{"product_id":"culling-the-weak","title":"Culling the Weak (Original Sketch)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCulling the Weak\u003c\/em\u003e is a one-mana black instant from \u003cem\u003eExodus\u003c\/em\u003e (1998), that adds BBBB to your mana pool and as an additional cost to cast it, you must sacrifice a creature. It’s one of Magic’s most explosive one-shot mana rituals. Sacrificing a creature might look expensive, but the spell effectively turns any disposable body into a \u003cem\u003eDark Ritual\u003c\/em\u003e that produces 4 mana instead of 3, enabling hyper-fast combo turns across Eternal formats and EDH. Legacy is where \u003cem\u003eCulling the Weak\u003c\/em\u003e has historically shown the most competitive play – though never as a format staple. It was played in Legacy Storm variants called “Spanish Inquisition”, before the printing of more efficient rituals and before consistency became a priority. These decks used fast mana acceleration like \u003cem\u003eCulling the Weak\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDark Ritual\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCabal Ritual\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eChrome Mox\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLotus Petal\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eLion’s Eye Diamond\u003c\/em\u003e to play draw spells like \u003cem\u003eCruel Bargain\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eInfernal Contract \u003c\/em\u003e– or tutors such as \u003cem\u003eInfernal Tutor\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDeath Wish\u003c\/em\u003e. They would then proceed to kill the opponent with \u003cem\u003eTendrils of Agony\u003c\/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003eGoblin Charbelcher\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eCulling the Weak\u003c\/em\u003e enabled turn-1 or turn-2 lines when paired with sacrifice fodder like \u003cem\u003eShield Sphere\u003c\/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003ePhyrexian Walker\u003c\/em\u003e. It was also occasionally seen in another Legacy glass-cannon combo deck called “Oops All Spells” (older versions), using \u003cem\u003eUndercity Informer\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBalustrade Spy\u003c\/em\u003e to mill their entire deck and win with Dread Return on \u003cem\u003eThassa’s Oracle\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eCulling the Weak\u003c\/em\u003e is much more popular in cEDH (competitive EDH) today, where it serves as an important engine card in combo decks – especially with commanders like \u003cem\u003eKraum, Ludevic’s Opus \u003c\/em\u003e+ \u003cem\u003eTymna the Weaver\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eCulling the Weak\u003c\/em\u003e is not on the Reserved List.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"artwhirled","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44762024443949,"sku":null,"price":0.01,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/artwhirled.com\/products\/culling-the-weak","provider":"Art Whirled","version":"1.0","type":"link"}