Plague Wind – MTG Card Review – COTD

King Of
Hearts

When I first started playing Magic I thought Plague Wind was the bee’s knees. Coming from a background in Yugioh I knew that Raigeki was one of the best cards, so this flashy card had to also be amazing. Yet that was then and I now know better. Nine mana is downright unplayable in black unless you have some Dark Rituals. Besides, you can wipe for much cheaper with Damnation. The only place this card is usable is in Commander where the games are slower allowing you to build into nine mana and where massive defensive board states are common. Even then I would run In Garruk’s Wake instead.

Constructed: 1
Casual: 2
Limited: 2
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 4

Fun fact: Plague Wind is actually part of a five card cycle, originally printed in the infamously bad Prophecy. Each of the five cost a whopping nine mana and had an apparently powerful effect appended to it. Of those five, only two ever got reprinted: Burning Wind, which was printed one time in Eighth Edition and never seen again; and Plague Wind, which actually was a staple for a brief window and appeared in three consecutive core sets; its printing in the upcoming Masters 25 set is its first appearance since Tenth Edition.

There’s no getting around the fact that Plague Wind is a very hard card to cast, thanks to costing a large amount of mana. The reward is almost worth it, though, giving you a one-sided board wipe that leaves all of your creatures untouched. This is a good way to, at worst, turn the game around for at least one turn against creature-based decks, and a resolved Plague Wind can wreak a lot of havoc in multiplayer.

I feel like Plague Wind is pretty much pointless in Constructed play; while being asymmetrical is nice, nine mana is too much for this type of effect. Board sweepers usually are symmetrical, but it’s easier to work around those sweepers and make them effectively one-sided than to overpay for one. It’s also in the same space as In Garruk’s Wake from Magic 2015; the latter blows up planeswalkers in addition to creatures, though it doesn’t stop regeneration.

Constructed: 1.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander: 4.25