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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Mana Drain
Image from Wizards.com

 Mana Drain
- Legends

Reviewed Sept. 21, 2017

Constructed: 5.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 4.0
Commander [EDH]: 4.5

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale:
1 - Horrible  3 - Average.  5 - Awesome

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Card of the Day Reviews 


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Mana Drain
 
It wasn't all that long ago that Wizards of the Coast's own people said that the entire R&D department would have to be hit by a bus before they'd reprint Mana Drain. I assume they meant Standard-legal sets, but there was a good reason why they said that. There was a slight chance of being able to punish people for using Mana Drain against you even when the rules still included mana burn, but even then there were things like Jayemdae Tome and, in a last resort, activating Mishra's Factory four or five times. Now it's the ultimate counterspell with upside, especially in larger card pools where there are very powerful creatures with flash. I don't even know how to start counting the card advantage you get if you can cast it with a Torrential Gearhulk and have something further to chain into.
 
Constructed: 5/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5
James H.

Mana Drain (9/21)

 

Much like Eternal Masters, an iconic blue countermagic card got upgraded from uncommon to mythic rare and printed en masse for the first time in two decades. And Mana Drain is certainly iconic, a strictly better Counterspell since the removal of mana burn and a way to turn your turn 3 play into a 5- or 6-drop permanent. It's a brutally powerful card in Vintage and Commander (it's banned in Legacy), and while it's unlikely to ever become legal for Legacy, it's a Commander staple and the chase card of Iconic Masters for good reason.

 

Constructed: 5

Casual: 5

Limited: 5

Multiplayer: 4

Commander: 5


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