For those who are learning Magic: The Gathering, one of the most difficult lessons is to learn which cards are good. The card rating is tested at each Magic Format. Draft and Sealed require quick decisions on which cards provide the best value, while Constructed places an emphasis on deep synergy and the ability to read the metagame.
In Limited, bad cards can be overly expensive spells or narrow spells with a high setup cost. Cards built incorrectly usually have insufficient stats or do not immediately affect the battlefield after resolution.
Chief designer Mark Rosewater said in his 2002 blog post “When Cards Go Bad” that bad cards have an important use in Magic. The power of the cards is largely contextual and bad cards are important for measuring the player’s ability through the evaluation of the cards.
Traditionally bad cards can be useful in sideboards and niche strategies in all formats. Rarely is a card really useless. Commander’s explosion as a timeless casual shape opened the door to a bunch of rare low-power pieces and scrap tares to become key pieces on specific decks.
With that said, some cards are so bad that even the Commander’s players struggle to find a purpose for these cards and are regularly part of Limited Cubes that are built around Magic cards.
Here are the five worst Magic cards of all time.
- CMC: One
- Type: artifact
- Keyword: Cumulative maintenance one
- First skill: when you play a card, sacrifice Jiji Bubble.
- Second skill: Pay two mana: you earn a life.
This is a great example of a card that has a skill that is not worth the drawbacks. If Juju Bubble were simply an artifact of a mana that can occasionally gain a little life, he would see the game as an inexpensive facilitator of artifact synergies. Cumulative maintenance is what kills this card.
There are very few Cumulative Maintenance cards that are worth the cost. The amount of mana that needs to be invested to keep the card close is not worth it. If you manage to pay the cumulative maintenance cost and have some mana left to cast a spell, you will not be able to. If you play a card, Juju Bubble is sacrificed. There is really no point in casting this spell.
- CMC: 3 (G)
- Type: Elemental Creature
- Statistics: */*
- First ability: As the Wood Elemental enters the battlefield, sacrifice any number of untapped Forests.
- Second ability: the power and stamina of the Wood Elemental are equal to the number of Forests sacrificed when he enters the battlefield.
Wood Elemental is a classic bad spell that costs about $ 50 to get one. Wood Elemental is mainly a bad card because of its entry into the battlefield. Having to sacrifice Forests beyond their mana cost to give them power and resistance is a difficult task.
Sacrificing even two lands puts you so far behind your opponent that the Wood Elemental becomes a negative asset. Wood Elemental has a home in Commander strategies that want to place land in the graveyard like The Gitrog Monster or Lord Windgrace decks.
- Type: Land
- First ability: Touch: Choose two target blocking creatures that an opponent controls. If each of these creatures can block all of the creatures that the other is blocking, remove both of them from combat. Each blocks all creatures that the other was blocking.
- Second ability: Whenever Sorrow’s Trail is tapped, it deals two points of damage to you and each creature you control.
Wizards of the Coast used to experiment with utility land that did not turn to obtain mana. Cards like Maze of Ith and Bazaar of Baghdad are played extensively and are good examples of terrains that provide enough utility to make up for the downside.
Path of sadness is not one of those letters. The first skill requires so many things to work in order to work. Even if you use Sorrow’s Track ability, it can end up being a one-sided wipe from the board that doesn’t end in your favor. Two damage to you and your creatures is a significant disadvantage.
- CMC: W
- Type: Enchantment
- First skill: at the beginning of your upkeep, put a fasting hunger counter. Then, destroy the fast if it has five or more starvation markers.
- Second skill: if you were to start your purchase step, you can skip that step. If you do, you earn two lives.
- Third skill: when you draw a card, destroy the Fast.
In almost all situations, it is better to draw a card than to gain two life points. Instead of obtaining your draw step, fasting asks you to earn two lives. There is no reason to perform this spell on a white deck.
If you are looking to take advantage of Constellation, there are many mana enchantments with advantages. If you want to earn two lives, simply attacking a creature with two powers with Life Link is a better option.
- CMC: 1 (R)
- Type: Instant
- First ability: turn the target creature face down that an opponent controls.
There is really no situation where Break Open is a worthwhile move. Red has a historical sub-theme of random effects, and in this case, Break Open is bad, but tasty. For two manas you are essentially paying the opponent’s Morph cost for them. Instead of dealing with Creature 2/2 face down, you are turning that card into a more powerful creature with a useful effect.