The biggest problem with Pacifism is that it
doesn't stop a creature from using its
abilities, and thus can't stop a creature like
Elite Arcanist whose ability is its only real
asset. Viper's Kiss, ironically, kills an
Arcanist with the -1/-1. But more importantly,
it fills a niche of activated ability shutdown.
The Kiss doesn't remove things like flying or
trample, however, and so the creature is still
able to attack and block (though it is slightly
less of a threat for being smaller). This could
be important, as it encourages the opponent to
go aggressive with the creature instead of
simply generating an advantage through its
ability. If you have a good board presence,
Viper's Kiss forces the opponent to play your
game even as it makes the creature slightly
worse at that game. And since most
ability-focused creatures aren't exactly solid
in combat for their size anyway...
This is a deceptively tricky little card.
It's tempting to look at it and count the number
of creatures that it can't kill and the number
of gigantic things that are popular in various
settings. But often, it's not the power or
toughness that really gets you - it's an ability
of some kind. Viper's Kiss gives black a way to
actually stem an Ant Queen or Selesnya Guildmage-related
token tide, which it has sometimes lacked. If it
comes down early enough, it even stops things
from using their monstrosity ability. It proves
that you don't have to be a block-tweaked copy
of Terror to be relevant among the selection of
black removal spells, and does so very well.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
quite interesting for the small investment of
one mana this enchantment can kill pesky 1/1
creatures of which there are plenty of powerful
options. Secondly it can stop the activated
abilities of creatures giving it more range than
a simple kill spell for small creatures. In
standard I could see this card appearing in
sideboards not only does it kill problematic
creatures it can shut down the powerful
activated abilities of creatures, definitely not
maindeck material but a solid sideboard option.
In modern and eternal formats the same concept
applies against the right deck this could be
obscenely powerful while others it falls flat it
has some potential however as it is quite a
unique ability. In casual and multiplayer this
card can also put in some work. The power and
toughness lowering aspect is less relevant but
shutting down activated abilities puts a damper
on all sorts of powerful creatures. In limited
its great as it stops monstrous, triggers heroic
in a pinch and can act as removal. Overall a
solid card that may see some sort of competitive
play but provides a unique and powerful effect
elsewhere as well.
Today's card of the day is Viper's Kiss which
is a one mana Black aura that gives the
enchanted creature -1/-1 and prevents activated
abilities from being played. While this is
a solid enough card and effect, Black has no
shortage of actual removal spells for one or two
mana more.
Having this in hand and a target with an
activated effect that is a threat or a creature
with one toughness or power is likely to be a
fairly small percentage of the time. In
some situations this might be a better choice
and it may see sidedeck play as the format
shifts, but overall removing a threat is far
better than weakening one.
In Limited with removal scarce and activated
effects plentiful this is an effective tool for
a deck using Black. Other cards might be
better, but they are less likely to be in your
pool so including this in a Black build in
Sealed is almost always the right choice. For
Booster this is not as high a priority as true
removal, but is still decent as a midrange to
late in color choice.
Viper’s Kiss is a common that can do more than
kill a measly 1/1. Viper’s Kiss can slow down
any creature with a Monstrous ability or render
a Deathrite Shaman completely useless. Asking
for more out of Viper’s kiss would be just
greedy. It is just a common for one mana. There
are plenty of creatures out there in the Magic
world that this card can affect. Viper’s Kiss is
not a bad Draft card and some Casual players may
find a place for it.
