Sign in Blood

Sorcery

Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	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
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

GrimmVisage on Arcanist Thoughtseize

4 days ago

Thanks for the tips, Darth_Savage. I've adjusted the deck a bit. do you think it'd be appropriate now to add something like Sign in Blood now that there's no opt or do you think that bedlam reaver is enough draw power?

TypicalTimmy on Atraxa, Phyrexia's Champion

3 weeks 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

TheOfficialCreator on Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

1 month ago

First off, you may want some payoffs for your lifegain. Voice of the Blessed, Ajani's Pridemate, Regal Bloodlord, Nykthos Paragon, Archangel of Thune, and Ajani, Strength of the Pride are the first ones I can think of.

Card draw seems to be something this deck could struggle with, so I'd suggest at least adding Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, etc. You already have a few but it might be best to add a few more just in case.

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is nasty in these kinds of decks.

And, finally, from the looks of it you're focusing primarily on Elas's second line of text, the lifegain part. Is this intentional, or do you want to find ways to exploit his second ability? I have a few synergies/combos that could help you get started if that's the case.

RiotRunner789 on 32 Sustainable Spells to Burn Body Fat

1 month ago

If Thrumming Stone is a must, consider Beacon of Unrest is case it gets destroyed or milled.

Phyrexian Arena: Bit slow but reliable card draw engine. Dark Confidant is similar but dies to wipes and drains you.

Erebos, God of the Dead and Greed are also reliable engines.

There also quite a few Sign in Blood effects in black.

Profet93 on Bring Out Yer Dead!

1 month ago

Infernal Darkness works as a similar contamination except all big mana producing lands go through, doesn't require a creature and can be easily paid 1 -2 turns. The bigger issue are the mana dorks + rocks that are easily used to get around it. Dorks are easy to remove in black but artifacts not as much. I would suggest null rod but that shuts down your alters and you dont have a way to remove it when you need to win

Karn, the Great Creator - Works well, also brings back the inevitably exiled combo pieces.

This deck needs more draw, maybe a Read the Bones, Sign in Blood or Night's Whisper?

Justnastyx on Minthara Tokens

2 months ago

Possible suggestions from ya boi Seal of Doom, Executioner's Capsule, Bastion of Remembrance, Go for the Throat, Wayfarer's Bauble, Skullclamp, Whip of Erebos,Damn, Looks really good but keeps going up in price Sign in Blood,Infernal Grasp,Ravenous Chupacabra is better than shriekmaw since hes not restrictive. 33 lands is a little low for me imo{B}{G}{U} Some protection for her wouldn't hurt i think the blink cards like Cloudshift, Eerie Interlude are really good because they can also blink any LTB or effects if need to like Sun Titan and also add a bit of protection from removals. Maybe some indestructible spells or enchantments.

DreadKhan on Baby You're a Firework EDH Ed.

2 months ago

War Room is card draw that can work, there are also cards like Night's Whisper, Sign in Blood, Syphon Mind, and Village Rites (there are lots more). There are various enchantments that sit around and help like Black Market Connections, Underworld Connections, Greed, Necropotence, and Phyrexian Arena. If you recast Juri repeatedly, Tome of Legends might work. Ayara, First of Locthwain can draw some cards.

It's a tad out there, but Mask of Griselbrand lets you draw cards and is cheaper than Skullclamp, and it offers evasion and the ability to gain life via your newly evasive Commander.

If you're fairly desperate for draw, you could risk Allure of the Unknown, a card that I have generally been happy with. It sucks when you just hit lands and mana rocks, but you probably were going to lose the game if you had to sit and draw rubbish for 6 turns.

I really am liking the new Make an Example, this is actually a removal effect that forces each opponent to sacrifice their best creature, and can be even better if your opponent doesn't know what to pick.

If you already have Gravecrawler in the deck, another card that synergizes well with creature sacrificing decks is Pitiless Plunderer. Gravecrawler, Viscera Seer and pitiless plunderer are infinite Scry, ETBs and death triggers.

wallisface on (HELP) monoblack removal casual need …

2 months ago

I’m not too familiar with the play patterns Dark Ritual as I only play Modern (where it’s not a legal card) but it feels to me like something you’d be using to rush out a combo or drop a massive creature quickly. It’s a fine spell bit doesn’t seem to fit your gameplan of making the game go long.

I’m heavily against cards like Skeletal Scrying and Sign in Blood just cause they’re super clumsy and mess with your own tempo too much. Black generally doesn’t need much card draw as its stripping away soo many resources from the opponent instead. But if you do need a way to draw cards, both Castle Locthwain and Cling to Dust are great for this.

Yeah the reason i’m suggesting against running a lot of 4-mana creatures is that it just makes your deck really slow, and means you’re not putting any pressure on your opponent until very late into the game. You generally want 4-mana cards to be the last things you play to finish a game - not the first threats you play.