MTG’s Modern Horizons 3 set has pushed Magic’s power level forward significantly, thanks to incredible new support for beloved archetypes like the Eldrazi, as well as stand-out Commanders that fit equally well in casual and competitive play.
While Modern Horizons 3 launched with plenty of valuable cards, one particularly powerful MH3 pick has caused the price of a classic burn card—Soul Spike—to skyrocket.
Necrodominance was expected to be one of Modern Horizons 3’s biggest successes ever since the set’s early leaks and spoiler season confirmations. The card is an intended ‘fix’ for the infamous Necropotence.
Even with Wizards’ design team building in a number of limitations to the original Necropotence’s effects, Necrodominance can still generate a huge amount of value and work as part of some dastardly black mana combos.
Now, aside from the number of Necropotence combos that still work with Necrodominance, an old lifedrain staple, Soul Spike, is being used in conjunction, to great effect.
Soul Spike was previously selling for a respectable $4.50, but since Modern Horizons 3’s pre-release, its price has shot up almost 1000% to $37.50.
Soul Spike was only printed once, in 2006’s Cold Snap set, and it’s this lack of reprint that’s helped to drive up the price alongside the combo. Its effect is dealing four damage to a Creature or player, and giving its caster 4 damage in return.
For a cost of five generic mana and two black mana, Soul Spike is appalling value in most circumstances. Especially compared to Boros burn and drain effects like the classic Lightning Helix, this effect is so over costed that it is almost never worth paying for.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Thankfully, Soul Spike has an alternative casting cost, and this is where Necrodominance comes into play. By discarding two black mana cards from the hand, Soul Spike can be cast without spending any mana at all.
Red mana has historically been the best color for burn damage, but black mana can definitely hold its own with the right setup. Soul Spike works so well because black has access to a wide variety of draw cards like Greed that allow you to effectively trade life for extra cards.
Thanks to Soul Spike’s alternative cost and lifegain effect, it’s entirely possible to balance out your life total by paying to draw, discarding cards to cast Soul Spike for free, regaining life, and chipping away at your opponents’ totals.
Necrodominance is proving to be the perfect card to partner with Soul Spike. Rather than giving a one-time burst of card draw, Necrodominance allows you to skip your regular draw phase in exchange for paying life during the end step.
When that life is paid, an equal number of cards can be drawn. Thanks to Necrodominance’s five-card hand limit, players are discouraged from pulling too deeply from their life total. But with plenty of life-replenishing options on hand, like Soul Spike, your life total becomes just another resource used to gain an advantage.
Thanks to this killer combo, among other burn damage cards empowered by Necrodominance, Black mana burn decks are seeing a real resurgence in Modern. If this strategy proves to have staying power, it’s only a matter of time until other black burn staples receive a similar price spike.
If you click on a product link on this page we may earn a small affiliate commission.
