Sign in Blood

Sorcery

Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.

Discussion (46)

Guerric on Phyrexian Arena

2 days ago

Phyrexian Arena is never great, but it is a solid, recurrable card draw option for decks that lack access to better draw options. Obviously if you are playing blue or green you have better options, but if you are in black and can't benefit a ton from sac-draw synergies this can be decent if played early. Late in the game it will be dead, which is why it isn't great, but that's not why we play it. I agree with golgarigirl that one-off card draw spells are underwhelming, especially if like Sign in Blood they only leave you one card up. Now Necropotence is worth the hype, but also insanely expensive in real-world money (glad I got mine when it was cheap), as are to a much lesser extent Bolas's Citadel and Greed . But as we need around ten card draw spells in any given deck Phyrexian Arena will often make it into certain decks and be decent. As others have said, its definitely not the format staple it once was.

Balaam__ on Quest For The Gravelord

3 days ago

I like what you’ve built here, but I wonder if maybe Night's Whisper or Sign in Blood is a better overall pick than Read the Bones . The scrying is nice but the additional slows things down. Just a thought.

golgarigirl on Phyrexian Arena

5 days ago

I'm having the same feels. I just picked one up because I wanted some more sustained card draw for a black deck that runs too even a mix of tokens and 'real' cards to make reliable use of Grim Haruspex and co. I don't want more one-and-done Sign in Blood -style draw at the moment.

So, any more ideas in that vein?

bxli on Felisa (Testing)

5 days ago

Already made some changesDemMeowsephs

1. Some Creatures changes I end up adding: Yawgmoth, Thran Physician , Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit , Elenda, the Dusk Rose and Luminarch Aspirant . Also changed Citadel Siege for Felidar Retreat as it can give me tokens to sac and more counters not just 2

2. Cut Mind's Eye , Black Sun's Zenith , Blot Out the Sky , Infernal Offering , Secret Rendezvous and Debtors' Knell

3. More added: Sword of Truth and Justice , Sign in Blood , Beacon of Unrest , Command the Dreadhorde , Ambition's Cost and Victimize

4. Doubts with: Custodi Soulbinders as it can give me a lot of tokens but I have to be set up already with my tokens or wait for oponents to set up their own table. I think I can swap it for something more usefull. Scheming Symmetry maybe I can get Profane Tutor until I have a more solid tutor.

Maybe quit some lands for other cards as: Phyrexian Altar The Ozolith Coat of Arms

enpc on Phyrexian Arena

5 days ago

I didn't realise that Phyrexian Arena got enough hype for it to be over-hyped. Though your comment would indicate that you're moving from a pretty casual form of EDH (where Arena does work becuase games are soe drawn out) into a more competitive more tuned version of EDH.

As others have mentioned, when you get into this space then you're correct that the card does less work, due to either more removal or shorter games. As you start looking for more draw efficiency then you're either looking into cards which are super cheap ( Mystic Remora , Esper Sentinel , Dark Confidant , Sylvan Library , etc) or cards that will get you multiple draws per turn (some of hte aforementioned cards, Runic Armasaur , etc.). The other thing is that due to its double black, it makes the card a lot more clunky to cast in early games, when typically most decks are going for double blue or double green (because let's face it, these two colours dominate the competitive meta).

You also have your cantrips (as other comments have mentioned) - Sign in Blood is decent but Night's Whisper is generally preferred as the casting cost is easier. There's also Painful Truths which needs a 3+ colour deck to work but costs the same amount of mana as Arena with the upside of getting the three cards immediately.

Generally though, the more competitive decks use black primarily for its tutor ability rather than its draw ability (with the obvious exception of Necropotence ).

FormOverFunction on Phyrexian Arena

5 days ago

Sign in Blood / Nekusar, the Mindrazer wins are DELICIOUS.

Caerwyn on Phyrexian Arena

5 days ago

You’re certainly not alone - I’d say about once or twice a year, someone on TappedOut makes a thread on this very subject.

Arena is a card that scales poorly. In very casual games that last a while, it’s fine and likely will net you a bunch of cards. But it’s return on investment drops drastically as power level goes up - not only are there fewer turns during which to draw, tapping out and getting no instant value becomes increasingly problematic.

If you are looking for a replacement that draws cards, the instant gratification of Sign in Blood is generally superior. Plus, there might be the rare situation where you can burn someone to death with it, and that’s worth laughing over.

Lutachris23 on Life is a Series of Choices Between Bad and Worse

1 week ago

Thanks for the response Prophet93. I actually intended to add in a Cling to Dust and Sign in Blood ( Night's Whisper if I can think of a third cut) when I get them this weekend for more card draw. Kaervek is underwhelming a lot of the times (kind of just a worse Massacre Girl honestly). It can probably be the cut for when I inevitably pick up an Opposition Agent . I will also likely be picking up War Room, though I find the colorless lands I already have to be a bit cumbersome. Definitely worth considering though.