Slaughter the Strong 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
Each player chooses any number of creatures they control with total power 4 or less, then sacrifices all other creatures they control.
Complete guide
Slaughter the Strong is a powerful tactical board wipe that punishes players for relying on massive, high-power threats. Instead of destroying everything, it forces a difficult choice: which small creatures are worth saving while the giants fall?
Choosing Your Survivors
When Slaughter the Strong resolves, each player must select a group of creatures they control. The only restriction is that the combined power of these chosen creatures cannot exceed 4. You can choose one large creature with exactly power 4, several smaller creatures, or even zero creatures if you prefer. Once everyone has made their selection, every creature that wasn't chosen is sacrificed simultaneously.
Resolution Step-by-Step
First, the active player (the player whose turn it is) chooses which creatures they will keep. Next, each other player in turn order makes their choices, fully aware of what the previous players have decided to save. Finally, all unchosen creatures are put into their owners' graveyards. Because this is a sacrifice effect, 'Indestructible' will not save a creature from being lost.
Negative Power and Math
A common point of confusion involves creatures with negative power. If a creature's power is less than 0, it actually subtracts from the total power of your chosen group. For example, if you control a creature with -2 power, you could potentially save a creature with power 6, because 6 plus -2 equals 4. This is a rare but legal way to save a high-power threat.
When to Cast It
This sorcery is best utilized in decks that run 'weenie' strategies or utility creatures with low power. It is an excellent answer to 'Voltron' strategies or decks that ramp into single, massive finishers. Since it costs only three mana, it can be played early to disrupt aggressive starts or late to clear the way for your own small army.
Interaction examples
Sevinne's ReclamationBecause Slaughter the Strong has a mana value of 3, you can use Sevinne's Reclamation to return it from your graveyard to the battlefield if it were a permanent, but since it is a sorcery, you can use the Reclamation to bring back a small creature you lost or another utility piece after the wipe. If you cast Reclamation for its Flashback cost, you can even bring back two different low-power permanents that you were unable to save during a previous Slaughter.
Open the ArmoryIf you use Open the Armory to find a powerful Equipment, be careful! If you equip a creature and its power increases beyond 4, you might be forced to sacrifice it unless you choose it as your only survivor. Conversely, you can use this to find an Aura that reduces a creature's power, helping it fit under the 'power 4 or less' limit imposed by Slaughter the Strong.
Suppose you control a 3/3, a 2/2, and two 1/1 creatures. When Slaughter the Strong resolves, you could choose to save the 3/3 and a 1/1 (total power 4), or the 2/2 and both 1/1s (total power 4). You could not save both the 3/3 and the 2/2, as their total power would be 5.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Slaughter the Strong
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Slaughter the Strong has each player choose any number of creatures and then checks that the total power of creatures each player chose this way is 4 or less. For example, you could save two 2/2 creatures, or a 1/1 and a 3/3 creature, but not all four of those creatures.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
As Slaughter the Strong resolves, first the player whose turn it is chooses which creatures will be spared, then each other player in turn order does the same knowing the choices made before them. Then all the creatures not chosen are sacrificed simultaneously.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If a creature's power is somehow less than 0, it subtracts from the total power of the other creatures its controller chooses. This can cause creatures with power 5 or greater to survive.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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