Strands of Undeath MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Strands of Undeath facilitates card flow by enabling the owner to return it from the graveyard to their hand when a creature is put into a graveyard from play. This reusable quality ensures a sustained card advantage over the course of the game, keeping your hand replenished.

Resource Acceleration: Equipping a creature with Strands of Undeath can deter opponents from targeting it with removal spells, effectively accelerating your resource preservation. The attached creature becomes a less attractive target, which can lead to a more stable board presence and resource management strategy.

Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, Strands of Undeath can indirectly benefit from instant speed spells in your arsenal. By creating a threatening environment where any creature can become stronger and harder to kill, your opponents may hesitate to play spells on their turn, allowing you to capitalize on this delay with your own instant speed interactions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Strands of Undeath forces players to discard a card whenever it comes into play. This can be particularly taxing on your hand, especially when you’re playing a tight game where every card counts. It’s essential to weigh the benefit of the enchantment against the value of the cards you’re holding.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Strands of Undeath requires both black mana and generic mana, which means it’s exclusively suited for black or multicolor decks that can accommodate this. Players running decks without black mana won’t find this card useful, limiting its versatility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Priced at a total of four mana, with two being black, it sits on the higher end of the mana curve for its effects. In the fast-paced landscape of modern play, a four-mana enchantment that doesn’t significantly impact the game immediately may not be the most mana-efficient play.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Strands of Undeath fits seamlessly into a variety of decks, particularly those centered around control or graveyard mechanics. Its ability to provide creature protection and card advantage makes it a flexible tool in many game scenarios.

Combo Potential: This card allows for interesting combinations, such as reusing creatures with enter-the-battlefield effects or enabling discard strategies to set up powerful graveyard-based plays.

Meta-Relevance: With the ever-present threat of removal in most metagames, Strands of Undeath can be a key component in safeguarding pivotal creatures, simultaneously disrupting opponents’ hands and preserving your board state.

How to beat

Commanding the battlefield against Strands of Undeath can be challenging in MTG due to its ability to turn an ordinary creature into a regenerating threat while refilling a player’s hand. To counter this enchantment, players should consider including versatile removal spells in their deck that can target both creatures and enchantments. Cards like Disenchant, that can remove Strands of Undeath directly, minimize the card advantage it can provide. Additionally, graveyard hate cards like Relic of Progenitus can preemptively stop the regeneration capability by removing cards from the graveyard. Strategies to overpower the enchanted creature with removal spells like Doom Blade or board wipes should also be employed to ensure the creature doesn’t get multiple uses out of its newfound resilience. Considering removal cards that can bypass regeneration such as exile effects, will make sure the creature enhanced by Strands of Undeath is permanently dealt with, neutralizing potential threats and maintaining a balance in the battlefield. Keep the gameplay tight, prepare for the unease Strands of Undeath brings, and you’ll hold the upper hand against these dark filaments.