It’s difficult to catch every great MTG card that gets released nowadays. Even experts who’ve played the game for years inevitably have a card or two slip through their evaluation nets. Part of that is the sheer quantity of new cards coming out in modern Magic, and part of it is the difficulty of evaluating cards in a vacuum. Take Exorcise from MTG Duskmourn, for example. While few paid it any mind during preview season, it’s now shaping up to be a removal spell with cross-format appeal.
Exorcise From MTG Duskmourn
- Mana Value: 1W
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Card Text: Exile target artifact, enchantment, or creature with power 4 or greater.
It’s easy to see why Exorcise didn’t turn many heads when revealed. It’s a very simple, very generic card all things considered. It doesn’t feature any of the new Duskmourn mechanics, and it doesn’t do anything particularly novel. The art is also fairly underwhelming, all things considered.
Once you look beyond the surface, however, you’ll find a very potent removal spell. Exorcise can take care of any creature with power four or greater, which covers a surprisingly wide pool of popular threats. On top of that, it can also hit artifacts and enchantments. The best part? It exiles rather than destroys, which is a huge plus in an era with so much graveyard interaction and synergy.
For just two mana, Exorcise is a great deal even by modern MTG standards. The only real downside to the card is the fact that it’s sorcery speed. This means it’s not strictly better than the likes of Disenchant, though the creature removal option balances that out in most scenarios.
Even with that mode giving it extra utility, Exorcise is still very much a sideboard card. While it is powerful and sees a surprising amount of play, the majority of it is from the sideboard. Getting to efficiently answer three different problems that might come up is great, but there is always the chance that it’s a dead card in the wrong matchup. For that reason, Exorcise is unlikely to break into many mainboards.
An Array Of Archetypes
The card is shining in the sideboard, however, in some very serious decks. In Standard, the card is seeing play in big numbers in different Azorius lists. These are largely either Azorius Control or Azorius Tempo. It also sees sparing play in the likes of Domain Ramp and Four-Color Control, too. When you look at the state of Standard currently, this isn’t hugely surprising.
Great targets for all three of Exorcise’s modes run rampant in the format right now. Sheoldred and Aclazotz are both popular four-power threats. There are also plenty of relevant artifacts and enchantments in the format, too. Getting rid of an Urabrask’s Forge or Innkeeper’s Talent can be the difference between winning and losing a game. For Azorius Tempo, which relies heavily on its graveyard, it can also take out graveyard hate like Ghost Vacuum.
In Modern, Exorcise is actually seeing even more play than it does in the Standard MTG format. Various Energy decks have been dominating the format for a while now, be they Boros, Mardu, or Jeskai. What do they all have in common? They all play white, and can therefore run sideboard copies of Exorcise.
Again, there are a ton of great targets for the card in Modern. Perhaps the most important is The One Ring. This is now the most-played card in the format, and it’s difficult to get rid of with traditional artifact removal. The fact that Exorcise exiles makes it an ideal answer. Beyond this, creatures like Phlage and Obsidian Charmaw are also everywhere, which means there are plenty of creatures it can take down.
Exorcise is a perfect case study on the power of boring Magic cards. If you like playing white, consider picking up a playset for your own sideboard.
