An old favorite, and a simple demonstration of
something new players need to learn: drawing an
extra card is worth paying 1 life for. This
one's probably going to be around for a while,
just because it's the simplest way of doing this
that isn't a repeatable effect. While I miss
Phyrexian Arena and the thrill of knowing your
own card could kill you if it gets out of hand,
I can't complain about this.
I also like that you can use it to deal 2 damage
to an opponent, if you find a reason to do so.
It reminds me of some old Underworld
Dreams/Megrim decks from playgroups past.
This card has been around for a while now, and a
lot of people already know it well. Drawing
cards by paying life is a staple of black, and
is always powerful, whatever the numbers on it
are. Sign in Blood even has my favorite quality
- versatility. Two life is a full tenth of your
opponent's life total, and extra cards don't
help them if the game is over.
Today's card of the day is Sign in Blood which
is a two mana Black sorcery that has a target
player draw two cards and lose two life. Two new
cards at the cost of two life and one card is
not a horrible trade and used properly is
certainly an advantage. The option of being able
to target an opponent with this effect to have
them draw and lose life has multiple
applications when designed around and is a
situational alternative to keep in mind. Overall
this is a solid card that consistently sees play
across formats and will continue to do so in the
current Standard and Modern settings.
For Limited this is more likely to be played to
draw cards for yourself, but sometimes that two
damage can help win a close game. Some
discretion needs to be used when casting it
against untapped mana as your opponent could
draw into an instant. The true potential depends
entirely on your card pool and it can find a
home in pure Black or even Black/Blue builds,
though a slightly higher ratio of Swamps is
necessary to field the double Black mana cost.
The draw power alone is enough to earn a spot in
most half Black decks in Sealed, but the choice
on when to pick this in Booster is more
difficult as by itself it is unlikely to win a
game. It is still a relatively high choice for
the card advantage, so it should be picked
before mediocre creatures and after any
destruction effects.
