Baleful Stare

Baleful Stare was introduced to the Magic: The Gathering card game in the Ninth Edition core set, which debuted in 2005. The core sets of that era served as the foundation for the game, featuring a curated mix of cards that often prioritized thematic consistency and accessible gameplay. This particular card was designed as a blue sorcery, utilizing the mechanics of hand disruption and information gathering common to that color's strategy.

The artwork for the card was created by illustrator Matt Cavotta, whose tenure at Wizards of the Coast involved contributing to numerous sets throughout the early 2000s. His illustration aims to capture a sense of psychological pressure and invasive perception, reflecting the card's function of revealing an opponent's hand. Upon release, Ninth Edition was noted for its use of a modern card frame design, which aimed to improve readability and aesthetic cohesion across the diverse art styles included in the set.