Once upon a time, before the release of the super summer set Apocalypse, there was a Tempest card of the same name. Apocalypse was one scary sorcery. It had a tremendous effect on the board, but would cost you your hand if it went off. Because of this, it was tremendously difficult to use the card to "get ahead" in the same way that other symmetrical effects might allow you to do. While you could play an Erhnam Djinn and then follow up with Armageddon, or play a Wrath of God leaving a Mishra's Factory in play, you could not so much as cast Apocalypse and then hope to follow up with a land from your grip.

Because of this constraint, you might not expect Apocalypse to have gotten much Constructed play. However, in the post-Cursed Scroll Rath Block Constructed format, monored beatdown decks often found themselves hard-pressed by Circle of Protection: Red in white decks, or from board positions involving multiple enchantments or Portcullis. Using Apocalypse, these red decks had an out - albeit a risky one - when paired against enchantments. While they might not be in the best of positions post-Apocalypse, especially if the opponent still had cards in hand, they were certain to lose a long game against Circle of Protection: Red, Warmth, or Survival of the Fittest. At the same time, they could engineer board positions where multiple red creatures hid underneath Portcullis, and then would return to play after Apocalypse went off.

Later, with the rise of Ponza Rotta Red in Wisconsin, Apocalypse found a new home. In the long games between two Ponza players, both would typically play out all drawn lands in order to recover from Wildfire. Because of this, it was possible to punish an opponent who had played out all his lands with Apocalypse. At the same time, in a world where Survival of the Fittest and Living Death contributed to a powerful enemy deck, Apocalypse helped two ways: it could both remove enchantments like Survival of the Fittest and remove creatures from game, lessening the devastation one might normally expect from Living Death. Adrian Sullivan, a longtime Ponza player, once even boasted that because his deck played so many lands - 28 or 29 if I recall - he could recover from Apocalypse faster than a typical Survival deck, even one with six cards in hand.

Decree of Annihilation is the Apocalypse for a new age. It costs more, sure, but it also does a lot more than its predecessor. For ten mana, you would expect a card that can turn the course of a game all by itself, and Decree of Annihilation certainly fits that description. Like its predecessor, it removes almost all permanents from play, but unlike Apocalypse, it spares the enchantments. Furthermore, it covers the Odyssey Block bases and takes out graveyards while it's at it. Perhaps more importantly, Decree of Annihilation shares the stricture on hands, removing the opponent's hand from the game as well as the caster's. While it might still be difficult to "get ahead" with this card, it is also a lot easier to avoid falling behind.

We live in an age where mana costs have gone up and there isn't much to say about it. In few previous formats would Biorhythm or Imperial Hellkite be considered reasonable mana costs, but in Onslaught Block Constructed, cards like Krosan Tusker and Explosive Vegetation - combined with the lack of an efficient Counterspell - make these spells not only viable, but genuinely good. Ten mana for the Decree does not ask for much more.

As with any symmetrical card, our first instinct as competitive players is to figure out how to break their symmetry. Decree of Annihilation has a big, fat, hole in the enchantment category. My first instinct is that this card can combine effectively with Convalescent Care and Form of the Dragon to ramp up card advantage over the long term.

Another strategy might be to use Astral Slide to hide a huge threat, perhaps Rorix Bladewing, at the end of the opponent's turn. Then on your turn, you can play Decree of Annihilation, removing almost everything to start the game anew... except that you have a 6/5 haste creature in play on your "first turn."

Or then again, you could just cycle the Decree itself.

Let's be honest, if Decree of Annihilation were only an update to Apocalypse, no one would be writing a preview for it. But this card is also arguably an improvement to Armageddon. It costs much more than the original, but we've already covered why that is justified. While it costs more, it also does so much more.

This isn't a four mana white sorcery; it is played at instant speed for red. When cycled, this isn't a spell at all: it can't be countered by any permission spell we've seen thus far.

In an aggressive deck, Decree of Annihilation should work fine as a follow-up to Silvos, Rogue Elemental or another fattie in the classic Erhnam-Geddon sense (except with more expensive cards). Players are already prepared to play Biorhythm after Silvos, and cycling Decree of Annihilation is both cheaper and has an easier-to-manage symmetry. Unlike with the sorcery-speed Biorhythm, you can pass the turn with Silvos in play and cycle your Decree of Annihilation at the end of the opponent's turn, when it is less likely for him to have a trick. This card works well with mana acceleration from Moss Diamond to Birds of Paradise to Wirewood Elves, and should find a home in creature decks in both Onslaught Block and Standard for months to come.

Even more than in a creature deck, Decree of Annihilation will have a significant impact on many control decks. For several months, the Astral Slide deck has been running rampant over creature decks in Standard, and even won the Onslaught Block Pro Tour. The only thing keeping Slide in check has been the power of Psychatog and other slow control decks. Decree of Annihilation is the card Astral Slide has needed to wipe the floor with the decks that have been holding it back. The Upheaval/Psychatog combination costs nine mana. Cycling Decree of Annihilation costs a mere seven mana, and is two full turns faster. Good luck trying to go for that combination kill, or setting up lots of lands with Corrupt, or abusing the one-sided Mana Flare that is Mirari's Wake, in the face of a card that is both faster than your endgame and cannot be countered. Because its "Armageddon" effect is a cycling one, using Decree of Annihilation in the Astral Slide deck allows the Slide player to protect his Exalted Angel the same turn that he wipes the floor with the opponent's board. Feeling conservative? You can wait for your opponent to go for the ninth turn Upheaval kill, hide the Angel he was so glibly ignoring, and tell him that he can pick up and re-play his Psychatog alone... if he has an extra land in hand, that is. Then you get to draw a card.

For everything it does, and it does a good number of things well, Decree of Annihilation is still an inherently limited card. When you cycle it, you have no choice but to destroy all lands in play. This is not the "may" effect of an Astral Slide or Slice and Dice. While it is in your deck because you want to be able to call down Ragnarok if you need to, just be sure you realize that in cycling this spell, the end of the world isn't giving you a choice in the matter.

If Psychatog is to remain viable for the remaining life of Odyssey Block in Standard, I have a sneaking suspicion that it will have to de-volve into the Cunning Wish versions that we saw around the time of the Chicago Masters. While Decree of Annihilation is a game winner all by itself, I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a narrow instant hidden in Scourge that will allow control decks to at least try to keep pace with this new red menace... But I wouldn’t expect it to be good for much else.

Form of the Dragon, Goblin Warchief, and now Decree of Annihilation are upon us. It looks like chaos, despair, and the color red are going to rule for the foreseeable future.

Mike has been a leading voice in the game's strategy for as long as there has been a Magic Internet. He is the former editor of The Magic Dojo and a sometime Pro player. Michael J. Flores: Deckade, is a compilation of Mike's first ten years of strategy and theory (i.e. before he joined magicthegathering.com), and is available at http://www.top8magic.com.

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