Crush the Weak MTG Card

Kaldheim (KHM)
2021-02-05 - Number 128

The List (PLST)
2020-09-26 - Number KHM-128

Card sets	Released in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Abilities	Foretell

Key Takeaways

Crucial for clearing token swarms, Crush the Weak offers efficient multi-creature removal.
Foretell enables strategic mana use, spreading costs for more flexible plays.
Builds resilience in a deck by imposing exile, suppressing recurring threats.

Text of card

Crush the Weak deals 2 damage to each creature. If a creature dealt damage this way would die this turn, exile it instead. Foretell (During your turn, you may pay and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Crush the Weak can serve as a powerful board sweeper against token strategies and low-toughness creatures, efficiently clearing multiple threats with a single card to potentially swing the game in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana, Crush the Weak can pave the way for a more aggressive play by eliminating early blockers, allowing faster creature-centric decks to apply pressure and reducing the need for additional resources to manage a populated board.

Instant Speed: Though Crush the Weak is a sorcery and therefore doesn’t provide the flexibility of an instant, its foretell cost does offer a form of delayed resource utilization. This allows savvy players to manage their resources effectively by splitting the cost across turns, potentially setting up more impactful future plays.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Crush the Weak does not call for a discard, but it’s important to acknowledge that managing your hand is crucial when playing spells with specific effects. Cards requiring a discard can force strategy alterations, potentially leading to a resource disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: With the requirement of red mana, Crush the Weak may not seamlessly integrate into multi-colored decks. Players must consider mana base compatibility to ensure that casting it does not become a struggle during crucial game phases.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While it clears out multiple creatures with lesser power, it comes with a three mana investment. In a format where agility can be key, some players might find alternative sweepers or spot removals that allow for more efficient multi-plays in a single turn.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Crush the Weak offers utility across a multitude of deck archetypes in MTG by providing a sweeping effect that can clear the board of smaller creatures. This is useful not only in control decks seeking to stabilize the board but also in aggressive strategies interested in removing blockers to maintain pressure.

Combo Potential: In conjunction with cards that pump your own creatures’ toughness or with graveyard strategies, Crush the Weak allows you to manipulate the battlefield to your advantage. Its foretell cost also provides a strategic edge, allowing players to set it up early and activate it at the most opportune moment.

Meta-Relevance: Due to its ability to thwart swarm strategies and early-game aggro decks, including token generators, Crush the Weak has a solid position in the meta. As such decks frequently rise in popularity, having Crush the Weak ready in your repertoire enables a proactive approach to such shifts in the playing field.

How to Beat

Crush the Weak is an impactful sweep card that can be a game-changer in MTG. This card brings the heat against strategies reliant on creatures with lower power, effectively wiping the board of them. What sets Crush the Weak apart is its ability to clear multiple small creatures at once while also having the foretell mechanic, allowing for some strategic planning and cost reduction.

To overcome Crush the Weak, consider building your deck with creatures that can withstand a damage threshold of three. Creatures with toughness greater than three or those with powerful enter-the-battlefield effects minimize the setback from a Crush the Weak sweep. Alternatively, employ counterspells or cards that grant your creatures indestructibility for a turn, making them temporarily impervious to such removal spells. Another key strategy is to bait out your opponent’s Crush the Weak early, by playing expendable creatures first, before deploying your more valuable threats. This will force them to use their removal preemptively, paving the way for your stronger creatures to dominate the board.

Mastering the art of timing and knowing when to commit to the board can be crucial in outmaneuvering Crush the Weak. Thus, a mix of resilient creatures, smart play, and protective spells are your best tools to triumph over this powerful board-cleansing card.

Cards like Crush the Weak

Crush the Weak shines in its role as a selective board clear within Magic: The Gathering, a crucial archetype in controlling the battlefield. Notably, it is reminiscent of cards like Sweltering Suns, which offers a similar sweep, dealing damage to each creature. Crush the Weak, however, has the edge with the potential to exile those with lesser toughness, preventing graveyard-centric strategies from rebounding.

Looking to Flame Sweep, this card stands as a competitor, delivering damage to creatures without hitting your planeswalkers—yet it cannot exile like Crush the Weak. The exiling effect is particularly potent against decks that rely on recurring and indestructible threats. Another parallel card is Anger of the Gods, a sorcery that deals 3 damage to each creature while also exiling those that would perish, bearing a closer resemblance to Crush the Weak’s destructive and exiling duality.

Ultimately, when comparing these sweeping effects, Crush the Weak may not deal the most damage but its combination of removal and disruption by exiling can be exceptionally valuable against certain decks in MTG, providing a unique niche for players to exploit.

Cards similar to Crush the Weak by color, type and mana cost

Search for Survivors - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Crush the Weak MTG card by a specific set like The List and Kaldheim, 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 Crush the Weak and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Crush the Weak Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-02-05 and 2021-02-05. Illustrated by Lucas Graciano.

#	Released	Name	Code	Symbol	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	~~2020-09-26~~	The List	PLST		KHM-128	2015	Normal	Black	Lucas Graciano
2	2021-02-05	Kaldheim	KHM		128	2015	Normal	Black	Lucas Graciano

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Crush the Weak has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2021-02-05	Because exiling a card with foretell from your hand is a special action, you can do so any time you have priority during your turn, including in response to spells and abilities. Once you announce you’re taking the action, no other player can respond by trying to remove the card from your hand.
2021-02-05	Casting a foretold card from exile follows the timing rules for that card. If you foretell an instant card, you can cast it as soon as the next player’s turn. In most cases, if you foretell a card that isn’t an instant (or doesn’t have flash), you’ll have to wait until your next turn to cast it.
2021-02-05	Creatures don’t necessarily have to be dealt lethal damage by Crush the Weak to be exiled. After being dealt damage, if they would die for any reason that turn, they’ll be exiled instead.
2021-02-05	If you’re casting a foretold card from exile for its foretell cost, you can’t choose to cast it for any other alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, those must be paid to cast the spell.