Cruel Ultimatum
Modern Masters 2017 158 • rare
- Set
- Modern Masters 2017
- Collector number
- 158
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- blue mana blue mana black mana black mana black mana red mana red mana
- Type
- Sorcery
- Colors
- Black · Red · Blue
- Artist
- Todd Lockwood
- Market price
- $0.46
What it does
Target opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice, discards three cards, then loses 5 life. You return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand, draw three cards, then gain 5 life.
There is always a greater power.
Where you can play it
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerNot legal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperNot legal
- BrawlLegal
- HistoricLegal
- TimelessLegal
- Penny DreadfulLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Card text via Scryfall. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. As of the last catalogue refresh.
Where to find one
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Where it came from
Cruel Ultimatum was originally printed in the 2008 set Shards of Alara, designed to represent the ultimate expression of Grixis—a plane defined by black, blue, and red mana. The card was intended as a high-cost, high-impact sorcery that served as a game-ending payoff for control-oriented strategies, requiring a complex mana cost to reflect its immense power level.
The artwork for this version, illustrated by Aleksi Briclot, captures the malevolent essence of the spell. Briclot's design emphasizes the destructive, yet restorative, nature of the effect, which forces an opponent to lose resources while the caster gains them. When reprinted in Modern Masters 2017, the card was widely received as a staple of limited and constructed formats, maintaining its reputation as one of the most iconic multicolored spells in Magic: The Gathering history.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
Who's collecting this
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About Cruel Ultimatum
Cruel Ultimatum is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Modern Masters 2017 158 • rare. Catalog data is sourced from Scryfall. No public cards collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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