What you are about to witness is real. These Magic: The Gathering cards are accused in the court of Extremely Online Discourse, but have agreed to have their cases heard here - in Judge Davie's Court.

Yeah, I'm a nerd who's watched far too many judge shows. Sue me.

For whatever reason, I've seen one card in particular getting more than its fair share of attention in recent weeks. I decided to apply the hundreds of hours I've spent spectating legendary television arbiters like Judge Judy and, my personal favorite, Judge Marilyn Milian of The People's Court and put this card through the judge show ringer.

This is the defendant, Smothering Tithe. It's accused of being too fast, or too dangerous, or too easy to abuse in card advantage engines and wheel locks in decks that feature White. Smothering Tithe claims it's getting a bad rap - it's just a way for the weakest color in Commander to get some extra mana, of course! It's here to clear its name... and make a treasure or two.

Opening Arguments

It's almost hard to believe Smothering Tithe is only two years old; it feels like we've been debating it forever. That's probably because it's the single most impactful Mono-White card we've seen printed in quite some time. New versions of Rhystic Study effects don't come along every day, they usually don't come in White at all, but they do always manage to bring controversy.

That's absolutely true with Smothering Tithe. When it debuted, I remember the reaction being quite strong - as it should have been, frankly. This card is an absolute unit. In a format like Commander where everyone is drawing cards all the time and, at the time, not necessarily playing much enchantment removal, it's always been easy to see how powerful this effect could be.

There's no denying it can get very silly very quickly. In a four-player pod, it'll trigger at least three times each trip around the table; very often it triggers even more than that. I can't imagine a White deck that doesn't want it - perhaps the most damning thing we can say about a card in this age of endless debate regarding the power levels of cards and decks and what should be banned.

The Charge: It's Too Efficient

At a CMC of four, it can hit the table early - turn two if you manage to open with strong mana rocks, or even turn one if you're fortunate enough to also open with something like a Mox Diamond or Lotus Petal. But whenever it hits the table, I'd be shocked if your opponents didn't groan or grumble or, more likely, immediately declare it public enemy number one.

I get that reaction; much like Cyclonic Rift and Rhystic Study, Smothering Tithe is a card that pretty much all of us love having on our battlefields but loathe seeing on someone else's. That's because this card can do a lot for its controller in not a lot of time. Many if not most Commander decks these days are aiming to draw extra cards in some form or another. There are myriad opportunities for treasure tokens even in a single spin around the table.

It's also quite easy to abuse. In a deck that also contains Blue and/or Red, there are so many Wheel of Fortune effects we can use to make our opponents draw tons of cards and then fill our chests with all the treasure we can carry.

There's also Howling Mine and Temple Bell - look, I think we can all stipulate that there are lots and lots of ways to get our opponents to draw more cards and, thus, get more treasures out of our own Smothering Tithe. And in that context the card can absolutely get out of hand quickly.

But it doesn't always do that. Sometimes - and I know this will be a shock - it goes in Mono-White decks that desperately need the help keeping up with three opponents who are, in all likelihood, ramping a lot better than we are. And because this card is so notorious, we know it's going to be targeted for removal right away. We know we're gonna be lucky to untap for another turn with our Smothering Tithe still intact, and we know it's possible it'll get got before it can even make us a single treasure.

The problem with this card is that even when it's not meant to be abused, it's difficult to ignore just how strong it can be. The ceiling is just far too high for it to be ignored.

Verdict: Guilty

The Charge: It's Unfun

This is the tougher charge to adjudicate. We have to begin by acknowledging the obvious thing that, for some reason, a lot of people don't want to acknowledge: Everyone has their own perception of what is fun and unfun, especially in social Commander game situations. For everyone who wants to flip the table in response to a resolved Smothering Tithe there's a pod in which that card has never and will never produce a single grain of salt. We have to look at ourselves and the people with whom we play Commander to decide what fun and unfun means to each of us.

This is such a hard concept to pin down, especially in the context of a card like Smothering Tithe. Why exactly is it unfun for someone else to have access to more mana, especially since each of their opponents is likely to have their own ways of ramping? I've seen far too many players whose Green decks got them eight lands by turn four start whining when a Smothering Tithe comes down on curve. Just stop it.

Those Wheel combos we mentioned earlier - those are surely unfun, right? Yes and no. Even if I'm not playing a deck that wants me to fill my graveyard, a well-timed Wheel can help me jettison a bad hand and replace it with something better. Of course, there are limits to how many times we can be made to pitch our hands and draw new ones before it gets frustrating. But in a vacuum, Wheel effects are fine - it's the imbalance they create when paired with Smothering Tithe that I do, indeed, consider to be unfun.

But... when was the last time you faced a deck that actively tried to pair Wheels with Smothering Tithe? I think I've played against one and only one. It wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but I have most assuredly had far worse experiences at Magic tables. No, far more often than not I see Smothering Tithe played either by myself or others as a quintessential "good stuff" card.

It truly does make any White deck better - a double-edged sword, that. It's much like Cyclonic Rift in that way; the strongest argument against such cards is that if they're so good that they belong in every deck that can run them, they're probably too good for the format and should be banned.

I'm in the "fewer bans are better" camp, and I also believe pretty much every card on the Commander ban list has earned its spot there and should stay there. Is Smothering Tithe a card that elicits joy from the table every time it's cast? No. Probably never will be. But that's true for a lot of cards in Magic. If we were to ban every card that ever made someone grumble and moan, we'd be left with very few legal cards.

And let's be real - it's 2021. We all run enchantment removal, if not specifically for Smothering Tithe then for any of the many, many powerful enchantments in the game. For as often as Smothering Tithe will be THE PROBLEM at the table, THE PROBLEM will be a Doubling Season or Overwhelming Splendor or Contamination or something else. It's not like it's a planeswalker emblem that's there forever and can't be touched.

So, is Smothering Tithe unfun? It sure can be. But it's not always unfun. It's not always THE PROBLEM. Sometimes it's just a card on the table. Like any Magic card, context is everything. There are contexts in which Smothering Tithe is a massive pain, and there are contexts in which it's really not a big deal. To declare it "completely unfun" is, frankly, completely unfair.

Verdict: Not Guilty

I did, as best I could, keep an open mind throughout this trial. I expected some kind of split decision and that's what we got. Smothering Tithe is in the grand tradition of so many Commander classics that will always divide us. Some will defend it to their dying breath, others would like to launch it into the sun - and most are somewhere in the middle.

And just like those opinions, I think Smothering Tithe firmly occupies a middle ground, though I'll gladly admit it resides at the higher end of that middle. But you know what? That's ok. Cards can be powerful and have high ceilings and, yes, make us groan and grumble without needing to be yeeted into oblivion.

We have lots of cards like that in Commander. I have a feeling we'll see more of them in my courtroom one day.

Dave is a Commander player currently residing in Reno, NV. When he's not badly misplaying his decks, he works as a personal trainer. You can bother him on Twitter and check out his Twitch channel.

Daxos the Returned | Commander | Dave Kosin

• Commander (1)
• 1 Daxos the Returned

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Aegis of the Gods
• 1 Agent of Erebos
• 1 Archon of Sun's Grace
• 1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
• 1 Celestial Ancient
• 1 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1 Doomwake Giant
• 1 Eidolon of Countless Battles
• 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1 Grim Guardian
• 1 Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1 Herald of Torment
• 1 Kor Spiritdancer
• 1 Mesa Enchantress
• 1 Nyx-Fleece Ram
• 1 Starfield Mystic
• 1 Underworld Coinsmith

• Instants (4)
• 1 Heliod's Intervention
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Wing Shards

• Sorceries (4)
• 1 Idyllic Tutor
• 1 Kaya's Wrath
• 1 Open the Vaults
• 1 Winds of Abandon

• Enchantments (36)
• 1 Angelic Destiny
• 1 Banishing Light
• 1 Campaign of Vengeance
• 1 Conclave Tribunal
• 1 Cruel Reality
• 1 Curse of Exhaustion
• 1 Darksteel Mutation
• 1 Dawn of Hope
• 1 Ethereal Absolution
• 1 Ethereal Armor
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Gift of Immortality
• 1 Kaya's Ghostform
• 1 Martyr's Bond
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Overwhelming Splendor
• 1 Phyresis
• 1 Revel in Riches
• 1 Sanguine Bond
• 1 Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Soul Tithe
• 1 Spectra Ward
• 1 Sphere of Safety
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 Tainted Remedy
• 1 Trespasser's Curse
• 1 True Conviction
• 1 Underworld Dreams
• 1 Unquestioned Authority
• 1 Vow of Duty
• 1 Vow of Malice
• 1 Helm of the Gods
• 1 Orzhov Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots

• Lands (34)
• 11 Swamp
• 12 Plains
• 1 Ash Barrens
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 1 Scoured Barrens
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 Tainted Field
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Vault of Champions

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