Herald of Anguish MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityMythic
TypeCreature — Demon
Abilities Flying,Improvise
Power 5
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Gives control by forcing opponents to discard, enhancing your influence over the game’s flow.
  2. Improvises with untapped artifacts, enabling faster deployment for a stronger board presence.
  3. Its end step discard ability turns each artifact into a constant looming threat against opponents.

Text of card

Improvise (Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you're done activating mana abilities pays for .) Flying At the beginning of your end step, each opponent discards a card. , Sacrifice an artifact: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Herald of Anguish provides a significant edge by enabling you to disrupt your opponent’s hand while building your own board presence. Each end step becomes an opportunity to thin out their resources while you dictate the pace of the game.

Resource Acceleration: This card bolsters your strategy with its improvise ability, allowing you to utilize untapped artifacts to cast it earlier than expected. This effectively accelerates your resource deployment, giving you a powerful creature on the battlefield ahead of time.

Instant Speed: Although not an instant itself, Herald of Anguish creates an atmosphere where your artifacts can be more than just static pieces. Its ability to force your opponent to discard at the speed of each end step makes every artifact you have a potential threat, keeping your adversaries on their toes and disrupting their plans at unexpected moments.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One of the challenges when bringing Herald of Anguish into play is its Improvise ability, which while reducing the casting cost, often necessitates you to discard other useful artifacts in your hand. This can be detrimental when you’re already managing limited resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Although Herald of Anguish can be a powerhouse, it requires a specific split of mana types, including black mana. This can restrict its inclusion to black-centric or two-color decks where mana fixing is less of an issue but may be a hindrance in more diverse mana bases.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Even with the benefit of Improvise, the initial cost of seven mana makes this card a late-game play. There are times when that cost could put a player at a disadvantage especially if the game does not proceed to the later stages where Herald of Anguish’s true power becomes fully accessible.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Herald of Anguish can adapt to various game scenarios, thanks to its ability to work well in artifact-centric decks and those looking for powerful late-game finishers.

Combo Potential: This card offers synergies with strategies that capitalize on artifacts, as its Improvise ability allows for a reduced casting cost and it can enable other combo plays through its disruptive hand-attacking abilities.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where artifacts play a key role, Herald of Anguish remains a noteworthy contender due to its ability to apply pressure on opponents with its discard effect and the potential for creature control with its -2/-2 activated ability.


How to Beat Herald of Anguish

Herald of Anguish is a powerful creature card that can be quite daunting to go up against in Magic the Gathering. This formidable demon makes an impact with its ability to disrupt opponents by forcing them to discard cards while also boasting the potential to clear the board with its -2/-2 ability. To counter this, timing your removal spells effectively is key. This could mean waiting until your opponent has invested resources into making Herald of Anguish more powerful before you strike with an instant speed removal spell.

Artifact removal spells can be particularly useful, as they can reduce the number of artifacts your opponent controls, limiting Herald of Anguish’s ability to dominate the game. Another strategy is to maintain a higher hand size to mitigate the discard effect. Cards with flash allow you to keep mana open and play reactively, which can be crucial when facing a card as dynamic as Herald of Anguish. In summary, by managing resources efficiently, and using spells strategically, Herald of Anguish can be effectively contained and overcome.


BurnMana Recommendations

Getting to grips with Herald of Anguish entails more than admiring its formidable presence in MTG. This card echoes the harmony between disruption and board control inherent in black-centered decks. Its late-game dominance and synergy with artifacts make it a cornerstone for specific strategies. Reviewing its pros and cons, alongside how it compares with other powerful cards, is crucial for deck building. To bolster your knowledge and refine your tactics against such titans, immerse yourself in our comprehensive guides. Enhance your gameplay and embrace the intricate art of MTG with us. Discover more strategies, forge stronger decks, and ascend as a savvy player today.


Cards like Herald of Anguish

Diving into the depths of control and power, Herald of Anguish stands out in the MTG landscape. Esteemed for its innate ability to pressure the opponent, this card draws parallels with other imposing figures such as Noxious Gearhulk. Both creatures make an immediate impact on the board, with Noxious Gearhulk offering a destructive entrance ridding you of a troublesome creature and life gain. Although Noxious Gearhulk doesn’t have the recurrent disruption capabilities of the Herald, its direct life-replenishing feature is noteworthy.

Examining cards like The Scarab God further enriches this comparison. While The Scarab God offers a versatile method to reanimate creatures from any graveyard, Herald of Anguish applies consistent pressure through its artifacts. Costing less mana, Herald of Anguish could hit the board sooner. Nonetheless, The Scarab God’s resilience against removal, due to its inherent ability to return to the owner’s hand, gives it a persistent edge that Herald of Anguish does not possess.

Ultimately, while comparing Herald of Anguish with its contemporaries in MTG, it’s the blend of imposing stature and ceaseless discard ability that places it as a formidable inclusion in artifact-centric strategies.

Noxious Gearhulk - MTG Card versions
The Scarab God - MTG Card versions
Noxious Gearhulk - Kaladesh Inventions (MPS)
The Scarab God - Amonkhet Invocations (MP2)

Cards similar to Herald of Anguish by color, type and mana cost

Lord of the Pit - MTG Card versions
Minion of Tevesh Szat - MTG Card versions
Minion of Leshrac - MTG Card versions
Veldrane of Sengir - MTG Card versions
Cateran Overlord - MTG Card versions
Deathbringer Regent - MTG Card versions
Black Dragon - MTG Card versions
Reaper of Night // Harvest Fear - MTG Card versions
Eater of Hope - MTG Card versions
Zombie Brute - MTG Card versions
Patron of the Nezumi - MTG Card versions
Pus Kami - MTG Card versions
Tresserhorn Skyknight - MTG Card versions
Lim-Dûl the Necromancer - MTG Card versions
Phage the Untouchable - MTG Card versions
Mournwhelk - MTG Card versions
Ebon Dragon - MTG Card versions
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet - MTG Card versions
Sheoldred, Whispering One - MTG Card versions
Butcher of Malakir - MTG Card versions
Lord of the Pit - Fifth Edition (5ED)
Minion of Tevesh Szat - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Minion of Leshrac - Ice Age (ICE)
Veldrane of Sengir - Homelands (HML)
Cateran Overlord - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Deathbringer Regent - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)
Black Dragon - Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (AFR)
Reaper of Night // Harvest Fear - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Eater of Hope - Midnight Hunt Commander (MIC)
Zombie Brute - Legions (LGN)
Patron of the Nezumi - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Pus Kami - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Tresserhorn Skyknight - Coldsnap (CSP)
Lim-Dûl the Necromancer - Time Spiral (TSP)
Phage the Untouchable - Secret Lair Drop (SLD)
Mournwhelk - Lorwyn (LRW)
Ebon Dragon - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet - Zendikar (ZEN)
Sheoldred, Whispering One - Multiverse Legends (MUL)
Butcher of Malakir - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Herald of Anguish MTG card by a specific set like Aether Revolt and Aether Revolt Promos, 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 Herald of Anguish and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Herald of Anguish Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2017-01-20 and 2022-11-18. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-01-20Aether RevoltAER 642015normalblackVincent Proce
22017-01-20Aether Revolt PromosPAER 64s2015normalblackVincent Proce
32020-11-12Kaladesh RemasteredKLR 942015normalblackVincent Proce
42022-11-18The Brothers' War CommanderBRC 1081997normalblackDavid Astruga

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Herald of Anguish has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2017-02-09 Because improvise isn't an alternative cost, it can be used in conjunction with alternative costs.
2017-02-09 Equipment attached to a creature doesn't become tapped when that creature becomes tapped, and tapping that Equipment doesn't cause the creature to become tapped.
2017-02-09 If an artifact you control has a mana ability with in the cost, activating that ability while casting a spell with improvise will result in the artifact being tapped when you pay the spell's costs. You won't be able to tap it again for improvise. Similarly, if you sacrifice an artifact to activate a mana ability while casting a spell with improvise, that artifact won't be on the battlefield when you pay the spell's costs, so you won't be able to tap it for improvise.
2017-02-09 Improvise can't be used to pay for anything other than the cost of casting the spell. For example, it can't be used during the resolution of an ability that says “Counter target spell unless its controller pays .”
2017-02-09 Improvise can't pay for , , , , , or mana symbols in a spell's total cost.
2017-02-09 Improvise doesn't change a spell's mana cost or mana value.
2017-02-09 Tapping an artifact won't cause its abilities to stop applying unless those abilities say so.
2017-02-09 When calculating a spell's total cost, include any alternative costs, additional costs, or anything else that increases or reduces the cost to cast the spell. Improvise applies after the total cost is calculated.

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