Sanguine PraetorHow it works & interactions with other cards

What It Does

Sanguine Praetor has an activated ability that costs one black mana and the sacrifice of a creature. When this ability resolves, it destroys every creature on the battlefield that shares the same mana value as the creature you sacrificed. Note that this affects all players, including yourself, and it includes the Praetor itself if it shares that mana value.

How It Resolves Step by Step

First, you activate the ability by paying one black mana and choosing a creature to sacrifice as a cost. The mana value of that sacrificed creature is determined at the moment it was last on the battlefield. When the ability resolves, the game checks the current mana values of all creatures remaining on the battlefield. Any creature whose mana value matches the sacrificed creature's mana value is then destroyed simultaneously.

Common Mistakes

A frequent error is forgetting how tokens interact with this ability; most tokens have a mana value of 0 unless they are a copy of another permanent. Another mistake is trying to save a creature by responding to the sacrifice—once the ability is activated, the sacrifice happens immediately as a cost, and players cannot react to the sacrifice itself, only to the ability on the stack.

When to Play It

This card is most effective in decks that can recur creatures from the graveyard or those that produce diverse mana values. It is a potent defensive tool against 'go-wide' strategies, such as elf or soldier decks, where many creatures share the same low mana value.

Interaction examples

The Recursive Engine

Sheoldred, Whispering One

With both on the field, you can sacrifice a creature to Sanguine Praetor to clear your opponent's threats. Then, at the beginning of your upkeep, Sheoldred, Whispering One returns that same creature from your graveyard to the battlefield, allowing you to reuse its mana value as ammunition every turn.

Clearing the High-Cost Threats

Meteor Golem

If your opponent has several powerful creatures with a mana value of 7, you can play Meteor Golem to destroy one nonland permanent immediately. Afterward, activate Sanguine Praetor's ability and sacrifice the Meteor Golem. Since the Golem has a mana value of 7, every other creature with a mana value of 7 on the board will be destroyed.