"Pooling Venom" is a black enchantment aura card printed as an uncommon for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Future Sight." From the text of the printed ability, Pooling Venom is a card that you would want to bring onto the battlefield early in the game. That is if you are able to bring it early onto the battlefield. In a sense, this is somewhat similar to the card known as "Nettlevine Blight."

The converted mana cost for Pooling Venom is two. You will need one black mana and one colorless mana to play Pooling Venom. For what Pooling Venom can do, the converted mana cost is reasonable enough if you can bring it early in the game. Keep in mind that Pooling Venom is an enchantment spell. It means that Pooling Venom is susceptible to anything and everything that affects enchantments. This spell is only effective if you bring it onto the battlefield early enough. If it is brought out midway or late into the game, it may seem useless unless someone plays a land destruction spell.

What does Pooling Venom do in the first place?

You enchant Pooling Venom on a target land. Make sure the land does not have Shroud. Do not try to enchant something like the "Darksteel Citadel" since it is Indestructible. Do not try to enchant a land that is fortified with the "Darksteel Garrison." Other lands are fair game. Whenever the enchanted land gets tapped, its controller loses two points of life.

You may want to combine it with cards that allow you to untap and tap permanents. Doing so allows you to tap the land enchanted with Pooling Venom a few times. If you get this onto the battlefield early enough in the game, you can make that opponent suffer greatly by the time s/he does not need to use that land or finds a way to destroy Pooling Venom.

If the opponent does manage to destroy the enchantment, you can respond by paying one black mana and three colorless mana to use the other ability of Pooling Venom. Doing so causes Pooling Venom to destroy that land. In this respect, it is one less land that the opponent can use.

There is one way you can milk the first ability of Pooling Venom. Combine it with "Wound Reflection." Wound Reflection, while on the battlefield, causes the life points your opponents lose to be doubled. Should an opponent tap the land and end up losing two points of life, Wound Reflection causes him/her to lose two more points.

Overall, Pooling Venom seems to be interesting enough for the most part. However, it is only effective early in the game when players need to tap almost all of their lands. If that is not the case, do not use Pooling Venom. Simply discard it from your hand if you need to. It is one of the cards that is only effective early in the game.

Learn more about this author, Can Tran.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Magic the Gathering card analysis: Pooling Venom?
We want to hear your view. Write now!