Harrowing Journey

Sorcery

Target player draws three cards and loses 3 life.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (4)

TypicalTimmy on Atraxa, Phyrexia's Champion

1 year ago

So your very first upkeep that she's out, you draw 5 cards and lose 5 life? That seems pretty unbalanced. Yes it is on par with cards such as Sign in Blood which trades 1 life per card (2 life, 2 cards). Other examples are Funeral Rites, Night's Whisper and Read the Bones. There's also the theme of 1 life per card when you move up into Ambition's Cost, Ancient Craving, Demonic Offering and Harrowing Journey.

So to suddenly shift it back to 5-for-5, then 6-for-6, then 7-for-7, then 8-for-8... that's where the overpowered nature comes from.

Add on lifelink, and there threat of losing the game is essentially nullified. Even if she is chump blocked, you still get 100% of your life back. So what's the problem? Well, the problem is that this trend breaks with Infernal Contract and Cruel Bargain.

Worse still is that with having vigilance, you can get the life even on blocking. With flying, the evasion makes her largely unstoppable in most games, and with the advent of deathtouch, suddenly she's nearly impossible to really handle in terms of just combat.

Add onto that 4 colors, you have a toolbox bigger than most decks.

I apologize if I sound like I am insulting the design and being mean about it. I understand my tone can come off as stern. I'm truly not meaning to; I am simply explaining where the unbalance exists.

What if, as a solution, you Scry X and lose X life where X is her power, then you draw 2 cards? Now you are basically filtering the top half of your library and grabbing exactly what you want, when you want it <3

Force_of_Willb on

6 years ago

Agreed. In play testing I had difficulty casting Falkenrath Noble because I couldn't hit my land drops consistently and once I did they usually came into play tapped so I was constantly behind tempo.

Up the land count to 24 even if its more basics (bonus helps Isolated Chapel chapel not ETB tapped).

And Bontu's Last reckoning doesn't play very well as its basically a time walk for our opponents. If against aggro maybe include a side board option like Drown in Sorrow.

For card draw Grim Haruspex can help with that and also fit the theme of the deck. Otherwise you are looking at Ambition's Cost or Harrowing Journey/Caress of Phyrexia (which can also finish off an opponent) at the Falkenrath Noble spot

DRmagic2017 on The Only Tribe That Matters

7 years ago

Why didn't anyone mention Blood Artist? And Gifted Aetherborn - it's also nice with life gain theme. I would also recommend to add Blood Tribute. And don't forget about tutors and card draw: Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Tutor, Beseech the Queen, Sensei's Divining Top, Sign in Blood. Even Harrowing Journey can help you at the right moment. I also use Liliana Vess as a tutor. Good luck!

iBleedPunk on

8 years ago

dejota im pretty sure he is covered on "search" type effects, as the first fetch is for Conspiracy. After that, dependant on personal preferences and how many Apostles are on the battlefield, he can just tutor out anything he needs. Cards like Sign in Blood, Ancient Craving, Ambition's Cost, Harrowing Journey, and Wretched Confluence are needed but only to an extent