---
name: "Choking Sands"
mana_cost: "{1}{B}{B}"
cmc: 3
type_line: "Sorcery"
colors: ["B"]
color_identity: ["B"]
keywords: []
set: "WC97"
set_name: "World Championship Decks 1997"
collector_number: "js113"
rarity: "common"
artist: "Roger Raupp"
oracle_id: "3bcb7436-f7d9-4bb0-81be-7a3db9d8329f"
canonical_url: "https://avascry.com/printing/choking-sands-wc97"
legalities:
  commander: "legal"
  standard: "not_legal"
  modern: "not_legal"
  pioneer: "not_legal"
  legacy: "legal"
  vintage: "legal"
  pauper: "legal"
  penny: "legal"
---

# Choking Sands
- **Mana Cost:** `{1}{B}{B}` (CMC: 3)
- **Type:** Sorcery

## Oracle Text
Destroy target non-Swamp land. If that land was nonbasic, Choking Sands deals 2 damage to the land's controller.

> *"The people wiped the sand from their eyes and cursed—and left the barren land to the hyenas and vipers."
—Afari, *Tales**

## Top 4096-Dim Neural Synergies
1. [Poison the Well](/printing/poison-the-well-shm.md) — Sorcery
2. [Encroaching Wastes](/printing/encroaching-wastes-m14.md) — Land
3. [Despoil](/printing/despoil-pcy.md) — Sorcery
4. [Desecrated Earth](/printing/desecrated-earth-zen.md) — Sorcery
5. [Trench Wurm](/printing/trench-wurm-inv.md) — Creature — Wurm
6. [Sinkhole](/printing/sinkhole-lea.md) — Sorcery

## Printing Details
- **Set:** World Championship Decks 1997 (WC97) #js113
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Artist:** Roger Raupp
- **Total Printings:** 9 across all historical editions

## Format Legalities
Commander: `legal` | Standard: `not_legal` | Modern: `not_legal` | Pioneer: `not_legal` | Legacy: `legal` | Vintage: `legal` | Pauper: `legal` | Penny: `legal`