Festering Evil MTG Card

Weatherlight (WTH)
1997-06-09 - Number 68

Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
2022-12-02 - Number 119

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment

Key Takeaways

The card disrupts opponents’ boards and strategies by dealing damage when it dies.
Demands high resource commitment, which can hamper hand advantage and deck adaptability.
A unique asset for black-centric decks, enhancing combos and metagame presence.

Text of card

During your upkeep, Festering Evil deals 1 damage to each creature and player. o Bo B, Sacrifice Festering Evil: Festering Evil deals 3 damage to each creature and player.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Festering Evil ensures that when it leaves the battlefield, each creature and each opponent takes a hit. This can often result in a sizeable dent in your opponent’s creature base, tipping the scales in terms of board presence in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: Although Festering Evil itself doesn’t directly provide resource acceleration, it may force your opponent to spend resources dealing with it. This indirect pressure can give you the upper hand, as your opponent might have to divert mana and cards that could have been used to develop their board or counter your actions.

Instant Speed: Utilizing Festering Evil’s ability at instant speed is a key advantage. You can make strategic decisions in response to your opponent’s moves. If an opponent targets Festering Evil with a removal spell, you can activate its ability in response, ensuring you still reap the benefits of its presence before it departs the battlefield.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Festering Evil demands an additional resource commitment with its upkeep cost, which could potentially put you at a disadvantage by depleting your hand prematurely.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring a dedicated combination of black mana, this card necessitates a commitment to swamp lands, potentially limiting the diversity and adaptability of your deck.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that is significant, you might find that incorporating Festering Evil into your gameplay could delay the deployment of other crucial creatures or spells, which might otherwise impact the board state more immediately.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Festering Evil offers a flexible role in black-centric or control decks, possessing both a deterrence on board and a built-in way to clear away smaller creatures that can bog down your path to victory.

Combo Potential: This card has synergy with strategies that revolve around creature deaths, such as those triggering morbid abilities or requiring sacrifice fodder, thus fitting well into a range of combo decks looking to exploit these elements.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where creature-based strategies are prevalent, Festering Evil becomes a card that can turn the tide by its threat of activation. This can be particularly potent in metas saturated with aggro decks that field numerous low-toughness creatures.

How to beat

Festering Evil is a unique creature in MTG that brings both an ominous presence and a utility aspect to the game table. What makes this card slightly intimidating is its death trigger, which can deal a substantial amount of damage to creatures and players alike when it’s put into a graveyard from play. However, fear not, for there are strategic ways to navigate around this powerful effect.

Control decks might employ counterspells to ensure Festering Evil never hits the battlefield, while more aggressive decks could leverage untargeted removal or exile effects to bypass the death trigger altogether. It’s vital to keep in mind that timing and the right spell selection are key factors. Instant-speed removal like Swords to Plowshares, can be a saving grace when Festering Evil attempts to claim dominance on the board. The goal is to minimize its impact, or even turn it to your advantage, using spells that can neutralize it without triggering its formidable ability. Navigating around Festering Evil’s potential fallout demands foresight and a sharp eye for opportunity during gameplay.

To summarize, Festering Evil can be a potent threat in MTG, but it is not insurmountable. With a tactical approach, fine-tuned deck-building, and precise play, you can overcome the challenges it presents and maintain control of the game.

Cards like Festering Evil

Festering Evil is an intriguing card among Magic: The Gathering’s suite of creature cards offering a death-triggered effect. Much like the infamous Pestilence, Festering Evil provides an ability to repeatedly deal damage to each creature and player. Yet, it stands alone with its significant difference – the ability triggers upon death, giving players one last powerful wave of destruction. Pestilence, whilst similar, requires an active management of life totals to remain on the board but lacks the impactful death trigger.

Looking at other cards such as Thrashing Wumpus, we notice a direct damage approach to creatures on a repeatable basis. Costing less mana than Festering Evil, it gives players recurring control over the board but does not affect players directly or offer a final burst upon leaving the battlefield. Then there’s Crypt Rats, a card that also shares the potential for a board wipe through its variable X damage ability. However, it demands a more strategic and conservative use since it can lead to self-destructive gameplay if not timed correctly.

Ultimately, Festering Evil finds its niche within MTG as a powerful if costly, tool with a unique death-triggered effect, setting it apart from other, similar cards in its ability to significantly influence the board state upon its demise.

Cards similar to Festering Evil by color, type and mana cost

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Festering Evil MTG card by a specific set like Weatherlight and Jumpstart 2022, 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 Festering Evil and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Festering Evil Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1997-06-09 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by 2 different artists.