Quietus Spike MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityRare
TypeArtifact — Equipment
Abilities Equip

Key Takeaways

  1. Quietus Spike provides card advantage by heightening threat levels, prompting inefficient opponent responses.
  2. Its life-draining effect accelerates your strategy, forcing opponents into disadvantageous plays.
  3. Even without flash, the Spike’s immediate combat damage impact offers a potential game-winning condition.

Text of card

Equipped creature has deathtouch. Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, that player loses half his or her life, rounded up. Equip


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Quietus Spike swings the balance of a game by potentially decimating your opponent’s life total in just a few attacks. Though it doesn’t draw cards explicitly, the card indirectly leads to card advantage by forcing opponents to use their resources inefficiently to deal with threats enhanced by the Spike.

Resource Acceleration: While the Spike itself doesn’t generate mana or tokens, its life-draining ability can rapidly accelerate your game plan. By halving your opponent’s life total with each equipped creature’s hit, the pressure forces premature plays and misallocation of their resources which works to your benefit.

Instant Speed: The Quietus Spike may not be an Instant, but its impact is felt immediately upon dealing combat damage. In decks that can sneak creatures through enemy defenses, the Spike’s effect is tantamount to an instant-speed win condition as it drastically shortens the clock on your opponent.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Quietus Spike asks for a specific type of resource investment that players might find restrictive during gameplay. Since it fits best in a strategy revolving around equipment, having to possibly discard non-equipable cards can disrupt your game plan.

Specific Mana Cost: The activation demands three mana, featuring two colorless and one black. This requirement can be a significant barrier in multi-colored decks that may run on tight mana bases, limiting the Spike’s widespread adoption.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its three-generic and one black mana cost, Quietus Spike can be a substantial investment early on. Especially considering that some decks may prefer to allocate resources towards more immediately impactful cards or those with lower equip costs.


Reasons to Include Quietus Spike in Your Collection

Versatility: Quietus Spike is a tool that can turn any creature into a major threat. This equipment card fits seamlessly into a myriad of deck types, particularly those capitalizing on aggressive strategies to whittle down an opponent’s life total swiftly.

Combo Potential: It harbors immense synergy with creatures that have evasion or deathtouch, amplifying their lethality. Additionally, it can be a key part in combos, working with cards that untap creatures to allow for multiple attacks in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: With a prevalent use of creatures across various formats, Quietus Spike becomes a relevant sideboard card, or even a main deck choice, to counter life-gain strategies and turn the tide of a game by dealing substantial life loss.


How to beat

Quietus Spike is known for its ability to halve an opponent’s life total in Magic: The Gathering, which can be a daunting effect to face. This equipment card becomes truly intimidating when paired with creatures that can avoid being blocked, such as those with flying or unblockable abilities. However, like all cards in MTG, strategies exist to mitigate its impact on the game.

To counteract Quietus Spike, consider options for artifact removal, such as Disenchant or Naturalize, which are efficient ways to deal with troublesome equipment. Additionally, keeping instant-speed removal spells handy to destroy or exile creatures before the damage phase can prevent the life-halving trigger from occurring. Incorporating cards that restrict your opponent from attacking, like Ghostly Prison or Propaganda, can also be effective in staving off the threat.

Playing around Quietus Spike involves proactive measures and maintaining board control. By understanding the mechanics of the card and having the right answers at the right time, you can significantly reduce its impact and maintain dominance over the battlefield.


BurnMana Recommendations

Dive deeper into the strategic nuances of Quietus Spike and enhance your MTG arsenal. This card commands respect on the battlefield, inviting innovative tactics and offering a path to swift victory. Whether you’re integrating it into an existing deck or building afresh, understanding its potential and limitations can give you an edge. We recommend studying it closely to develop counter-strategies or to effectively wield its power. Equip yourself with knowledge by visiting us, where we unravel its secrets and equip you with insights to emerge as the cunning victor in your next encounter.


Cards like Quietus Spike

Quietus Spike is an equipment card that brings a unique twist to the MTG battlefield. The card possesses a powerful ability that halves an opponent’s life total whenever the equipped creature deals combat damage. In the realm of life-total-focused cards, it shares similarity with Scytheclaw. Scytheclaw also halves opponent’s life total when combat damage is dealt, but unlike Quietus Spike, it provides a one-time use, as it must be sacrificed after its effect.

Another card with a somewhat parallel effect is Grafted Exoskeleton, which equips to give the creature Infect, allowing it to deal damage in the form of -1/-1 counters and player poison counters – a subtle yet impactful approach towards reducing an opponent’s life in incremental steps rather than a dramatic half. However, it lacks the immediate life halving impact that makes Quietus Spike so formidable.

Reviewing these comparisons, Quietus Spike stands out in its capacity to alarmingly shift life totals, making it a compelling choice in any equipment strategy that seeks to deliver quick and potentially game-ending blows to an opponent.

Scytheclaw - MTG Card versions
Grafted Exoskeleton - MTG Card versions
Scytheclaw - MTG Card versions
Grafted Exoskeleton - MTG Card versions

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Jalum Tome - MTG Card versions
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Quietus Spike MTG card by a specific set like Shards of Alara and Planechase 2012, 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 Quietus Spike and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Quietus Spike Magic the Gathering card was released in 6 different sets between 2008-10-03 and 2022-11-18. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12008-10-03Shards of AlaraALA 2172003NormalBlackMark Brill
22012-06-01Planechase 2012PC2 1122003NormalBlackMark Brill
32016-11-25Planechase AnthologyPCA 1122015NormalBlackMark Brill
42017-08-25Commander 2017C17 2202015NormalBlackMark Brill
52022-04-29New Capenna CommanderNCC 3772015NormalBlackMark Brill
62022-11-18The Brothers' War Retro ArtifactsBRR 109z1997NormalBlackDavid Astruga
72022-11-18The Brothers' War Retro ArtifactsBRR 461997NormalBlackMark Brill
82022-11-18The Brothers' War Retro ArtifactsBRR 1091997NormalBlackDavid Astruga

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Quietus Spike has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2008-10-01 If multiple Quietus Spikes trigger at the same time, that player loses half their life when the first ability resolves, then loses half of the remainder when the next ability resolves, and so on. The player does not lose the same amount each time.
2008-10-01 That player loses half their life after combat damage has been subtracted from the player's life total. The amount of life the player loses is determined as the triggered ability resolves.
2010-06-15 In a Two-Headed Giant game, after combat damage is dealt, Quietus Spike looks at that player's life total (which is the same as the team's life total) when determining how much life the team will lose, which basically means the team's life total is halved. Here's an example of the math: The team has 19 life, so the player has 19 life. Quietus Spike causes the team to lose 10 life (19 divided by 2, rounded up). The team's life total becomes 9 (19 minus 10).

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