Reign of Terror - MTG Card versions
Soul Shred - MTG Card versions
Living Death - MTG Card versions
Beacon of Unrest - MTG Card versions
Final Punishment - MTG Card versions
Soul Feast - MTG Card versions
Patriarch's Bidding - MTG Card versions
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Dance of Shadows - MTG Card versions
Brainspoil - MTG Card versions
Sever Soul - MTG Card versions
Head Games - MTG Card versions
Promise of Power - MTG Card versions
Rise from the Grave - MTG Card versions
Incremental Blight - MTG Card versions
Dakmor Plague - MTG Card versions
Spread the Sickness - MTG Card versions
Monomania - MTG Card versions
Diabolic Revelation - MTG Card versions
Crux of Fate - MTG Card versions
Reign of Terror - MTG Card versions
Soul Shred - MTG Card versions
Living Death - MTG Card versions
Beacon of Unrest - MTG Card versions
Final Punishment - MTG Card versions
Soul Feast - MTG Card versions
Patriarch's Bidding - MTG Card versions
Aether Snap - MTG Card versions
Dance of Shadows - MTG Card versions
Brainspoil - MTG Card versions
Sever Soul - MTG Card versions
Head Games - MTG Card versions
Promise of Power - MTG Card versions
Rise from the Grave - MTG Card versions
Incremental Blight - MTG Card versions
Dakmor Plague - MTG Card versions
Spread the Sickness - MTG Card versions
Monomania - MTG Card versions
Diabolic Revelation - MTG Card versions
Crux of Fate - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dregs of Sorrow MTG card by a specific set like Tempest and Seventh Edition, 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 Dregs of Sorrow and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dregs of Sorrow Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 1997-10-14 and 2014-11-07. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11997-10-14TempestTMP 1311997NormalBlackThomas Gianni
22001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 1291997NormalWhiteMassimilano Frezzato
32001-04-11Seventh Edition7ED 129★1997NormalBlackMassimilano Frezzato
42014-11-07Commander 2014C14 1432015NormalBlackThomas Gianni

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dregs of Sorrow has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Dregs of Sorrow 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 X can be zero.

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