Certain Death is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Destroy target creature. Its controller loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
Complete guide
Certain Death is a straightforward but effective black sorcery that ensures a creature's demise while swinging the life total in your favor. By combining removal with a four-point life swing, it acts as a late-game stabilizer to shut down your opponent's momentum. This card serves as a clean answer to threats that need to be removed permanently from the battlefield.
What It Does
Certain Death has three primary effects that happen in sequence: it destroys a target creature, causes that creature's controller to lose 2 life, and then grants you 2 life. Because all these effects are part of the same spell, they resolve one after another during the spell's resolution, providing a significant advantage beyond just removing a blocker or attacker.
How It Resolves Step by Step
First, you choose a legal target for the spell as you cast it. Upon resolution, the creature is moved to the graveyard. Second, the game checks who controlled that creature just before it left the battlefield; that player loses 2 life. Finally, you gain 2 life. It is important to note that the life loss and gain happen after the creature is gone, meaning any 'leaves the battlefield' triggers will happen, but the creature is not present to witness the life changes.
Common Mistakes
One common mistake is assuming the life gain happens even if the target becomes illegal. If your opponent gives the creature Hexproof or sacrifices it in response, the entire spell fizzles and no life is exchanged. However, if the creature is simply Indestructible, the destruction fails but the life loss and gain still occur because the target was still legal.
When to Play It
This spell is best utilized in the mid-to-late game when high-mana costs are easier to pay. Use it to eliminate a 'bomb' creature while simultaneously padding your life total against aggressive decks. It is particularly useful when you need to stabilize against an opponent who is low on health, as the 2 damage is unavoidable once the spell begins resolving.
Interaction examples
You target an opponent's creature. As the spell resolves, the creature is destroyed and put into the graveyard. The opponent then loses 2 life, and you gain 2 life. The spell is then placed in your graveyard.
Living DeathIf you cast Certain Death on a creature and then an opponent casts Living Death in response, the creature is sacrificed before Certain Death resolves. When Certain Death tries to resolve, its target is gone, and the spell is removed from the stack without any life loss or gain occurring.
Blasphemous EdictIf you need to ensure a specific creature dies, cast Certain Death first. If you instead cast Blasphemous Edict, your opponent gets to choose which creatures they sacrifice. By using Certain Death to target their most important creature, you guarantee its destruction (barring protection) before other effects thin the board.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Certain Death
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The targeted creature will have already left the battlefield before its controller loses 2 life and you gain 2 life. If it has any abilities that care about gaining or losing life, they won’t apply.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If the creature becomes an illegal target for Certain Death, no player gains or loses life. If it’s a legal target but isn’t destroyed, most likely due to having indestructible, its controller still loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
Commentaires
- Sois le premier à commenter cette carte.
Read next
Meta decks with Certain Death
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.