Drain the Well MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Sorcery
Released	2008-07-25
Set symbol
Set name	Eventide
Set code	EVE
Number	121
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Warren Mahy

Key Takeaways

Drain the Well provides card advantage and mana acceleration, crucial for outpacing opponents during a match.
The requirement to discard and specific mana costs restrict its use, making it unsuitable for all deck types.
Despite the mana investment, its versatility and combo potential make it a valuable addition to some collections.

Text of card

Destroy target land. You gain 2 life.

Trows have learned that it's not wise to eat cinders without a bucket or two of water nearby.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Drain the Well enables you to remove persistent threats from the battlefield while simultaneously replenishing your hand with two new cards. This dual action can pivot the game in your favor, ensuring you don’t fall behind in the race for resources.

Resource Acceleration: By generating mana upon resolving, Drain the Well offers an immediate surge of resources that can be pivotal in outpacing your opponent. This swift influx of energy can be the difference between casting a game-changing spell a turn early or not.

Instant Speed: The flexibility of casting Drain the Well at instant speed means you can adapt to the evolving game state, disrupting your opponent’s plays at crucial moments or simply optimizing your own turn structure for maximum efficiency.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Drain the Well compels players to discard another card to activate its abilities. This can often lead to a precarious situation when your hand is already low, potentially forcing you to get rid of essential strategic elements or putting you at a card disadvantage compared to your opponent.

Specific Mana Cost: With a specific combination of black and green mana required to play Drain the Well, its inclusion is naturally limited to decks that can reliably produce both types of mana. This can be restrictive and may exclude this card from a vast array of multicolor or monochrome decks that can’t accommodate its mana demands.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Possessing a notable mana cost, Drain the Well may not always be the most economical choice for a deck’s strategy. As players seek to optimize their mana curve, they might find the cost hard to justify when other less mana-intensive options are available that provide similar or greater impacts on the game state.

Reasons to Include Drain the Well in Your Collection

Versatility: Drain the Well is a flexible card that can slide into various deck archetypes. It shines in those that benefit from land destruction, life gain, or utilizing the graveyard, underscoring its multifunctional nature in gameplay.

Combo Potential: This spell pairs well with strategies revolving around land recursion or benefiting from opponents’ resource denial. The life gain element adds a layer, enabling synergies with decks that thrive on life total manipulation.

Meta-Relevance: In a game state dominated by land-heavy or ramp strategies, Drain the Well’s ability to set back opponents while bolstering your own defenses can be critical, making it a timely inclusion in your MTG arsenal.

How to beat

The new addition to the blue and black suite of spells, Drain the Well, poses a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering matchups. This potent card gives its caster an advantage by offering both creature removal and lifegain, a combo that can swing the tide of battle. To effectively counter this, it’s key to utilize tactics that minimize the spell’s impact or prevent it from resolving entirely.

One reliable strategy is to employ instant-speed graveyard hate when Drain the Well targets a creature. This disrupts the spell’s target, causing it to fizzle and sparing your creature from its crippling effect. Cards like Grafdigger’s Cage limit the abilities that interact with the graveyard, rendering Drain the Well significantly less effective. Another approach is to maintain a robust board presence with hexproof or indestructible creatures, such as Slippery Bogbonder or Darksteel Myr, which remain impervious to Drain the Well’s removal effects.

Adapting your gameplay to include these measures can help tilt the odds in your favor. By being proactive and shielding your key assets against this formidable spell, you stand a better chance at maintaining control of the game and ultimately securing victory.

Cards like Drain the Well

Drain the Well carves its niche in the increasingly versatile world of land destruction and resource denial in MTG. It steps onto the battlefield reminiscent of cards such as Acidic Slime, which can also target lands, among other permanents, but with Drain the Well, you get an additional benefit. While Acidic Slime offers deathtouch and the ability to hit an artifact, enchantment, or planeswalker, Drain the Well purely focuses on stripping opponents of their mana base and padding your life total.

Echoing similar dynamics, we have Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, a spell that, much like Drain the Well, disrupts land but also ramps up your own mana count. However, Drain the Well edges ahead for those specifically aiming to stabilize their life in the process. Another peer in this category is Rain of Tears, straightforward land destruction without the frills. While it doesn’t provide the life gain or force sacrifice present in Drain the Well, its straightforward mana cost makes it a lean option for straightforward land disruption.

Comparatively, Drain the Well offers a strategic mix of aggressive land control and self-preservation, making it a card to consider for players who enjoy dictating the pace of play through resource manipulation.

Cards similar to Drain the Well by color, type and mana cost

Blex, Vexing Pest // Search for Blex - MTG Card versions

Hazardous Conditions - MTG Card versions

Rise of the Witch-king - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Drain the Well MTG card by a specific set like Eventide, 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 Drain the Well and other MTG cards: