Damnation - the Black Wrath of God

One of the really cool things about the latest sets of Magic, the Time Spiral block (Time Spiral, Planar Chaos and Future Sight) is the Timeshifted cards each set has. I think I'll save a more detailed explanation for another time, but suffice to say that in Planar Chaos we were introduced to versions of cards that might have been, in some alternate reality.

One of the most popular is called Damnation. What makes it so popular is that it is not only an alternate version of one of the more popular cards in the game, Wrath of God, but it's also in what is arguably the most popular color to play, Black.

Damnation is identical to Wrath of God in all ways except the mana needed to cast it. Instead of 2WW (2 mana of any color plus two White mana) it costs 2BB (2 of any color plus two Black). The artwork is even fitting - it is essentially a negative image of the Wrath of God artwork first introduced in 7th Edition. And it should be - it's by the same artist, Kev Walker.

Both cards destroy all Creatures in play, and they can't be Regenerated. It's a great way to clear the battlefield and then launch a bunch of your own Creatures (preferably ones with Haste so they can attack right away). And in a Black deck this is even better because Black has all sorts of Spells that manipulate the graveyard, either requiring that you remove a Creature there from the game, or allowing you to reanimate it. Nothing like obliterating your opponent's nastiest Creature, then taking control of it for yourself using something like Animate Dead.

So, of course, if I'm highlighting this card there must be a reason, right? You guessed it - I've got one up for auction right now. It should, I hope, end up going for over $10, maybe upwards of $15 or so. I will of course report back after the auction closes on Sunday (May 27).