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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Murderous Cut
Image from Wizards.com

Murderous Cut
- Khans of Tarkir

Reviewed Oct. 17, 2014

Constructed: 3.30
Casual: 3.07
Limited: 4.07
Multiplayer: 3.20

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale:
1 - Horrible  3 - Average.  5 - Awesome

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Card of the Day Reviews 


David Fanany

Player since 1995


Murderous Cut
 
Delve is a rather deceptive ability. Much like Lhurgoyfs from sets gone by, it tempts you into thinking that you need to devote your entire deck to making it powerful. In reality, it simply gives you a bonus just for playing Magic, in the course of which cards go to the graveyard constantly. You don't need to get the full four-mana discount to make Murderous Cut a strong card; even two mana gives you a Murder with a less intensive color requirement (if it needed one). The only question is how much of a role it plays in a world with multicolored charms that double as removal - it may be played as redundancy only. It's still worth considering, though.
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Murderous Cut which is a five mana Black instant with Delve that destroys target creature.  It takes two cards exiled from the graveyard to equal a less versatile Hero's Downfall and three to hit the two mana cost of the typical Black removal with an exception cards.  In a deck that fills the graveyard with cards it doesn't need for other purposes this may see play, but otherwise there is no shortage of other choices that only require mana.
 
In Limited even if cast for five mana this is a great removal option that only needs one Black mana which allows it to be used in many different builds.  A very strong second choice in Booster and one that shouldn't be easily passed.  For Sealed it belongs in any deck using Black mana, though with the higher mana cost this one card alone isn't enough to splash the color.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.0

Mattedesa

Deck Garage
Murderous Cut
 
Sometimes there's no need to get fancy. "Destroy target creature" is pretty straightforward. This, of course, won't be for every black deck, because you need to have at least 2 cards in your graveyard to make the cost of this remotely cost efficient. The good thing is that many times in the right deck, you can delve this cost all the way down to 1 black mana, and that is about as efficient as you can get.
 
The downside to delve cards is that you have to be careful how many you put in a deck. Too many, and you're going to run out of graveyard fuel too quickly. You also have to have ways to get things in the graveyard. 
 
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.5

Baneful

The hefty 4B cost can be mitigated by delving.  However, with such a graveyard taxing cost, I cannot see a deck using more than just 1-2 if they have a graveyard they want to give up to begin with.  With lots of other Black removal options like "Go For The Throat" and "Doom Blade", at the very best you're saving only 1 mana.  At worst, early game, this card is unplayable or is far too expensive to activate.  The other two cards I mentioned aren't quite as versatile but are more consistent. 

Definitely a good card overall, but it's idiosyncratic and depends on your deck.  I see better options in both mono-black and mixed decks but it's still good removal for decks that don't depend much on the graveyard.  It's up to your preferences but its not essential.

Ratings:

Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 3.25
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3.25


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