Painful Quandary
Foundations 179 • rare
- Set
- Foundations
- Collector number
- 179
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- 3 generic mana black mana black mana
- Type
- Enchantment
- Colors
- Black
- Artist
- David Palumbo
- Market price
- $1.84
What it does
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard a card.
In Mishra's desperation to destroy his brother, he allowed Gix to destroy him instead.
Where you can play it
- StandardLegal
- PioneerLegal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperNot legal
- BrawlLegal
- HistoricLegal
- TimelessLegal
- Penny DreadfulLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Card text via Scryfall. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. As of the last catalogue refresh.
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Where it came from
Painful Quandary is a card featured in the Magic: The Gathering set Foundations, released in 2024. Designed as part of a collection intended to provide a stable, evergreen foundation for the game, this card revives a classic design that punishes opponents for casting spells. It functions as a signature enchantment that forces difficult decisions upon those who attempt to play multiple cards in a single turn, reflecting the set's goal of reintroducing staple mechanics to a modern player base.
The card’s illustration and mechanical design lean into the atmospheric, high-fantasy aesthetic typical of the game's long-running lore. The design team focused on maintaining the card’s original identity as a psychological barrier for opponents, ensuring that the visual elements and the rules text remain cohesive. Upon its inclusion in Foundations, the card was received as a functional reprint, valued by players for its ability to stabilize board states and control the pace of competitive play.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
Who's collecting this
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About Painful Quandary
Painful Quandary is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Foundations 179 • rare. Catalog data is sourced from Scryfall. No public cards collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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