Season of the Witch – The Dark
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.25
Casual: 3.75
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
You’ve got to pick up every stitch, when Season of the Witch is on the table, and stay very aggressive – it has probably the harshest penalty for an effect of this kind we’ve ever seen. Of course, the card’s limitations have always been apparent. Its controller having to pay life to keep it in play can be hard on its own, much less when they’re facing compulsory attacks every turn and may not be able to block all of them. Triple black has historically been a rough mana cost, especially since for parts of Magic’s history, that locked you into a deck where you either struggled to defend yourself using creatures that often had their own downsides, or were relying on a combo finish which meant you didn’t really need Season of the Witch. Thanks to multiple reprints of the Ravnica dual lands and similar cards, that is much less the case than it used to be, so I’d say this card is much more worth a look in casual play nowadays. Approach it with the mindset that it’s going to cause chaos that you can exploit, rather than expecting any very specific outcome from it.
Like James, I haven’t given this a limited score. I’d like to take this moment to reflect on the fact that draftable sets came about because people tried to make unofficial limited formats in the early years of Magic, which would have been a challenge that makes our modern Cube design dilemmas look like Candyland. The Dark has five green creatures at common, four red ones, and three each for white, blue, and black. And note that one of blue’s requires black mana to do the thing it wants to do, and its biggest creature has what is arguably the only ability more debilitating than cumulative upkeep. Legends has precisely one common red creature that can attack and deal damage without assistance. Sometimes I think it’s a miracle that draft ever caught on, when its prototypical versions required you to literally fight the card pool.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 3.5
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
No Limited Score, owing to The Dark not having been draftable.
Back in the days of the color pie being a bit looser, Season of the Witch offered a pretty unique effect, even for black’s slice of things. To be clear, this is a card that encourages combat, because those who opt out of attacking and stay back will die. Vigilance bypasses this…but black isn’t extremely vigilant as a color, and this is a good way to put the finger on the scale to ensure carnage. The life payment being optional means that you can turn this off when it’s no longer a boon, though 2 life is usually manageable.
I’d say the strength of Season of the Witch is that it makes it hard for players to hold blockers back. While this includes you, remember that you know it’s a possibility and can prepare for it. Triple black does make this a bit of a tricky ask, and it’s not a card that’s airtight in terms of what can answer it, but it’s a unique way to enact the spooky season and create a little chaos.
Constructed: 2.5 (cards that rely on combat to work aren’t ideal in Legacy, and this has a fair few decks where it’s effectively dead weight)
Casual: 4
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
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