Crackling Doom MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 6 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. It provides substantial card advantage by forcing multiple opponents to sacrifice creatures.
  2. Optimizes multicolored mana bases and provides strategic flexibility with instant speed.
  3. Its high mana specificity and cost may limit usage to specific deck types or strategies.

Text of card

Crackling Doom deals 2 damage to each opponent. Each opponent sacrifices a creature with the greatest power among creatures he or she controls.

Do not fear the lightning. Fear the one it obeys.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crackling Doom gives you an edge as it affects each opponent, potentially clearing multiple threats off the board with a single card. This effect ensures you’re trading one of your cards for several of your opponents’, setting you up for future turns.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly accelerating your resources, the mana cost of Crackling Doom is spread across three colors, which can optimize the use of a multicolored mana base. This allows you to leverage your land resources efficiently in a multicolor deck.

Instant Speed: Crackling Doom’s instant speed is a significant strategic advantage, allowing you to respond to your opponent’s plays or end-of-turn threats. This flexibility can disrupt your opponent’s strategy and preserve your board state while also leaving them guessing about your hand.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Although Crackling Doom doesn’t force a discard, it requires a varied mana base to cast. This can sometimes lead to tricky situations where holding onto it might mean missing out on playing other cards from your hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Crackling Doom’s cost demands one of each, red, white, and black mana, which can be prohibitive for decks that aren’t oriented around a Mardu (red-white-black) color scheme. This limits its versatility across various deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three specific mana for its effect, some players consider Crackling Doom to be a costly investment, especially when competing against other impactful three-mana spells that may fit more seamlessly into a deck’s mana curve.


Reasons to Include Crackling Doom in Your Collection

Versatility: Crackling Doom offers a unique position as a multi-colored instant that suits a variety of deck builds. Its ability to target the creature with the highest power no matter its protections makes it a versatile pick for Mardu, control, or midrange decks.

Combo Potential: This card goes beyond its immediate impact, often enabling delightful combos in decks that capitalize on sacrifice effects or benefit from each opponent losing life, potentially synergizing with cards that gain advantages from opponents’ life total changes.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where powerful creatures frequently dominate, Crackling Doom stands as a robust answer to pesky threats. It shines against decks that rely on big creatures or voltron strategies, ensuring it continues to be relevant in various matchups and formats, like Commander or even Modern.


How to beat

Crackling Doom stands out in MTG as a dreaded multicolor instant capable of influencing the battlefield with its unique effect. This spell not only deals damage to each opponent but also forces them to sacrifice their biggest creature, a harsh blow in many formats. To gain the upper hand against this powerful card, a strategic approach is required.

One method to undermine Crackling Doom’s impact is by maintaining a wide board presence with multiple sizeable creatures, diluting its sacrifice effect. Additionally, utilizing hexproof or indestructible creatures can render the forced sacrifice moot. Employing instant-speed spells or abilities to bounce or sacrifice your own creatures in response can also turn the tables, keeping your most valuable assets safe.

Devising a deck with flexible and responsive elements allows players to adjust their game plan on the fly. By prioritizing resilience and evasion tactics, the disruptive potential of Crackling Doom can be mitigated, cushioning its impact and enabling a player to recover more swiftly. Counterplay ensures that this formidable card doesn’t doom your chances of victory.


BurnMana Recommendations

Crackling Doom is a powerhouse of strategic value for any MTG enthusiast’s collection. With its ability to remove the mightiest foe’s creature across all opponents while also chipping away at their life, it makes for an excellent addition to Mardu decks and those seeking a versatile instant. Understanding how to wield it effectively or counter its devastating impact could shift the tide of any match. For players eager to refine their strategies and optimize their decks, we’re here to offer more insights and tips. Dive deeper with us, learn the nuances, and ensure your deck is a force to be reckoned with.


Cards like Crackling Doom

Crackling Doom is a distinctive spell in Magic: The Gathering, known for its ability to force each opponent to sacrifice their most powerful creature. Its direct comparison includes spells like Terminate, which also serves the purpose of creature removal. However, Terminate targets a single creature, while Crackling Doom’s reach is broader, affecting all opponents and bypassing indestructibility by executing a sacrifice effect without targeting.

Cards like Dreadbore and Hero’s Downfall also serve as removals, but they differ in versatility. Dreadbore can eliminate a creature or planeswalker but lacks Crackling Doom’s speed, being a sorcery. Hero’s Downfall does offer instant speed but at a slightly higher mana cost, and it addresses only a single threat. Then there is Anguished Unmaking, offering broader removal at any nonland permanent and an instant pace, though it demands life sacrifice.

Ultimately, Crackling Doom stands out with its strategic position, functioning as a mass removal against the mightiest creatures controlled by the opposition, combined with direct damage. It excels in multiplayer formats, where its capabilities are maximized, distinguishing itself among various MTG removal cards.

Terminate - MTG Card versions
Dreadbore - MTG Card versions
Hero's Downfall - MTG Card versions
Anguished Unmaking - MTG Card versions
Terminate - Planeshift (PLS)
Dreadbore - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Hero's Downfall - Theros (THS)
Anguished Unmaking - Shadows over Innistrad Promos (PSOI)

Cards similar to Crackling Doom by color, type and mana cost

Mardu Charm - MTG Card versions
Mardu Charm - Khans of Tarkir (KTK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crackling Doom MTG card by a specific set like Khans of Tarkir and Khans of Tarkir Promos, 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 Crackling Doom and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Crackling Doom Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2014-09-26 and 2022-07-08. Illustrated by Yohann Schepacz.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12014-09-26Khans of TarkirKTK 1712015normalblackYohann Schepacz
22014-09-26Khans of Tarkir PromosPKTK 171s2015normalblackYohann Schepacz
32016-11-11Commander 2016C16 1912015normalblackYohann Schepacz
42017-08-25Commander 2017C17 1672015normalblackYohann Schepacz
52020-04-17Commander 2020C20 2052015normalblackYohann Schepacz
62022-07-08Double Masters 20222X2 1962015normalblackYohann Schepacz

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Crackling Doom has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2014-09-20 Crackling Doom doesn’t target any player or creature. For example, a creature with protection from black could be sacrificed.
2014-09-20 If a player controls two or more creatures tied for the greatest power among creatures they control, that player chooses one of them to sacrifice.
2014-09-20 In a multiplayer game, each opponent, starting with the active player and proceeding in turn order, chooses which creature they will sacrifice and then all creatures are sacrificed at the same time. Each successive player will know what the players before them chose to sacrifice.
2014-09-20 The sacrifice is not dependent on the damage being dealt. It doesn’t matter if that damage is prevented or redirected.

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks