Contagion – Alliances
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.38
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 4.50
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 3.88
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
This card checks so many boxes of old Magic, it makes me nostalgic just thinking about it. Stereotypically 90s-ish art that’s also oddly unsettling – check. Weird, confusing counter type that isn’t used anywhere else – check. Not sure on first reading whether it’s bad or crazy overpowered – check. As for that last one, I don’t feel it’s crazy overpowered, but it is definitely better than it looks. It was always quite solid, since it has a level of flexibility that wasn’t matched in a removal spell until Mercadian Masques, and its debuffs are notably permanent on larger creatures. It became even more prominent in the era of the early dredge decks, because they often played few or even no lands and used most every free spell they could find. There’s no reason you can’t use it for similar things now, and people are just as unprepared for it now as they were back then. Maybe make yourself some more explicit -2/-1 counters so you don’t get confused by all the dice, though!
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Part of the original cycle of pitch spells that included the infamous Force of Will, Contagion is, a bit of weirdness aside, actually a pretty decently-designed spell. It can take out an X/2 or two X/1 bodies with little trouble, and while it’s expensive at 5 mana, I find 0 mana is always a good deal. One thing to note is that Contagion uses a unique -2/-1 counter; these do not interact with +1/+1 counters at all (so no counter annihilation), and the extra power drop can actually come in clutch to thumb the scales of combat. It’s not an all-star by any stretch, but Contagion is a solid, decently tricky removal spell that does some intriguing things most spells can’t replicate.
Constructed: 3.25 (won’t win you every game, but it’s a good toolbox card to come out of the sideboard in a pinch)
Casual: 4 (just be aware of its weird counters)
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
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