Spreading Plague MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	5
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment
Released	2000-10-02
Set symbol
Set name	Invasion
Set code	INV
Number	125
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Scott Bailey

Key Takeaways

Spreading Plague can give card advantage by removing multiple creatures with one card, impacting opponent strategies.
Allows for resource preservation by saving removal spells, indirectly accelerating your gameplay efficiency.
Its battlefield impact is similar to instant speed, providing a reactive tool that shapes game dynamics.

Text of card

Whenever a creature comes into play, destroy all other creatures that share a color with it. They can't be regenerated.

The cruelest strain of plague keeps its hosts alive long enough to return home and infect their families.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Spreading Plague provides a unique form of board control, effectively removing creatures of the same color as any new creature that enters the battlefield. This can dampen opponents’ strategies, potentially leading to a card advantage as they lose multiple creatures to a single card.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly increasing your mana pool, Spreading Plague can indirectly accelerate your resources by preserving your own creature-based removal spells. You save on resources when the card autonomously manages the board, allowing you to deploy your mana and spells more efficiently elsewhere.

Instant Speed: Although Spreading Plague itself isn’t an instant, its persistent effect on the battlefield can operate at the speed of any creature spell. This means its impact is felt as soon as your opponents or you play a creature. This instant speed-like response applies pressure and shapes how the game unfolds, often in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When you play Spreading Plague, the card’s effect can often require preemptive action or sacrifice from your hand. This can lead to a less than favorable position if your hand is already stretched thin by other demands of your gameplay strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: Spreading Plague comes with a specific mana cost that necessitates the use of black mana. This can restrict its integration into decks and make it less adaptable when you’re looking to build a multicolor deck that might not be heavy on black mana resources.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes both a significant amount of mana and the need for black mana, Spreading Plague can be a costly investment. There are situations where deploying Spreading Plague may not be the optimal use of your resources, especially since there are other ways to remove creatures from the board that don’t require such a hefty mana setup.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Spreading Plague offers a unique dynamic in games where creature types are diverse. It ensures that the battlefield remains in constant flux, a tool that can be beneficial in decks built around sacrificial and recurring mechanics.

Combo Potential: This enchantment pairs excellently with indestructible creatures or those that benefit from other creatures dying. In the right build, Spreading Plague becomes a repeatable board control mechanism, clearing the way for strategic wins.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta crowded with creature-heavy decks, Spreading Plague can act as a powerful equalizer. Constantly hindering your opponents’ ability to maintain a presence on the board, it may shift the tide of the game in your favor against creature-centric strategies.

How to beat

Spreading Plague is an enchantment card in Magic: The Gathering that can pose a stumbling block for players running multicolor creature decks. Its unique ability to destroy creatures that share a color each time a creature enters the battlefield demands a tactical approach to maintain board presence. It requires a careful balance, as the wrong move could result in widespread creature loss. Strategies against Spreading Plague typically involve using artifact creatures, as they are colorless and unaffected by the enchantment’s condition.

Alternatively, running mono-colored decks can minimize the disruption Spreading Plague causes, allowing you to safely deploy creatures without triggering unwanted chain reactions. Incorporating enchantment removal spells into your deck is also a prudent tactic. These cards can eliminate Spreading Plague before it significantly hinders your game plan. Examples of effective enchantment removals include cards like Naturalize, Disenchant, and other similar spells that can be cast either at instant speed or during one’s own turn for more control over the timing of the removal.

Effective planning and the inclusion of these strategies in your gameplay can mitigate the impact of Spreading Plague and keep your creatures safe as you seek to outmaneuver your opponent.

Cards like Spreading Plague

Spreading Plague is an intriguing enchantment card in Magic the Gathering that creates a unique and volatile board state. It shares design space with cards like Engineered Plague, which also manipulates creature types to impact the battlefield. Where Engineered Plague weakens creatures of a chosen type, Spreading Plague has a broader sweep, destroying any creature that shares a color with another that enters the battlefield.

Looking at the card Night of Souls’ Betrayal, there’s a comparable effect of cursing creatures. This card lowers the power and toughness of each creature, making it a subtle yet powerful board-altering tool. Unlike Spreading Plague’s selective destruction, Night of Souls’ Betrayal affects all creatures on the battlefield equally, regardless of when they entered play. Additionally, the Plague avoids impacting colorless creatures, allowing for strategic deck building to take advantage of this loophole.

In the context of creature control, Spreading Plague stands out for its potential to completely clear colors off the board, making it a high-risk, high-reward play. It is a dynamic and strategically deep card that demands attention in any deck aiming to capitalize on its potent creature control capabilities.

Night of Souls' Betrayal - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Spreading Plague by color, type and mana cost

Curse of Death's Hold - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Spreading Plague MTG card by a specific set like Invasion, 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 Spreading Plague and other MTG cards: