Cards like these are powerful because they can
kill creatures that Black usually can't.
Creatures with protection from black, or
hexproof, or that can regenerate. The life gain
that the victim gets in return barely matters,
since he's now a blocker down and you're going
to beat it back out of him anyway.
But what do you do when your opponent has
multiple creatures? Now they get to choose which
creature to sacrifice! Has this cunning plan
been foiled? I think not. If your opponent has
multiple creatures, you're still trading a card
for a card. You're still denying them a
creature, and in a parity situation or a
deadlocked board, it may not matter which one
you kill because you just need them to have one
fewer blocker. Even if you're backpedaling and
your opponent is pressing the advantage, this is
still a good way to even the odds. Now they have
less pressure to apply to you, after all.
But there's another dimension here, and it's one
Black cards like to explore-- the Forced Bad
Decision. Cards like Choice of Damnations,
Smallpox, and even Mind Rot force your opponent
to look at what he's got and determine what he
needs most. This is often a serious blow to his
internal game plan-- he expected he'd get to
keep those cards. And even if it doesn't set an
opponent back, it gives you an important clue as
to what your opponent thinks is important. He
sacrificed this creature instead of that one?
That one must be important to him-- I guess I
know what I have to kill next. If you're willing
to pay attention, then you can learn a lot.
I'm ashamed of my fellow veteran players who
said that this card is "just Diabolic Edict but
worse." It has the same drawback as Swords to
Plowshares? Gee, I'm so scared. If you're
playing this card, that means that you're going
to be attacking for a ton of damage the turn
after you cast it, or you're playing for the
long game and the opponent's life total doesn't
matter to you. In other words, you're playing
Magic: the Gathering.
Today's card of the day is Devour Flesh which
is a two mana Black instant that has target
player sacrifice a creature and gain life equal
to that creature's toughness. While it
doesn't require the creature to be targeted
which gets around Hexproof or Indestructible,
allowing the opponent to choose and gain life
are notable drawbacks. A non-damage based
deck, such as mill, might be more likely to
include it and it can work well alongside other
removal options. Overall this is a
playable option for Black that gains value
against Polymorph style builds that may see some
competitive slots, but the two penalties will
keep it from appearing in much outside of
Standard.
In Limited the life gain can slow your offensive
down a turn, or be used to stall an opponent's
by sacrificing a creature of your own, but two
mana to remove a solitary threat or almost
anything an opponent might topdeck is a bargain
when keeping the field clear. Even though it is
very situational it should be included in Black
builds in Sealed and drafted fairly early in
Booster, just not given quite as much priority
as some other forms of removal when looking over
the rest of the pack.
