Gandalf's Sanction (LTR)

Gandalf's Sanction
Casting Cost: {1}{U}{R}
Card Type: Sorcery
Card Text:
"Gandalf's Sanction" deals X damage to target creature, where X is the number of instant and sorcery spells in your graveyard. Excess damage is dealt to that creature's controller instead.
Artist: Tatiana Veryayskaya

Card Strengths and Weaknesses:

• Strengths:
  • Potential for high damage output.
  • Scales well as the game progresses and your graveyard fills.
  • Can deal damage to creatures and players, offering flexibility.
• Weaknesses:
  • Requires a stocked graveyard for maximum effectiveness.
  • Sorcery speed, limiting its use to your turn.
  • May be weak in the early game.

Deck Utility:

• Izzet Spell-Slinging Decks: The card is a perfect fit for spell-heavy decks that aim to fill the graveyard quickly.

• Control Decks: Useful as a removal tool that can also potentially deal damage to the opponent.

• Commander Formats: Could be a valuable addition in decks that focus on spells and graveyard recursion.

Interactions and Combos:

• Cards like Snapcaster Mage or Mission Briefing can help you cast the spell from the graveyard, contributing to its own damage output.

• Primal Amulet or other spell-copying effects can make this card even more devastating.

Gandalf's Sanction is a flexible and potentially powerful removal spell that could serve multiple roles in a deck, particularly one that focuses on casting a high volume of spells. The fact that it can target both creatures and players adds to its versatility, making it a solid pick for various Izzet archetypes.