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Moxonomy

Venomous Fangs

Enchantment — Aura2 generic manaGreen mana

Deathtouch, before deathtouch existed as a keyword. The trigger here does the same job the keyword would later codify: any creature your enchanted creature damages dies, regardless of how big it is or how little damage gets through. That last clause is the point. The aura turns a fragile body into a threat that trades up, so the natural host is something small and hard to block profitably, not something already large enough to win combat on its own. Pin it to a one-drop and suddenly the opponent's fatties cannot attack or block into it without dying; give that body first strike and you get a one-sided combat lock where your creature lands the killing blow before anything touches it back. The wording that dates the design is "the other creature," which means the host has to actually deal damage to something to set up the kill, and the destruction only points back at whatever it hit.

What makes this a fossil rather than just an old card is that the modern keyword folded all of this onto creatures themselves, turning an Aura-shaped commitment (a two-for-one risk if the host gets removed in response) into a static word printed in the corner. Reading the trigger now is reading the problem deathtouch was invented to solve: the design wanted "damage kills no matter the size" without writing a paragraph onto every creature that should have it. Here, the paragraph still exists, and it costs you a card and a turn to attach it.

Venomous Fangs (usg)
USG · #280common
Pricing
Normal: $0.11
Foil:
Oracle Text

Rules text

Enchant creature Whenever enchanted creature deals damage to a creature, destroy the other creature.
Legalities

Format Status

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