Mortify or Utter End?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on May 17, 2019, 9:12 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
I have Mortify in one of my EDH decks (actually, I have it in every deck that contains black and white, but this thread is to discuss only one particular deck), but I am wondering if I should replace it with Utter End , since that card is much more powerful, but it also has a higher mana cost, and I wish to keep the mana curve of my deck low, so I shall ask the other users of this forum for advice about it. Obviously, every deck I have that contains black and white also contains Anguished Unmaking , but I would appreciate the redundancy of utter end.
What does everyone else think? Is Utter End worth the additional 1 mana over Mortify ?
Yes because it gives you more coverage for more things to remove including artifacts.In commander I prefer versatility
May 17, 2019 9:28 a.m.
JANKYARD_DOG says... #4
Oddly enough EDHREC just did a In the Margins article on Mortify and alternate choices.
May 17, 2019 9:29 a.m.
GhostChieftain says... #5
Ahhh the old value vs versatility debate. I am of the opinion that they are close enough in both that it lands just in your preference. I personally like mortify more so I can leave more mana open
May 17, 2019 9:56 a.m.
edengstrom1 says... #7
I think Utter End is better, since it targets almost anything and also exiles it.
May 17, 2019 10:31 a.m.
May 17, 2019 11:51 a.m.
But if you have anguished already then i would say Vindicate and Utter End over mortify with Despark being on par with mortify
May 17, 2019 11:53 a.m.
Akromathia says... #11
Anguished Unmaking is strictly better than Mortify (same speed, same cmc, same specific mana, but a huge difference in possible targets) in EDH, since 3 life in this format is somewhat negligible, making the second a usual bad choice in comparison to Anguished Unmaking (unless you are on a budget).
In terms of Utter End vs Mortify , it is a harder choice to make. The mana difference again is not that meaningful in a format like EDH, but it is always nice to use as little mana as possible when using removal, especially instant speed removal, since the target here is to keep as many options open as possible for threats.
In my opinion Anguished Unmaking is better that Mortify due larger range of possible targets, and is also better than Utter End for the reduced mana cost.
On a side note, white is full of marvelous removal that are more mana efficient than Mortify and almost always better than it. “Path” and “Swords” to name just a couple.
May 17, 2019 1:54 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
crash328, Vindicate is awesome, but it being a sorcery excludes it from consideration, because instant speed is simply too valuable to sacrifice. Despark is also nice, but the targeting restriction is too severe for me to consider it.
Since the deck that I am discussing is my Atraxa deck, perhaps what I may do is replace mortify with utter end and the replace Tezzeret's Gambit with Contentious Plan to keep balance the increase in mana cost.
May 17, 2019 2:18 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #13
Akromathia, I definitely have Anguished Unmaking in every deck that contains black and white, because of how powerful that card is.
May 17, 2019 2:20 p.m.
DemonDragonJ What permanents are you targeting that Despark is unable to hit?
May 18, 2019 1:18 p.m.
Oh I read it as 4 or less and thought damn that seems great
May 18, 2019 1:28 p.m.
Generous Gift if you want to keep your CMC low and get a overall amazing removal.
June 7, 2019 5:52 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #17
exec-MTG, yes that card is nice, as is Beast Within , but I am not certain what card I would remove to make room for it; perhaps I could remove Recoil , since that card is only truly useful if the opponent has no cards in their hand.
Gidgetimer says... #2
Overall I like Utter End more because of the increased versatility. I am rarely in a position where the difference between 3 mana and 4 mana makes that much of a difference for targeted removal.
May 17, 2019 9:19 a.m.