Catastrophe – Urza’s Saga
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.67
Casual: 3.50
Limited: 3.17
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.25
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Much like when we reviewed Final Judgment a while ago, Catastrophe makes me think about how unfortunate it is that so many sweepers had to be compared to Wrath of God during their original release schedule. In general, they actually have a lot going for them, and those things were often overlooked just because they weren’t as hyper-efficient as Alpha’s quietest design mistake. Catastrophe falls into that category, but to a lesser extent than some such cards. It always had a degree of use because of its ability to hit lands, which was relevant not so much in tournament play as in multiplayer. In this context, there was and is a little more risk to running Armageddon than usual, because you could find yourself facing opponents who don’t have the fancy lands you might be afraid of. On top of this, improper use of Armageddon can leave you exposed to creatures you could have been using that mana to deal with. People also learned very early on that multiplayer games often went longer, and not just because there are more people, so the higher cost is less of a problem than in one-on-one. If you keep the costs and the rest of your mana curve in mind, Catastrophe’s creature “mode” will always be good, and its land destruction is a nice option to have around. It is, overall, just a solid card to have around that makes your deck a little more effective, and I think that’s a much better place for sweepers to be than blocking off design space and invalidating every card that people actually like for almost two decades.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3
Before we get rolling, I do think it’s important in a discussion of what Catastrophe is to bring up what it’s not; specifically, despite offering a choice, this is not a modal spell. The decision to destroy all lands or all creatures is only locked in when the spell resolves, not as you cast it. While this is mostly academic, if you have a way to copy this spell, you can destroy all creatures and all lands, and you also can use the ambiguity as political leverage.
With that important bit of semantics settled, Catastrophe is certainly an Urza block card in being…maybe a bit cruel. For a slight overpay, Catastrophe is (usually) your choice of Wrath of God or Armageddon. Modality in spells is sometimes worth that premium, and while I would say this is worse than Wrath of God in general, it’s generally better than Armageddon; outside of specific board states involving lots of artifact mana rocks, Armageddon is really the ultimate “win more” card to try and push a game out of reach, and there are plenty of times where it’s little more than a fancy-looking surrender flag. Having your land sweeper also double as creature removal means that this won’t be as dead nearly as often.
While Catastrophe is hardly the most powerful card, it is a fun one for making a table squirm with discomfort, and it offers enough unique angles to make it a particularly fun option in a pinch. I don’t think this should be your first choice in a board wipe, but as a fallback option, this’ll do a surprisingly good job with the additional angle to just put a game completely out of reach if you’re in a position to do so.
Constructed: 2 (way too slow in Legacy, and Armageddon and Wrath of God really don’t see play there to begin with)
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5 (can be a bit weird, but can also just end a game on the spot)
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
As a minor aside, Catastrophe isn’t on the Reserved List, but it hasn’t ever had a proper reprint. Though I can’t imagine this is the kind of card you would want to reprint…
Thijs
Ponza is a recurring theme in Magic, where you play spells to destroy your opponents’ lands (think Thermokarst or Stone Rain) and it’s an – to put it mildly – unpopular theme to play against. Let’s be honest, we only get so many free cards every turn and one of them is a land! Get your filthy paws away from them!
Catastrophe does not only have the option to Ponza the board, it can also destroy all creatures. Back in the day, when regeneration was still a thing, this card would mean devastation all across the board. Who doesn’t enjoy a good board wipe, amirite?
Nowadays this card is only legal in a few formats and it sees very few play anymore (a cEDH deck here and there, but that’s about it). The creation of fetch lands and the fact that there is so much reclamation and reanimation makes this less of a threat than it used to be, even when creatures are not allowed to regenerate. I do love the history of this card as an early versatile board wipe, as well as the beautiful artwork. Urza’s Saga really was something else, wasn’t it?
Constructed: 3
Casual: 3
Limited: 3
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3 (just threes all around, it’s a piece of history)
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