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Moxonomy

Hemlock Vial

Artifact1 generic manaBlack mana

A two-mana cantrip that replaces itself is cheap enough to slot into almost any black deck, so the interesting decision is what happens after it has drawn its card. Instead of sitting dead on the battlefield, it converts into a combat wrench: sacrifice it, and every equipped creature and every Equipment you control gains deathtouch for the turn. That second clause is the whole reason the card lives in an Equipment shell, since without attached creatures the ability grants deathtouch only to your Equipment. Deathtouch on your attackers turns each point of damage into lethal, so a trampling threat needs to assign only one to a blocker before spilling the rest through, and a first-striker kills its blocker before it can swing back. The grant to the Equipment itself is a narrower rider: it matters only for the handful of pieces that deal damage on their own, whose activated pings now finish anything they touch. The tension is timing versus tempo. The ability carries no speed restriction, so it can be held back and fired after blockers are declared, ambushing an unfavorable trade or punishing a defender who committed to eating a big hit. But it is a one-shot, gated behind a mana cost plus the tap, and the artifact leaves play as it activates. The life loss is the tax on the cantrip half; the sacrifice is the payoff you hold back for the swing that ends the game. It wants an Equipment deck already committed to attacking, and pays that commitment off in a single decisive combat.

Hemlock Vial (acr)
ACR · #26uncommon
Pricing
Normal: $0.17
Foil: $0.22
Oracle Text

Rules text

When this artifact enters, you draw a card and you lose 1 life. Black mana, Tap, Sacrifice this artifact: Each equipped creature and Equipment you control gains deathtouch until end of turn.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
N/A
Modern
Legal
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
N/A
Brawl
N/A
Historic
N/A
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
N/A
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
N/A
Pauper Commander
N/A
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
N/A
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
N/A
TLR
Legal
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