With over 30,000 cards printed across the game’s history, there’s naturally some debate as to what the worst Magic card of all time is. Among the bottom-tier contenders, however, one MTG card stands lower than the rest, and that’s Sorrow’s Path. Originally printed in The Dark, this bizarre land offers very little benefit, and an enormous downside.
For this reason, the card has largely slumbered in obscurity over the 32 years since its printing. This week, however, it’s back in the conversation, and players are getting reacquainted with its unique brand of awful. If you’re looking for a real deckbuilding challenge, then Sorrow’s Path is one you should take.
Sorrow’s Path MTG
The reason Sorrow’s Path has the MTG community talking this week is the card’s artist, Randy Asplund. He made headlines recently for securing the copyright to his suite of old-school MTG artwork, despite a $20k offer from Wizards to sell it off. Because of this, interest in his old pieces, including Sorrow’s Path, has been piqued.
While it’s usually great to see classic cards get a second shot in the sun, Sorrow’s Path should probably have stayed in The Dark. It doesn’t tap for mana, for a start, instead offering the incredibly niche utility of swapping your opponent’s blockers. This is rarely ever useful, but despite this, Sorrow’s Path Shocks you and all your creatures in exchange.
This combination of low utility with a tremendous downside has rightfully earned Sorrow’s Path its legendarily low status in the MTG canon. That said, there are some ways to make use of it if you want to push yourself as a deckbuilder.
For starters, it makes a great permanent to give away with Commanders like Zedruu the Greathearted and Blim, Comedic Genius. Since it’s so terrible and hard to remove, this will fuel your “permanents you control but don’t own” effects while offering opponents no benefits in exchange. It’s also a repeatable way to trigger Enrage on all your creatures at once, which gives it value in decks like Wayta, Trainer Prodigy.
If you intend to use Sorrow’s Path proactively like this, it’s worth noting that its ability can target any opponent. This lets you mess with combat outside your turn, which can have political implications in some games. Opponents can get around this by not blocking, of course, but cards like Invasion Plans can circumvent this issue if you really want to commit.
Things Get Worse
While it has fringe uses, Sorrow’s Path is almost never going to be an objectively good addition to any MTG Commander deck. It’s just too punishing for most brews, especially with how popular cheap, low-toughness creatures are in the format right now.
If that doesn’t put you off, and you’re up for the challenge, you’ll have to pay a surprisingly high entry fee to try it out. Despite its near-uselessness, Sorrow’s Path is actually a fairly pricey card, with near-mint copies selling for around $10 right now. You can get a sizable discount if you’re willing to settle for a worse-condition, mind you. Lightly-played copies can be had for around $4.50, for example, and you can get them heavily-played for closer to $3.30.
While it’s very unlikely to actually win you a game, Sorrow’s Path will almost certainly earn laughs, and respect, from the other players in your Commander pod.
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