Devastating Dreams MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Rare
Type	Sorcery
Released	2002-02-04
Set symbol
Set name	Torment
Set code	TOR
Number	95
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Tony Szczudlo

Key Takeaways

Optimal use can lead to card advantage by setting up beneficial post-wipe game states.
Enables graveyard synergies and accelerates resources in certain deck types.
Needs careful play due to its demanding discard cost and specific mana needs.

Text of card

As an additional cost to play Devastating Dreams, discard X cards at random from your hand. Each player sacrifices X lands. Devastating Dreams deals X damage to each creature.

Kamahl dreams of storms of fire.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Though Devastating Dreams may seem like a card that disrupts your own game plan, when played right it can lead to a massive card advantage. By selectively discarding cards, you can tailor your game state to be beneficial post-wipe, leaving your opponents struggling to rebuild their board and hand.

Resource Acceleration: Devastating Dreams can function as an unexpected form of resource acceleration in a deck that thrives on graveyard interaction. By discarding lands or specific cards, you enable powerful graveyard synergies, setting the stage for recursion strategies that can outpace your adversaries.

Instant Speed: Although Devastating Dreams is a sorcery, its immediate impact on the board can rival that of instant-speed interactions. This card clears the slate fast and demands immediate adaptation from opponents who may not be prepared for such a sudden shift in game state.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Devastating Dreams necessitates the sacrifice of cards in hand as part of its casting cost. This presents a strategic drawback since it can diminish your hand, leaving you with fewer options as the game progresses. Players must weigh the potential field clearance against the cost of depleting their own resources.

Specific Mana Cost: With a distinctive requirement of both red mana and additional generic mana, Devastating Dreams might not seamlessly integrate into multicolored decks. This could limit its inclusion to predominantly red decks, potentially reducing its versatility across the wide array of deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When examining mana efficiency, the cumulative cost of this spell, especially when aiming for maximum impact, is steep. Investing a considerable amount of mana and cards can be a heavy price, particularly if the payoff doesn’t secure a decisive advantage or if the opponent can recover more effectively.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Devastating Dreams blends into a variety of red-centered decks as a powerful sweeper that can reset the board. Its ability to discard cards as part of the cost also synergizes with strategies that thrive on graveyard play or madness mechanics.

Combo Potential: This card creates opportunities for game-changing combos, particularly in decks designed around land destruction or mass damage. Pairing it with cards that protect your own assets or capitalize on an empty board can lead to a decisive advantage.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state dominated by creature-heavy strategies, having a card like Devastating Dreams can serve as an equalizer, capable of clearing out swarms of tokens or formidable threats all at once, maintaining the balance of power in your favor.

How to beat

Devastating Dreams is a powerful sorcery that can shape the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering, destroying lands and discarding cards. Facing this red spell is akin to staring down a wildfire capable of wiping out resources with one swift move. The key to overcoming Devastating Dreams is maintaining a mix of land protection and hand disruption resistance.

Strategies include utilizing cards like Terra Eternal to render your lands indestructible or running countermagic in your deck to nullify the spell before it takes effect. Additionally, having an array of low-cost permanents allows you to recover more swiftly post-devastation. Recovery resilience is crucial, so incorporating cards that benefit from graveyard retrieval or land recursion like Life from the Loam can prove invaluable against this destructive force. Players aiming to claim victory must think ahead, weigh out their options carefully, and prepare their decks to withstand and capitalize on the aftermath Devastating Dreams leaves behind. It’s a balancing act of risk and resourcefulness that determines who emerges from the ashes victorious.

Thus, a solid understanding of your deck’s strengths and weaknesses, combined with strategic play, is your best defense against the fiery wrath of Devastating Dreams.

Cards like Devastating Dreams

Devastating Dreams is a unique spell in the world of Magic: The Gathering, serving as both a mass land destruction and creature removal tool. It can be compared to the infamous Armageddon, which entirely strips players of their land resources. However, Devastating Dreams comes with a twist—it requires discarding cards at random, enabling it to be both a blessing and a bane, depending on the situation and deck synergy.

Another similar catastrophic card is Jokulhaups, which clears the board of lands, creatures, and artifacts, offering a reset button on the game state. The key difference lies in the lack of control over what gets destroyed with Jokulhaups, as opposed to the strategic discard cost attached to Devastating Dreams. Meanwhile, Wildfire shares a kinship with our thematic card through its ability to destroy land while dealing damage to creatures, though it doesn’t require discarding cards, acting more as a controlled decimation.

In essence, while each of these cards can fundamentally alter the tides of battle, Devastating Dreams grants a player the formidable power to sculpt the outcome to their favor, albeit with inherent risk attached. The card’s distinctive requirement for discard sets it apart, offering a calculating player the chance to wield chaos as a resource.

Cards similar to Devastating Dreams by color, type and mana cost

Embereth Shieldbreaker // Battle Display - MTG Card versions

Nahiri's Lithoforming - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Devastating Dreams MTG card by a specific set like Torment, 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 Devastating Dreams and other MTG cards: