Instant spells play an important role in every deck. But in Magic: The Gathering’s latest set, Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, there are a few that are especially good at picking on specific colors.
Each color has one instant spell in the set that has increased effectiveness if you happen to be targeting a card of a specific color.
While you can play any of these cards in your mainboard without using them against an opponent running that color, in some circumstances, you might want to sideboard them until you know what colors your opponent is using.
Here are the five uncommon color-hating instant spells in MTG’s Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures of the Forgotten Realms.
Divine Smite
Divine Smite will surely make it into some limited decks for its effectiveness against all colors, but it will be particularly powerful against Black creatures.
For two mana, the White card can “phase out” an opponent’s permanent, effectively getting rid of it for a turn. But if that permanent is Black, the card will be exiled and taken out of the game completely.
Ray of Frost
As you might expect, the Blue color hoser takes aim at Red permanents.
This enchantment with flash will keep your opponent’s creatures from untapping, thus slowing down any assault they might have. And if that card is Red, it will do the honors of tapping that creature before it even has a chance to attack.
Additionally, the card can neutralize a Red creature’s abilities.
Ray of Enfeeblement
For just one Black mana, Ray of Enfeeblement can neutralize a powerful enemy threat by giving it -4/-1. And if that creature is White, it may just outright kill it by taking away four toughness instead of one.
The card is borderline playable in a limited format if you’re playing any other color. It might be one of the best removal spells you have against White, in particular.
Burning Hands
Against most colors, Burning Hands will be a slightly underwhelming removal card, only dealing two damage for the same amount of mana.
But against an opponent playing Green, that two damage turns into a whopping six. That’s enough to take out at least 23 of the Green creatures or planeswalkers in the set.
There are only three Green creatures with a base toughness high enough to take six damage and survive.
Hunter’s Mark
Unable to be countered regardless of what it’s targeting, Hunter’s Mark might be the most powerful of these cards.
For four mana, this card gives power to one of your creatures for a turn and allows you to deal damage to an opponent’s creature equal to your creature’s power.
The cost reduction of the spell when you’re targeting an opponent’s permanent that is Blue only makes the already strong removal spell that much more powerful.
