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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day
Daily Since November 2001!

Flesh Allergy
Image from Wizards.com

Flesh Allergy
Scars of Mirrodin

Reviewed December 16, 2010

Constructed: 2.40
Casual: 2.90
Limited: 3.00
Multiplayer: 2.45

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Flesh Allergy

At first glance, it looks like Bone Splinters-- sack a creature to kill a creature. But then you read down a little more and you see the life loss clause. Since this clause will always count the sacrificed creature and the destroyed creature, the player who loses a creature to Flesh Allergy will always lose at least 2 life. Now it looks more like Hideous End, except that costs one less mana, doesn't require a creature sacrifice, and is an instant. So for Flesh Allergy to be worth playing, you have to ramp up the associated life loss, and that means the bodies have to hit the floor. Well, black does like to sacrifice creatures. Maybe some sort of combo that involves a lot of creature sacrifice? Pop a Demon's Herald the same turn you play this? Or maybe you can orchestrate a particularly cacophonous combat phase? Attack into blockers and tempt your opponent to trade? Heck, if your deck produces enough tokens, you might make this your out-of-nowhere win condition. If not, well, then just play Hideous End.

Constructed- 2
Casual- 2.5
Limited- 2.5
Multiplayer- 2.75

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Flesh Allergy

Like many of Phyrexia's best weapons, Flesh Allergy capitalizes on your opponents' and your own creatures' deaths, without prejudice. In Mirrodin, Shatter may be Terror, but this card is sometimes even better. It's decent as a prelude to combat, and it can be downright game-ending as a postscript. Try it with Bloodthrone Vampire!
 
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 2/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Flesh Allergy which is a four mana removal that also costs a sacrifice of one of your creatures.  As a sorcery speed with nothing else this would be a pretty bad card, but the loss of life clause can have some benefit in a sacrifice themed deck and played as a finisher.  Overall it takes a fairly dedicated mono-Black deck to make this work and a deck like that can win tournaments, so it can see some play.  Better removal and loss of life choices exist, but as a card that combines both it is somewhat useful even if it isn't the best example of efficiency.
 
In Limited this is not the best removal choice as it requires a sacrifice costing you a two for one and is unlikely to inflict much loss of life to an opponent in the format.  It is one of the few cards that can take out any non-Indestructible threat which does give it some value, but splashing it is unlikely with the double Black in the mana cost.  In Sealed this can be played if you are running Black, have expendable creatures, and find yourself light on removal.  For Booster draft this is a tough choice and can be picked up in a weak pack if Black seems to be your primary color, but should not be considered a great choice unless your other cards are well suited to supporting it.
 
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 2.5
Limited: 2.5
Multiplayer: 2.5


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