Culling Dais MTG Card


Culling Dais lets you sacrifice creatures to eventually draw cards, leveraging expendable units into card advantage. Instant speed sacrifices provide strategic responses to removals, adding resilience and flexibility to your play. While Culling Dais can diminish board presence, its potential for card advantage makes it a strategic asset.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeArtifact

Text of card

, Sacrifice a creature: Put a charge counter on Culling Dais. , Sacrifice Culling Dais: Draw a card for each charge counter on Culling Dais.

"Forswear the flesh and you will truly see." —Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur


Cards like Culling Dais

Culling Dais is an artifact with a unique niche in Magic: The Gathering, offering a reusable sacrifice outlet and card draw mechanism. Comparable to Phyrexian Vault, both artifacts require the player to sacrifice a creature for a benefit. Phyrexian Vault gives you card draw immediately after the sacrifice, whereas Culling Dais accumulates charge counters to be cashed in later for multiple draws.

Another similar card is Carnage Altar, requiring three mana to activate and sacrifice a creature for a single card draw. In contrast, Culling Dais can store its potential over several turns, potentially yielding a larger number of cards. Additionally, Culling Dais is more mana-efficient with its lower activation cost. Altars of Dementia is a different kind of sacrifice outlet, exchanging direct card advantage for milling the opponent’s deck, a strategy that wouldn’t directly replenish your own hand like Culling Dais does.

Each of these artifacts offers a different approach to utilizing your creatures for strategic gains. While competitors have their individual strengths, Culling Dais stands out for its low-cost investments and the ability to transform a wide board presence into a significant drawing power later in the game.

Phyrexian Vault - MTG Card versions
Carnage Altar - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Vault - MTG Card versions
Carnage Altar - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Culling Dais by color, type and mana cost

Chaos Orb - MTG Card versions
Winter Orb - MTG Card versions
Ankh of Mishra - MTG Card versions
Amulet of Kroog - MTG Card versions
Nacre Talisman - MTG Card versions
Howling Mine - MTG Card versions
Essence Bottle - MTG Card versions
Emerald Medallion - MTG Card versions
Scrying Glass - MTG Card versions
Cursed Totem - MTG Card versions
Tsabo's Web - MTG Card versions
Millikin - MTG Card versions
Swiftfoot Boots - MTG Card versions
Ark of Blight - MTG Card versions
Surestrike Trident - MTG Card versions
Demon's Horn - MTG Card versions
Energy Chamber - MTG Card versions
Water Gun Balloon Game - MTG Card versions
Angel's Feather - MTG Card versions
Elsewhere Flask - MTG Card versions
Chaos Orb - MTG Card versions
Winter Orb - MTG Card versions
Ankh of Mishra - MTG Card versions
Amulet of Kroog - MTG Card versions
Nacre Talisman - MTG Card versions
Howling Mine - MTG Card versions
Essence Bottle - MTG Card versions
Emerald Medallion - MTG Card versions
Scrying Glass - MTG Card versions
Cursed Totem - MTG Card versions
Tsabo's Web - MTG Card versions
Millikin - MTG Card versions
Swiftfoot Boots - MTG Card versions
Ark of Blight - MTG Card versions
Surestrike Trident - MTG Card versions
Demon's Horn - MTG Card versions
Energy Chamber - MTG Card versions
Water Gun Balloon Game - MTG Card versions
Angel's Feather - MTG Card versions
Elsewhere Flask - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Culling Dais offers a reliable mechanism to sacrifice creatures or artifacts you control and later convert them into new cards. This generates a card advantage and can turn expendable tokens or outdated permanents into fresh opportunities.

Resource Acceleration: By banking charge counters from sacrificed permanents, Culling Dais seamlessly transitions from the early game to mid-game, culminating in a surge of new cards. This can often lead to having multiple options in hand and the resources to play impactful spells sooner.

Instant Speed: The ability to sacrifice a creature or artifact at instant speed with Culling Dais means you can respond to opponents’ actions, like removal spells, by turning your resources into future card draws. This provides flexibility and resilience against your opponent’s strategies.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Culling Dais demands a sacrifice of a creature to place a charge counter, which can diminish your board presence and is not always easily fulfilled without careful planning.

Specific Mana Cost: Culling Dais requires generic mana for activation, but its initial casting cost might compete with other vital plays in the early game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For the return it provides, Culling Dais has an activation cost that necessitates forethought, as other cards potentially offer immediate impact or more flexible resource management at similar or lower costs.


Reasons to Include Culling Dais in Your Collection

Versatility: Culling Dais offers a flexible option for any deck looking to optimize the use of its creature cards, whether by converting doomed creatures into future draws or leveraging sacrifice mechanics.

Combo Potential: This card becomes a powerful engine in strategies that generate a multitude of creatures, enabling synergies with other cards that capitalize on creatures dying or artifacts being sacrificed.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where board wipes and removal are prevalent, Culling Dais helps you turn potential losses into a reservoir of card advantage, keeping you competitive.


How to beat

Culling Dais is a unique artifact in Magic: The Gathering that permits players to slowly accumulate value by sacrificing creatures. It is key to recognize that while it can be a powerful engine for generating card advantage, disrupting the synergy it creates is paramount to beating it. A straightforward method is targeting Culling Dais with artifact removal such as Disenchant or Nature’s Claim before it accrues too many charge counters. Should the Dais become too robust, having a card like Thrashing Brontodon on the battlefield can act as an on-demand deterrent.

Additionally, countering the use of sacrifice outlets or creature recursion strategies will significantly reduce the effectiveness of Culling Dais. Consider utilizing graveyard hate cards like Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt to limit the number of creatures available for sacrifice. It’s also wise to limit the number of creatures you kill if your opponent is poised to use the Dais, as this can prevent them from building counters. Managing these strategic elements can ensure Culling Dais doesn’t overpower the game state.

When assessing the threats on the board, remaining vigilant about when and how Culling Dais is used can give you the upper hand in controlling its potential card advantage and dictate the flow of the match in your favor.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the art of MTG involves not only skillful play but also strategic deck building. Culling Dais is a versatile artifact that offers card advantage, flexible resource acceleration, and instant-speed interaction, making it a noteworthy addition to various decks. Understanding both its strengths and limitations is key to effectively integrating it into your ensemble. Whether you aim to exploit its synergy with creature-heavy strategies or utilize its resilience against removal, there’s much to explore with Culling Dais. Discover how to make the most of this unique card and refine your strategy by joining us for deeper insights and advanced gameplay tips.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Culling Dais MTG card by a specific set like Scars of Mirrodin and Modern Masters 2015, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Culling Dais and other MTG cards:

TCGPlayerBUY NOW
BurnMana is an official partner of TCGPlayer
Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Printings

The Culling Dais Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2010-10-01 and 2020-08-07. Illustrated by Anthony Palumbo.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12010-10-01Scars of MirrodinSOM 1482003NormalBlackAnthony Palumbo
22015-05-22Modern Masters 2015MM2 2072015NormalBlackAnthony Palumbo
32018-06-08BattlebondBBD 2332015NormalBlackAnthony Palumbo
42020-08-07Double Masters2XM 2462015NormalBlackAnthony Palumbo

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Culling Dais has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Culling Dais card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2011-01-01 As Culling Dais's last ability resolves, its last existence on the battlefield is checked to determine how many charge counters were on it.